Photo Credit: Jimmy Fontaine
[Brynn Elliott](https://www.instagram.com/brynnelliott/?hl=en) is best known for her anthemic pop ballads, equipped with heartfelt lyrics inspired by real-life experiences and events we can all relate to in some way, shape, or form. Her Instagram bio currently reads “Beautiful is created in your mind,” which is the exact message she hopes to convey through her music.
Exploding onto the scene with her 2018 smash “Might Not Like Me,” Brynn continues on with the momentum, releasing a batch of records including “[Without You](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrynnelliott.lnk.to%2FWithoutYouPR&data=04%7C01%7CTiana.Timmerberg%40atlanticrecords.com%7C75bd0d2c81044b017d3808d935a1643b%7C8367939002ec4ba1ad3d69da3fdd637e%7C0%7C0%7C637599789591576196%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=qBf22D3Gti%2B5lbnm8a19GimYq9mZW%2FRz20NNBLLtyeA%3D&reserved=0),” “[Letter To A Girl](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrynnelliott.lnk.to%2FLTAGPR&data=04%7C01%7CTiana.Timmerberg%40atlanticrecords.com%7C75bd0d2c81044b017d3808d935a1643b%7C8367939002ec4ba1ad3d69da3fdd637e%7C0%7C0%7C637599789591576196%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=DKd35Ciwy8f2GYBdf1dXlCz9WMq8mA06SjPskr9ZdTc%3D&reserved=0)” and “[Tell Me I’m Pretty](https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrynnelliott.lnk.to%2Ftmippr&data=04%7C01%7CTiana.Timmerberg%40atlanticrecords.com%7C75bd0d2c81044b017d3808d935a1643b%7C8367939002ec4ba1ad3d69da3fdd637e%7C0%7C0%7C637599789591586190%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=V7tnn%2FQws0YGIykUMLUeLalAYUHOoZXBakp2Xohvvqo%3D&reserved=0).” With these powerful records come cinematic visuals, as Brynn performs and brings each record to life, while staying true to her authenticity and creativity as a recording artist.
Now, the singer-songwriter returns with her highly-anticipated new album aptly titled _CAN I BE REAL?_, wearing her heart on her sleeve and writing her most vulnerable music to date. While her debut EP _TIME OF OUR LIVES_ was directly inspired by her philosophy studios at Harvard University, this new body of work explores themes of authenticity, honesty and freedom, while empowering the masses all around the world. _CAN I BE REAL?_ is a question Brynn asks herself everyday, in turn helping others to also face their own truths.
_Flaunt_ caught up with Brynn via Zoom, who was posted in Atlanta spending time with her mother. Read below as we discuss the excitement surrounding the new project, why she named it _CAN I BE REAL?_, shooting the “Tell Me I’m Pretty” visual, headlining her own tour, biggest takeaway from studying at Harvard, how music is her therapy, and more!
**How have you been** [**since the last time we spoke**](https://flaunt.com/content/brynn-elliott)**?**
I've been good. Working on getting this EP out and ready to go, it's been such a blast.
**What’re you most excited for with the release of _Can I Be Real?_**
Yes! I'm most excited honestly to have it out. I wrote these songs before the pandemic and I hadn’t felt like it was the right time to release everything. Now’s definitely the right time, so I'm excited to have it out. I'm excited to finally have this music out. After this pandemic and everything, these songs mean more to me now than they did even when I wrote them. It'll be awesome.
**I know it's super honest, super vulnerable. Was it difficult at all for you to create the project?**
You know, it was difficult in the very beginning, because I had come off the road. I was on tour for a year and a half straight and I hadn't been writing really. I wrote a few songs here and there, but I came off the road specifically to write this next project. I had to think about what I’ve experienced in the last two years. I’d experienced all these amazing things for the first time, pursuing my dream of being an artist. I got to hear my song on the radio. I got to play the _Today_ show on TV, I got to play my songs in front of some of the biggest crowds I ever performed for.
All these dreams were coming true, I thought, "Wow how amazing,” But I'm such a people pleaser and this life of performance may be a little dangerous for me. I have to be careful and I have to make sure I'm being myself. When I went in to write the EP, I said "Okay, what does it mean for me in this moment and these songs, to be myself?" _Can I Be Real?_ came, and all the other songs really flowed from there. I do feel these songs are a real collection of who I really am and who I hope to be. As I continue to grow as an artist, I want to always come back to these main truths about who I am and be myself. Hopefully, encourage others to do the same in their own lives.
