For our 31st Clapper Sounds Interview, we’re highlighting country musician, Bryant Plympton.
Bryant (@BryantPlymptonMusic on Clapper) is a Montana born and raised country musician. He recently signed with a record label and released his first album. When he’s not working, either at his job or on his music, he loves spending time with his family. But we’ll get into that a little later! In this interview, we talked with Bryant about his music journey, his thoughts on content creation as an artist, his favorite song by another artist, and his advice for new musicians.
Clapper Sounds is meant to be an intimate musical experience, and we want that mission to translate into our written interviews too. Listen to his music as you read to get to know Bryant and his unique sound.
Let’s start from the beginning. What is your first memory of being involved with music? How did you start your artist journey?
I did choir in high school and started playing guitar when I was about 13, just kind of as a hobby, and I’ve written songs for a while. That’s really all it was honestly up until not even a year ago. I did a contest called Lafayette’s Got Talent and ended up making the top five! There was a decent amount of contestants, about a hundred or a couple hundred, so it was pretty sweet. Then a producer got a hold of me after that and it’s definitely something that I want to pursue as a career.
My producer found me through that contest, actually. He owns a label in Washington but he lives about fifteen minutes from me. So he followed along with the contest, trying to find an artist that would work for his label. He reached out to me after that and we’ve been working together pretty much every weekend since then. We got started in May of this year and we got a seven song album out on streaming platforms. It’s cool watching it come to life, actually being able to hold a CD with my name on it.
How has your sound changed over time? Have you always had the same sound?
Yeah, definitely. As far as my writing, it’s kind of evolved over time. Back in high school it was more country for sure, more traditional, radio country. Whereas the songs that I write now don’t really seem that way. A couple could probably go that direction, but others are more, like, underground country. Johnny Cash meets Fallout Boy! I definitely don’t keep all of my songs in that PG-range: I cuss in my writing! That’s different from how it used to be.
What are your thoughts on content creation as an artist? How do you feel about artists having to balance their social media presence and still be committed to their art?
I think it’s hard, as far as being able to have time, ‘cause we’re all busy. I’m not great at the whole putting out content. I think it’s awesome that there’s platforms available for that, I just feel the strain and the pressure to keep posting. It’s easier now that I have a team helping me do that stuff. But for an independent artist, I definitely think that it’s pretty tough to stay on top.
Do you have any side hustles or hobbies other than music?
Not side hustles, but hobbies for sure! I’m a big hunter, a big fisherman, so those take up a lot of our summertime camping. Then, you know, winter rolls around and we can hunt and ice fish. My oldest son is like my best friend at those times of year because he tags along with me and it’s pretty awesome. Between work, music, and that type of outdoor livin’, that’s pretty much what consumes all my time.
What is your favorite song (by any other artist) of all time and why?
It’s really hard to narrow down one song. I will tell you who my favorite artist is while I think. I’ve been following Hardy since before he wrote for Morgan Waller and Florida Georgia Line. He’s a perfect example of what I mean by underground country. His first couple of albums, Hick’s Tape Volume One and Two were incredible. I’ve caught myself a lot of times writing something and when I start playing it, and it sounds way too Hardy. Not that that’s a bad thing, but I can’t go out and play that like it’s my own.
But for a favorite song…I don’t necessarily think it’s my favorite of all time, but it’s got power. Something in the Orange by Zach Bryan. It’ll move people regardless of the setting, so I really liked that one.
Deciding to be an artist can have its ups and downs. What advice would you give to that young artist who is just learning to play guitar, or starting singing lessons and whose dream is to be a musician?
Don’t give up if it’s something you really want. You truly don’t have any idea of when or if it’s going to happen. The ‘if’ part is the hardest part, and I think that a lot of people will deal with that in a lot of aspects of life. You’re pushing hard for something that you really want, if this can happen, and that’s a detrimental thought, it can eat at your brain a little bit. But the thing is you don’t know if it’s gonna happen, but you know for sure if you don’t chase after that dream, it’s not going to.
Make sure to check our recorded live session on our account Clapper Sounds and in our reels on Instagram. Enjoy the Clapper Sounds Live Session with Bryant Plympton!