Meet Brandon “The SEVENth” McCall of The SEVENth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon “The SEVENth” McCall.

Brandon “The SEVENth”, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’d like to think of my music journey as a unique experience. As long as I can remember music has played a major roll in my life. Due to my biological mothers struggle with substance abuse, I was adopted at a very young age.

It wasn’t a secret growing up, I was connected to and had relationships with both sides – I think having that experience of growing up seeing both sides of the fence gave me a bigger perception of life and how I could go about living it.

My childhood was spent playing tons of video games, which I definitely think was an early influence on my creativity, Sonic the Hedgehog had some jams on there haha. I remember there were pianos in both my grandmother’s house and my house. My brother used to play it and sing a lot; I used to sneak by the door, or hide and listen to him play, I thought it was so cool and was taking notes, basically wanting to be like my big bro like every little brother has done.

On top of his influence on me, our family was heavy into the church and the music there, in addition, some of my family members (The Debarges) even made it big, scoring a record deal with Motown. So you can imagine, there was a ton of hand-me-down equipment laying around and a lot of studio sessions and sing along that I witnessed. So everywhere I looked pretty much there was music. Whether at home or at church.

Early middle school, I remember the first thing I wanted to “be” was an architect. I was, and still am, very much into lines, space, and symmetry. Those architect dreams kinda faded once I realized I would have to take hella math classes. The exact point of my life where I knew I wanted to take music seriously was in 8th grade. Around then a lot of my friends were like family members, and they were a lot older than me.

So, of course, I was listening to music they were listening to and getting exposed to a lot of different stuff. The specific moment when I made my mind up was when I heard both Blue Print 2 by Jay Z and Lord Willin’ by The Clipse… I remember opening up the album credits and reading around and seeing producers names on the inside, and started listening/studying those people for inspiration and or guidance rather, like ok, these are what good beats are supposed to sound like.

At that point, the internet gifted us with stuff like Napster, lime link, etc., so I was downloading so much music on the weekends and jamming out. My 8th grade year was the first time when I downloaded software to make music on a computer. High school time was when I meet Joose The Conqueror, Waldo, and sango. It was also when I went ahead and joined the marching band, which was a good thing looking back. It gave me a lot of traditional training that I wouldn’t have gotten on the fly.

I was a percussionist, and I’m totally sure that’s why I like my music to have specific rhythms and grooves. During this time, I was getting introduced to software like sony acid and fruity loops. I’d be messing around making bullshit comedic songs with my friends, and pressing them up on mixtapes, and passing them around school… it sounds cool, but the music was for sure trash, it’s probably out there somewhere lol. It wasn’t until college when I actually took baby steps towards making music a career choice.

An old friend attended the same college as me, he was also into music, and we knew of each other from the past, so he and I would meet up in the music department piano practice rooms and mess around with music ideas. It was a very loose thing that lasted a couple months until we decided to “get out name out as songwriter/producers”. We knew folks wouldn’t just let us work for them, so we decided to write, produce, and perform our own music, in hopes that folks would like the sound and then want to work with us.

We ended up getting booked at local showcases, colleges, working with local artists, landing on the radio, and televised news. I worked with him for about two years until we went separate ways. We were called the sevens, but when we split, I took the name and made it singular. Right after that point, I was comfortable with my music production skills and performing skills, so I started frivolously releasing music throughout my college early college years.

During that time I was also still friends with joose, Waldo, sango, and they were into music, so I’d randomly work with them before we ever took AGO serious. At that time my motivation was to make music so I could do shows or get on the radio, which was pretty advantageous at the time, considering I had not solid resume at the time, and I was also attending community college.

I ended up moving to Florida to finish college there, but I ended up switching my focus from scholastic endeavors to music ones. I found my self-skipping class to make music, or to go internships where I was getting hands-on experience in the entertainment industry. To date, one of the most influential experiences I had was interning/working at a professional recording studio. I worked my way from the bottom there.

I literally used to clean up dog shit, and sleep in there overnights, only to be on the clock in the A.M – I was soaking up all types of knowledge working under skilled engineers with, talented artists, and a unique boss (the owner) who had tons of entrepreneurial drive. He really did a lot to push me and teach me about what it takes to not only be a serious musician but what it takes to be dedicated to your dreams.

During that time, I was working a lot with A.G.O mates back home in Michigan; ultimately I moved back to Michigan to work closer with the boys, as we made it a decision to move as a unit and make a brand out of AGO. The first project I released after college was Tuebor, an ago compilation.and that was the project that “got us in the door” – I mean that by saying, after the release of this, that was the point where I/we stated to appear on major blogs, etc.

From that point, I’ve been working as SEVENth along with the crew releasing music indecently under our imprint. Most recently I started my solo imprint, “xylem international” which my new EP will be released under.

Has it been a smooth road?
Anyone working in the Entertainment Industry knows that this whole thing is about show & prove, and you really have a few opportunities to prove your self and gain the trust of people.

With technology advancing and the percentage of people taking interest in making music rising, it’s a constant challenge to stand out. That’s why I think it’s important to provide a unique product or experience that people look forward to/trust, which is a constant struggle, but I find it to be fun.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The SEVENth story. Tell us more about the business.
The SEVENth’s focus and name are associated mainly with the entertainment business, music production, and songwriting.

I’m proud that my applied skills and knowledge gained me working relationships with major companies and landed me on international tours, major blogs and press publications, and TV shows.

I think what sets my work apart from others is; I’m very invested and passionate about my craft and things all things affiliated with it – whether it be a project for myself or a customer.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Independent Music is the future. All the majors are shifting and trying to keep up.

Companies who are focusing on nurturing the future of the arts and how it’s consumed will be the new majors.

Contact Info:

• Email: 7musicnotes@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/theseventh.ago
• Facebook: facebook.com/theseventh.ago
• Twitter: twitter.com/theseventh.ago

Image Credit:
Leandro Lara, Adeshola Makinde

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