Bruno Major on performing live: ‘It’s the completion of the creative process’

Bruno Major on performing live: ‘It’s the completion of the creative process’

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A talented musician and an old soul through and through, Bruno Major has given us anthems that are poetic and utterly sentimental. Casual listeners might know him for “Nothing” and “Easily,” but there’s more to uncover.

His debut album, “A Song For Every Moon,” was born out of his commitment wherein he “recorded and released a song every full moon for a year.” “To Let A Good Thing Die,” his sophomore record released at the height of the pandemic, is a collection of slow-burn, jazz-tinged songs that capture love in a vulnerable light.

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This year, he returned with more heart-stirring music as he debuted “Columbo.” He’s also back on the live stage, with Manila serving as one of the Asian stops of his “Tour of the Planet Earth.” He returned to the country on August 15, 2023, and held a sold-out show at the New Frontier Theater, courtesy of Karpos Multimedia.

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Ahead of the said concert, he boarded the Wish 107.5 Bus and talked with the Roadshow’s DJ Alice about his newest outing, performing live, and more.

I really do want to ask you about the trend of things that are happening right now for you and your career. So, would you say you’re happy with your trajectory?

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Yes. [But] I think it does not do one well to focus too much on one’s own trajectory. You only have to do what makes you happy and what inspires you every day. Because if you think about too much about that kind of stuff, you know, there’s always going to be people who are doing better than you and worse than you.

So, you should never compare yourself to others and your trajectory is just what it is. I learned in COVID that you don’t you don’t really have control over your life. I thought you did. But you don’t. So you just get on with it and you know the show must go on.

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And all of these thoughts and feelings are actually chronicled in your album “Columbo.” So can you take us deeper into that?

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During Covid, I didn’t really write anything because there was not much going on, and art is a product of its environment. And so for me, I didn’t really want to write songs about eating ham sandwiches from my mom and dad’s fridge. So I just didn’t write.

And then as soon as the lockdown ended, I got the first flight to Los Angeles and I bought this old Mercedes, a 1981 Mercedes 280sl, which I call “Columbo.” I was driving around in this car, feeling the wind in my hair and feeling free and inspired for the first time. And I wrote so many songs in that period. It was like a creative explosion.

So the reason I call my album “Columbo,” even though it’s a car — and it’s pretty weird to call your album after a car — [is that] for me, that car was emblematic of a period of time in my life, which is very special. So it’s a metaphor, as songs often are.

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Speaking of special things… You’re currently in the middle of a tour. What do you love most about that experience?

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I feel like playing live is like the completion of the creative process. Imagine if you’re a painter, and you did an amazing painting, and then you just hung it in your attic and no one ever saw it. It wouldn’t really be a painting, would it?

Art has to be consumed for it to be art. And so when I come to a place like Manila, and I stand in front of people, and I hear them singing the words, and I feel that energy — because you can really feel the energy of people — it means a lot more than just looking at, like, some numbers on the Spotify page (Love you, Spotify). It’s not like real human connection in the way that playing a live show is.

So, yeah, it means everything honestly, it really does. And you can meet people and shake their hands and they tell you, You know your song helped me get through a breakup or helped me because I lost my grandma or whatever it is. And it gives me a sense of purpose in my life.

What’s your message to all of your fans here in the Philippines?

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My message is I can’t believe you exist for a start. It’s wild for me to come to the Philippines. I come from London, which is a long way away. And yet you make me feel really at home. So, thank you for existing.

Stream Bruno Major’s newest album, “Columbo,” below:

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Catch Bruno Major, along with all of your favorite musicians, in our newest Spotify podcast, Roadshow Interviews. New episodes will be uploaded every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting September 4.

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