We sat down with Stan Brunt an award-winning guitarist and composer, to have a small chat about his career, music and what it’s like to gig in London as an independent artist.
LGG: Can you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your music before?
SB: I am a contemporary jazz musician, so my musical sound is based a lot on improvising with my band. All the musicians I play with, and everyone in my band come from a jazz background, so all of us trust each other and allow each other the freedom to improvise without restraint while performing. All this is not to say the entire gig is improvised – I am also a composer and I write pieces that we improvise over.
LGG: What’s your songwriting process like—do you start with lyrics, a melody, or something else?
SB: I usually sit down at the guitar – my main instrument, or piano and try and work out a sound in my head. This might be a chord progression, or a melody, or both! Then I’ll expand on this, thinking about the instruments that I’m writing for and how it might sound. If I’ve written something on piano, I’ll have to find a way to adapt this to guitar as my current band doesn’t have another chordal instrument apart from guitar.
LGG: Are there any unexpected influences that have shaped your music?
SB: Yes, Many! I, as many guitarists do, started learning through playing rock and blues riffs so a lot of that side of music has influenced me. Bands like Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, and guitarists like Jimi Hendrix and B. B. King. I still admire and respect (and listen to!) these musicians a lot, and I’m really glad I grew up playing it.
As for more recently, I’ve been enjoying ‘The Notorious B.I.G.’s music a lot, I love the upbeat lyrical style that he has, contrasted by the extremely graphic content of the lyrics. I compare this to my music sometimes, I would like the compositions to be song-like and lyrical, but the improvising to be a contrast to this, more edgy and jaunting.
LGG: What can people expect from a live show with you?
SB: If you’ve not been to a jazz show before, it might be a bit of a shock to come to one of my shows. My music is instrumental, so we don’t have a singer or any lyrics. I write melodic material in my compositions but, since the main content is from the improvising and the music we make from that, the melodies are mostly there to inform the improvising for the band. I would encourage people to go and see some live jazz, even if it’s not for you it could be eye opening into a different scene and way of viewing music.
LGG: Do you have a favourite London venue to perform at? Why?
SB: I’ve always loved the vibe of the Green Note in Camden, it’s absolutely tiny there, but it feels so communal and genuine. Not to mention they put on some really great gigs with a massive variety of genres!
LGG: Have you ever had a particularly memorable gig—good or bad?
SB: One of my earliest gigs with my current band was definitely memorable! We had rehearsed all week and were putting on a show at a brilliant little venue. I think the timings didn’t work for a lot of people who were hoping to come so we ended up playing to just 5 people! It was a great experience to play 2 sets of music to such a small crowd as we could really experiment and ‘take the reins off’ on the music that I had written for the concert.
LGG: When did you know you wanted to start performing live music?
SB: I’m not sure of the exact moment I decided to pursue music, I think it’s always been something I’ve loved to do and to make a career out of a passion like that is a brilliant thing. I’ve had some motivators along the way. I’m from Leeds and I have some great musician friends who have moved down to London at the same time as me and we have all pushed each other to work our hardest and that’s definitely helped. I’ve had some great teachers and mentors both in Leeds and London who have helped me decide what path to take my career on and given me brilliant advice over the last few years.
LGG: What advice would you give to emerging artists trying to break into London’s gig circuit?
SB: It can feel brutal at times, and like no one is on your side but you have to push through that and get to the other side because it’s so worth it! I’ve found that it’s so much work to get your name out there and it never really stops, so finding a way to make it enjoyable can make a massive difference. For me, if I go sit in a café and work through emailing venues and promoting myself, it makes it go a lot faster and becomes much less like a chore!
LGG: Who’s on your playlist right now? Who should we talk to next?
SB: Currently, I’m listening to ‘Black Stars’ – Jason Moran + Sam Rivers,
‘Southern Nights’ – Sullivan Fortner,
and ‘The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow’ – Charles Lloyd.
Some great musicians who I’ve worked with on the London scene are Dom Howard, and Sam Norris. Both of which have recently released their own debut albums. Dom is a guitarist and peer of mine, and Sam is an alto saxophonist, and is in my current band.
Stan is working on his debut album for release, later this year. Keep up with Stan on his Instagram, and his mailing list.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and readability.
