Meet Brandon Smith

We had the good fortune of connecting with Brandon Smith and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi brandon, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I believe the idea of “risk” is necessary for evolution and even in a revolutionary sense. It’s a perfect gateway for me to expand my thoughts and modernity. In a creative community, I believe it’s an important subjective practice to cherish. It plays an inspirational role in my life and is a great way to learn about myself and the community around me. So much to learn from it, even when it feels uncomfortable at first glance.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I dabble in a wide range of creative practices; I’m a musician and sound artist, DJ, videographer, event organizer, and radio curator. But overall, I like to label myself simply as a creative, since I’m very hands-on with everything I do and use these practices as a means of expression.

I’ve been making music since I was 11 or 12. Whenever my brother was away from the computer, I would sneak on and attempt to make beats on Reason—until he actually gave me the software disc. Shout out to Artel. I haven’t stopped making music since. DJing has been with me since high school; when EDM exploded onto the scene, my friends and I would ditch class, do miscellaneous stuff, and practice our transitions on Virtual DJ. Film has always been loosely in my algorithm; I’ve been pointing cameras in people’s faces since I was a toddler. When I first saw Children of Men as a kid, my admiration for film completely changed on a technical level. However, my creative style has always been more like journaling and very anti-genre.

I got to where I am today just by staying grounded in my own algorithm, which wasn’t easy. I’ve hung around many faces across different scenes, and it helped me become more assertive with myself and my creative practices. It wasn’t always because they steered me the right way; sometimes it was the opposite. There was a period when I tried to fit into a manufactured musical mold because of outside projections, but those projections eventually led to a “rise of the phoenix” moment for me. I completely lost myself creatively at one point, and my subconscious was deprived. It yearned. But those days were necessary; they transpired into me picking up instruments to improvise, curating shows for a sense of community, and starting collectives that would morph into the online radio station, bed crumb show. I subconsciously began creating a safe space for myself and was rhythmically led down a path of meeting likeminded people.

Covid really did a number on us, and a lot of our thinking patterns changed. Meeting Ash and Ellen in 2019 was crucial for me for many reasons, but they unknowingly changed my algorithm, especially when 2020 rolled around. What was once a small collective of two or three DJs turned into an online radio community hosting 20+ DJs on a weekly basis. What was once a secret sonic practice for me turned into accidentally meeting Dakota Higgins (founder of DMV), who invited me to play my first experimental set. That opened up a whole world I didn’t even know was happening in the city that raised me. Dakota and Bennett (an amazing musician and curator of monthly experimental shows at Primetime Pub) were the first ones who put the battery in my back. They made me feel like, “Okay, I’m not tripping, and I don’t need to be shy about it anymore. I can just be.” I wasn’t even fully educated on the history of experimental music yet; it was just something I liked to do. Just a kid in the sandbox.

The lesson was quite simple, without making it sound super wordy… but doing whatever makes you happy and having fun with it is so soothing for your inner child.

To answer the last question: I would just want the world to know this is all coming from a place of curiosity and play.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Day 1: I would take them to get some grub at Numero Uno Pizza off Obama Blvd.
Then head to Poobah Records to do some record digging, grab a beer from a very random bar and hit up Digital Debris Video Gallery.

Day 2: Go to San Vincente Mountains and do little extensive hiking. Get some vegan sushi from Planta Cocina. head over to San Pedro for some MORE record digging, probably at PM Sounds or Steady Beat then walk over to Club Blob Tub, a monthly anti-genre showcase curated by Neil “cloaca” young.

Day 3: we won’t contact each other for most of the day but then I’ll scoop them up around 8pm to visit LAWWSS (Los Angeles Woodwind Skillshare) practice space at Leroy’s Gallery and play woodwinds with the collective for about 2 hours. Then grab some late night ramen from RAKKAN in Little Tokyo

Day 4: ….binge Ping Pong The Animation and read books

Day 5: MORE RECORD DIGGING At Record Surplus! Then hit up Cinefile on Sawtelle for some movie rentals and hang out at Julian Graves house to watch movies, play Metal Gear Solid and cook Tempura Veggies.

Day 6: Visit Cali Games in Hawthorne, then go next door to the hole in the wall Chinese Restaurant. Then we hit up Vidiots for a screening. (Vidiots has the best popcorn) and drive out to Joshua Tree to visit Ash at the Lou Harrison house, jam out and star gaze.

Day 7: hit up an afternoon show at La Tierra de la Culbra and visit Perfect Circuit afterwards to not buy anything, just play around with their gear. And go to a punk show or a dance party….just somewhere we can move our bodies around.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Yes I want to shout out my family, my siblings, Ash Ingalls, LAWWSS, Neil “Cl0aca” Young, Departure from Music Venues (DMV) & Zhurg Ensemble

They’ve all played a crucial role in my creative decisions.

Website: https://www.bedcrumbshow.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/boygrump/?hl=en

Other: https://www.instagram.com/bedcrumbshow/

Image Credits
b&w bed crumb show photos on film by kelly woods