January 2021

Thanks so much for taking time out to spend with us today Michel. So, I was watching the video to Chasing Stars it’s a great song. Tell us about it and how it came to be. Chasing stars came together after a long pe- riod of rebranding I had just ended a music relationship with my former co-producer/engi- neer, and I was really depressed for a while. One of my friends linked me up with their pro- ducer Dos Zachys who is the Co-producer of Chasing Stars and I played him some loops I wanted to work on, and he and I instantly got to work after hearing the loop that would help bring chasing stars to life. I knew I wanted to rebrand my sound and go for something that would be an infectious upbeat sound. Once we finished the beat, I called my best friend Dallas Aleea who is the female vocalist on the song I told her wanted to write something crazy and we had a goal to do something no one would expect. Interesting. Now I noticed with the rest of your music on YouTube Dallas is on just about all the songs. Is she a permanent part of the new you? How did this collaborative process come to be? I and Dallas are a Duo Group and Solo Ar- tist. We connected at a music showcase a year ago and we watched each other’s perfor- mances and we clicked and got to work a few weeks later and got started on our first colla - boration just breathe. She’s My Co-Writer for my upcoming Solo Project as well. We have a great music relationship she’s one of my best friends and the little sister I never had so, yes, she is a permanent addition to the Michel J. Brand without her influence and her creative - ness I wouldn’t be where I am now. Wonderful!!! Now to compare the new you to the old you, what changes do you want your fans to see with this new you? 24 25 The New Michel J. Is all about positivity and pushing to create a new sound and not try to sound like the producers and singer-songwri- ters I’ve looked up to. I want to leave a sound people will remember. So, I have to say I like the way you filmed Lost in My Head. It’s like an old school video mini movie. Who came up with the idea for it? How did that video shoot go? I’ve been the creative director for all my vi- suals I grew up watching long visuals with Michael Jackson and Chris Brown and a few others and, I’m an actor as well so my crea- tiveness mixes together with my music. The Director Rafel Fortier who has directed all 5 of my videos I usually tell him what I have visual- ly for the video and I also ask him every time what he sees, and we meet each other in the middle visually every time.