DMB´s skribent Thomas Hultbrand har varit i kontakt med den australiske sångaren/låtskrivaren Adam Brice och ställt lite frågor kring hans nya singel ”One more day” och lite annat smått och gott. Trevlig läsning!

Hi Adam! 

I’m glad I discover you through your brand new song ”One more day” just released.

You are a new name for me, please tell about yourself and your background.

Hello Thomas.

And hello to everyone taking a moment to read this article. I’m based in Melbourne, Australia and have been playing music for around 35 years – I’ve just taken my time to get to recording! 

Maybe like many of you reading this article, I’ve played in cover bands and tried getting gigs with original music when I was starting out. For many of us, you can only get ‘paid in experiences’ for so long before you need to pay the bills, right?  

So in 2020, with some unexpected downtime, I started to get back into playing and writing.
I committed to stepping up and developing my craft to put together something I, my family and friends would all be proud of. 

Looking back, I’m actually glad it has worked out this way. I’ve lots of stories to tell now! So I’m excited about what lays ahead over the next few months as I release my first album. 

I’ve already been amazed at the support and great feedback I’ve received around the first single ‘One More Day,’ which makes me very thankful. 

Sounds exciting, What’s your musical influences?

Well, growing up learning guitar, it was all about bands that had a strong guitar presence. AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and the glam bands of the LA scene were all on heavy rotation. 

But through the music my parents listened to (The Beatles, Wings, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder) and the pop rock radio songs of the late 80s and 90s, I have always loved a strong melody. I was to discover Michael Landau and Steve Lukather were big influences on everything they have played on, even though I didn’t realise at the time it was them on the tracks.  

And I was fortunate to grow up in a city that had the most amazing musicians playing around Melbourne during the 1990s. You may not have heard of bands/musicians like John Farnham and Southern Sons, but these two were huge for me growing up. You should definitely check them out if you appreciate some melodic rock. 

Well, John Farnham is actually quite famous here in Sweden. I also love his work with LITTLE RIVER BAND mid 80’s. “Playing To Win” is a classic. For me at least.

And funny you mention SOUTHERN SONS, not that famous but they are a huge favourite band from early 90’s for me personally, I have all their albums and some singles.

However, you’re a singer/guitarist/songwriter?

I write, sing and play guitar on all the tracks that will be coming out.
I’m a guitar player who has always dabbled in writing my own songs, and I’ve been working hard to write better music.
This is my first experience behind a microphone. Again, I’ve been working hard with a lot of support from friends to step up as a singer. 

The icing on the cake is having been able to meet some of my musical heroes and work closely with them on this album. I still pinch myself when I think about the fact I am working with many of the immensely talented group that I mentioned earlier – Southern Sons. 

Members of this band include Peter ‘Reggie’ Bowman, who is an amazing musician, engineer and producer who has gone above and beyond to help me with all aspects of my playing, singing and writing. Just a brilliant human who has really helped me evolve and taught me to slow down and trust the process. 

Pete Drummond is now a member of Southern Sons and one of the best drummers in the world. He is also a brilliant songwriter, composer and singer. Not fair really! 

We have written a song together called ‘Love Will Find A Way’, which will be the third single. If you like a ballad, I’d love you to check it out.  

And Irwin Thomas (Jack Jones with Southern Sons) is/was the biggest musical influence on me. You’ll struggle to find a better singer and guitarist. And to have him actually play guitar on the fourth single ‘Dark Days’ is a very special moment for me. 

Wow! How cool isn’t that. Now I almost get starstruck really.

Yes, there was a moment where I was feeling brave and reached out to Reggie to see if he would be interested in working with me, and now I’m fortunate to not just have worked with them all, but value them as great friends and just amazing humans. Quite surreal. 

As a I was getting back into writing, and trying to step up my recording and mixing skills using Logic Pro, I found that I actually needed to step back and focus on the song. Obvious now, but sometimes when I’d start off it would be more about trying to write a great mixed song than writing a great song that connected with people. 

So now, the majority of the time I will write with just an acoustic guitar. I tend to find a chorus that connects with me and go from there. 

But sometimes I’ll read or hear a line that triggers an idea. I’ve often challenged myself to write a song without the instrument to focused more deeply on the message. I think the great thing about writing music is no one way to do it, and challenging yourself to try a new approach can reward you. 

The big thing I’ve come to realise is if I can’t tell a story with my lyrics, the melody and my guitar, it doesn’t matter what effects I throw on it, it will still be an ordinary song. 

I’ll normally put down a demo recording of the song with acoustic guitar and vocals, send it to Reggie who will lay down some bass and then we get Pete to lay down some drums. That process has evolved somewhat in that Pete is also amazing at throwing ideas around with song structure and ideas, so it is pretty organic. I’ve come to appreciate sometimes things need to sit and ferment, and that that can lead to new even better ideas when you come back to it. Many of the songs coming up feature some of the original demo guitars and vocals. 

Future plans after this release?

I hope everyone who has a listen to ‘One More Day’ connects with it somehow. I have the second single, ‘Something to Hold’ due for release in March, and the other two singles I mentioned earlier to follow. 

I’m adding the finishing touches to the album at the moment which will have around 11 tracks on it. So if you like what you are hearing, I hope you check it out. 

I haven’t shared this yet but the album will be called ‘Never is too late.’ I hope anyone reading this who has always held back for some reason may be inspired to lean in to their passion. There are good people out there willing to help if you put in the work. Took me a while to figure that out… 

You can find me on Facebook and Insta at @adambricemusic or visit my website at adambricemusic.com

I’d love to hear what you think. 

Thank you  

Thank YOU Adam for taking your time to share you musical life to our readers at “Den Melodiösa Bloggen”. We will definitely keep an eye on your coming adventures.

Good Luck and welcome to heaten up our cold north here in Sweden with your music.

Thanks Thomas. Nice talking to you and for pay attention to my music.