Multidisciplinary artist, Brian Falduto, brings sincere songwriting and infectious melodies with the release of his new album, Stage Two (November 2nd). The album title draws inspiration from psychologist Alan Downs’ book, "The Velvet Rage,” which documents the 3 stages of the gay man’s psychology: shame, compensating for shame, and authenticity. Brian wrote each of the songs on this album during Stage 2 of his own experience, with the lead single “Rainy Day” documenting the darkest moments in that phase of his life. Here, Falduto answers his Essential 8 where he speaks to the album's title and cover, songwriting, and his calling outside of music, his business, Love Life.
Please share the story behind your album’s artwork. My entire album is named after a stage in gay psychology titled “Stage Two.” It’s a time of growth in the LGBT community where we look at the shame we’ve lived with in the past in the face and we deal with it, often with overcompensation for our life up till now. These songs and these stories were part of my journey during this time in my life. The goal is to eventually move onto a stage of living in genuine authenticity – stage three. I wanted the artwork to be edgy, moody, and raw; capturing the essence of that deep and dark place, where feeling invalidated can take you. But it was also important to me that the images looked real and authentic as that is reflective of the paradigm that I’m adopting. Therefore, the photos are completely unedited and I’m overall very happy with the self-reflective and hopefully relatable shots we captured. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Nothing inspires a lyric more than heartbreak – for me anyway. Relationships and the feelings associated seem to grab my heart in a way that only music can properly express. I feel that’s common in country music or just music in general. It’s such a universal place that love can take us. When/where do you do your best writing? While walking, actually. It’s sort of like a mobile meditation practice for me. I’ll literally walk for hours and just see what comes up while my thoughts are given room to just process in an unfiltered way and while my body is focused elsewhere. Then I’ll get down and quickly scribble down everything I came up with. Eventually, I’ll jam it to life with my talented musician friends.
Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination?
Up till now, just personal experience. But I’m branching out into writing story songs and songs for other artists that aren’t necessarily from my past but drawn from the inspiration of others’ lives. Which song of yours gets the best crowd response? One More (Mateo) Are there any songs you are tired of playing? One More (Mateo) Is drinking at gigs a positive or a negative? A positive! I’ve always got some whiskey up there with me. And y’all should too! It pairs well with music; at least mine anyway. :) Is there a professional “bucket list” item you would love to check off? I want to be on Ellen! If that ever happens, I won’t know what to pursue afterwards because in my mind, I’ll have made it. If you weren’t a musician/songwriter where would we find you? Probably Life Coaching or doing some sort of LGBT Advocacy work. I’m happy to have found a calling outside of artistry that I am passionate about. My business “Love Life,” is currently accepting clients who want to partner up towards a better relationship with themselves. Website/Facebook/Twitter/IG As a Life Coach, Brian is also in the process of developing a program for those struggling with authenticity and confidence to coincide with his new business “Love Life,” a professional Life Coaching program in compliance with the International Coach Federation standards, which he launched in June.
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