“The things that you don’t take seriously are the things that end up being awesome.” – Brett Detar

Brett Detar is a Los Angeles based singer, songwriter, film composer, producer and super creative guy. He’s made a name for himself with his band The Juliana Theory which he co-founded when he was just 19. Brett has also made an impact on the big screen, composing for the films The Devil Inside and Wer.

Brett Shares about his start with songwriting at age six, how he approaches creativity, what it’s like to score for a major motion picture and you’ll get to hear a bit of his just released single Playback 99, off the EP, Still The Same Kids Part I!

In this episode we touch on the following topics:

• Music scene in Western Pennsylvania [5:29]
• Brett Detar’s first musical instrument [6:04]
• Musical background of Brett’s family [7:30]
• Writing his first song [10:37]
• The teacher that inspired Brett to write his own songs [13:34]
• You don’t have to do what everyone else is doing [14:41]
• Why you have to be flexible when you’re a film composer [17:36]
• Analogy between an architect and a song writer [18:12]
• Different approaches to song writing [19:16]
• When composing for a film, the approach is storytelling [19:29]
• Writing your own songs: letting the song tell you where it needs to go [21:52]
• Methods of music editing for film [23:26]
• How did Brett get started in musical scoring? [26:25]
• Meeting William Brent Bell in LA [27:44]
• Creating the musical score for the movie “The Devil Inside” [30:56]
• Scoring for “Wer” [32:49]
• Working with the Juliana Theory [35:41]
• The ‘flow state’ [36:20]
• Brett’s band signing their first record deal [39:00]
• Processes for writing catchy melodies [41:47]
• Why you need to match vowel sounds when writing lyrics [44:25]
• Musical writing process of popular artists [46:05]
• Editing brain vs Creating brain [48:09]
• Lockdown = creative time [53:24]
• Writing A Dream Away [54:14]
• Releasing a series of EPs – staying in touch with your inner child [56:59]
• Rapid fire questions [1:05:21]

Links from the episode:

• The Juliana Theory
• Stairway to Heaven
• Americana
• The Devil Inside
• Wer
• TikTok
• Tooth and Nail Records
• Talking Heads
• Weezer
• A Dream Away
• Franz Ferdinand
• Song Exploder
• Beach Boys

People Mentioned:

• William Brent Bell
• Hans Zimmer
• J. Cole
• David Byrne
• Rivers Cuomo
• Jerry Seinfeld