Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Small.
Hi Brianna, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’m originally from Westchester, New York where I started my music journey as a violinist and pianist. I took lessons weekly on both instruments and eventually settled on playing violin in my county orchestra for my middle school and high school career. I eventually picked up the viola one day in a violin lesson because it was on my teacher’s desk and I connected with it from the start. I participated in district orchestra competitions such as NYSSMA (New York State School Music Association) and went on to play the instrument as my directed study in college, where I started in the fall of 2018 for music therapy. My double life as a composer was kept under wraps due to my environment at the time not being supportive or willing to take my compositions on in big groups like orchestra and band.
I began songwriting at age fifteen where I’d go on sites like Musescore and would look at transcriptions from pop and rock songs in orchestral form. My earliest influence in my adolescence is the Vitamin String quartet, I would listen to their covers of songs and make up my own transcriptions by ear. I began posting these online under the name “Bri Dominique” and would curate spaces for other people to contribute to transcriptions of popular songs. I used these songs in concerts at my school
After high school, I still composed these types of songs but eventually picked up writing my own songs after 2019 for university class projects. I was usually performing in small groups like quartets for gigs and orchestra for my school. It wasn’t until the fall of 2020 where I was picked up by one of my professors who wrote Jazz and World music who wanted to take me on as his apprentice. Under his guidance, I learned skills with networking and putting recording sessions together, as well as developing my knowledge of written theory as I compose all of my songs by ear without analyzing the elements of the song. Through this, I found out my true abilities as a musician after being held back for years by the spaces I attempted to enter but were pushed out of. Through this, I began to embrace my uniqueness as a musician regardless of the structure of a PWI that didn’t encourage out-of-the-box thinking.
I started performing the songs I wrote for my album in December 2021, where I got a gig at a DIY venue in the city. I got a band of people from my school to help me play cover songs, as the song I had out at the time was “Rosie” which is the song about my viola in a dream sequence. I held myself back quite a bit to fit in with the vibes of the venue which were punk rock based and weren’t exactly my style. Still, the set went well and I eventually went on to join a band called “Wampum Dogs” in February of this year, who was based in Beaver county Pennsylvania. With them, I discovered that being unusual in composition was a strength that I could embrace as a musician.
Around late February was when I began my networking in the DIY scene of Pittsburgh with a venue called Rothko at the time who was a house in Oakland where Pitt students gathered to listen to all types of music. As I went into it I realized that most of the acts there were based in punk rock and were white of course. And my plan to them was to make a show fully surrounded by women of color solo artists like me, as I felt it was necessary to add diversity and variety to the scene. There I played my original songs which are based in bedroom pop and comedic or melancholic themes, then did the second half of my set as synthesizer and drum machine improv using various sample-based and analog tech gear that I acquired over the last year.
After this, I was involved in a festival that took place in a different college house venue that had other electronic musicians on the bill as well. The space was called Bates box which I performed at twice over the course of those months in the spring semester. At another gig in South Side, I was discovered by my mentor Herman Pearl (otherwise known as Soy Sos) who took me on as his apprentice in April where we worked together on learning the basics of Analog synthesis and sound production. During our work together we’ve performed at the Warhol Museum and Alloy Studios, which is the dance collective division of the Kelly Strayhorn theater.
Today I still make music and perform around the area as I am still in college and working. I enjoy my gigs a lot and the people I’ve met are very sweet and supportive. It’s one of those instances where I had to drop my anxiety about performing to make it work, and now it feels like it’s a part of me. Something special that can’t be taken away and I’ve reclaimed it to fit to myself, it sounds like me perfectly and I’m grateful I have the courage to share that.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
No haha, it wasn’t easy starting out at all. For all of spring semester of this year, I was attempting to network with a lot of venues and spaces that weren’t as welcoming as I thought. I was entering mostly white spaces due to my location and the reactions I got weren’t as positive as I thought they’d be, but eventually after the semester it seemed as if the spaces weren’t as gate-kept as when they were when college was in session. The toughest aspect for me to get over was the idea of being a niche artist and therefore unappreciated by booking agents who stayed in the same mindset of purely white punk rock. Eventually, as I settled into the semi-professional scene outside of DIY I found my safe space and have stayed in it ever since. There’s diversity and real inclusion there that deals less with appearances and press and more within building connections with people of the scene.
I also overcame my fear of sharing my music with the world. After a while, I just sort of accepted it as a part of my fears in life which is being open and expressive of my inner thoughts. I was usually an outsider type of personality where I can confide in with my close friends but no one else understood it. It’s one of those obstacles you overcome once you build the confidence to. It’s always a work in progress with me because of my new ability to feel safe in a space and be able to take constructive criticism in stride.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I compose all sorts of music ranging from lo-fi pop, to orchestral-influenced pop, to punk rock at times, to experimental techno. I’m known for two types of work, which are my solo compositions on my album “music for the kind hearted” and my demos that I play exclusively at my shows, and also for my work in experimental synthesizer-based improv. I use elements of my experience in school and performance to influence my work in both fields. I’m also known as the “viola synth girl” as it’s one of the things I talk about and can talk about for hours to people.
I believe what sets me apart from others is my style for my sets. Most people expect a conventional songwriter solo act but at every show, I have a fold-out table for my synthesizers and drum machines but I only use them sparingly in the first part of my set. Since I’ve done 30-minute sets usually I split the music half and half between my original songs and techno-influenced improv as it’s the baseline for what a Bri Dominique show is. And the reality is that most audiences don’t expect me to do what I do. It’s very rare for someone (black women specifically) to experiment with analog synthesis and raw instrumentation live, besides DJ sets which are a completely different feel than what I do.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Music of course! I’ve always loved listening to music and listen to it at all hours of the day when possible. I enjoy lots of different genres of music such as classic rock n roll to contemporary music and mainly alternative music nowadays. I never wake up and know what music I’ll find or listen to, it’s a surprise because I always find something new to like in music, qualities that I learn from to influence my own music writing.
I also enjoy my career based in Music Therapy as I’ve worked with so many different types of people in my field experience work, and that makes me happy as well. I’ve never thought of myself as a people person, but I do enjoy connecting with others on a musical and intellectual level. Of course, my viola makes me the happiest of my instruments as it feels a part of me at this point.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridominiquemusic/
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-944869298
- Other: https://bridominique.bandcamp.com/