**What does it mean to create music that people can relate to, ultimately?**
It's very simple. Even though it's simple, it's very hard. Creating music that people can relate to is all about being vulnerable. The best songs come from this space of you being completely honest about where you are at. I talk about this on a lot of the lyrics of the EP but because we're all human, we're going to know what that person’s singing about. We're going to relate it to something else in our own life. I know for me, that's what music has been in my own life: hearing my favorite bands and artists talk about what their struggles are or what their happiness is. All those songs that come from that place are able to touch people, so I do hope this EP does that.
**What songs mean the most to you and why?**
“Can I Be Real?” is my own anthem, coming from my own perspective of, this is who I am. I’m a little weird. I'm a little obsessive, very ambitious. I get really vulnerable and honest about those things about myself that maybe I'm insecure about in the song. I've been practicing it, leading up to the EP release. Whenever I sing it, I feel a weight lifted. I feel freedom, so I'm really connected to that song.
There's another song called “Masterpiece” that when I wrote it, I was thinking what if Sia and Coldplay got together and wrote a song? \[laughs\] It was an experiment. As a songwriter, you're constantly trying to challenge yourself or put yourself in another box. I’d never written a song like “Masterpiece.” It means more to me now after the pandemic, because it's all about going through hardship, painful things and tragedy. We've all experienced that in the last year and so I'm excited for that one to come out.
**What does it mean to headline your own tour in September? I know performing is huge for you.**
Yeah, it's my favorite thing ever. It's so exciting after a period of not having live music to even say that I'm playing a show, let alone my own full-on headline tour. I'm really excited, I'm also really nervous because it's my first tour. That's my own. I've opened for a bunch of people and it's been the most incredible wonderful thing ever, but to say I'm going on my own tour... the tour is called Can I Be Real? Tour. It makes me a little nervous, but in a good way. It's a good nervous, I'm excited.
**How was it shooting the "Tell Me I'm Pretty" music video in the Palisades? I love the vibe, the aesthetic is everything.**
Gosh, it was incredible. We shot it last August, so we were coming off all of the major lockdowns. We did it really safely at this house in the Palisades. I wanted to give people a real experience with the video because we’re still in the thick of the pandemic and I didn't want it to be this simple video. I wanted it to be a big splash. I wanted it to be this historical narrative about women throughout history, how there was once a time where women had to wear corsets.
I knew I wanted to end the video in a power suit, to show that narrative of women finding their freedom and how that's continuing to happen. It can't be stopped! That’s honestly the video of my dreams, I'm really grateful we got to make it. I couldn’t have done it without Lauren Dunn, who’s the director of the video. She called me when we were thinking about doing it together. She said “well, my mom is a French Baroque antique dealer, so I have all these props and things.” A lot of the broaches I was wearing were actual French Baroque antiques from Lauren Dunn's mom, so thank you to Lauren and her mom. \[laughs\]
**Who or what inspired "Without You" as well?**
The “who” is a little bit sad because I'm no longer with this person, but I was very much in love when I wrote that song. I find it harder for me, interestingly enough, to write love songs. In some ways I wanted to put myself in an experience of “what does it mean for someone to not want to live their life without someone?” Because people get married and that's essentially what you're saying: I don't want to live a day without you.
I loved that the song spoke to that, and the song was really fun. I write a lot of music inspired by my feelings, I love to read philosophy. In every project I do, I want to make sure I have a song that’s really joyful and fun, that you can dance to. "Without You" was that for me on this one.
**What did you learn from studying at Harvard?**
Oh, my goodness, I learned so much! I still feel I'm unpacking what I learned at Harvard. The biggest thing I learned is to be present with people, with my friends. I made some of the most incredible friendships there, it was so wonderful to be on campus. I did travel a lot for shows and for music but when I was there, I really took time to be with people. It's really hard to do that, even now. \[laughs\] When I think back to that time, I think about the incredible people I got to meet.
**What’re you most excited for as the world opens back up?**
Going on tour, playing these shows. Getting to see everyone again! It really is the most exciting thing that we get to do this again. I'm releasing more music, even after this EP. I've been writing a lot during the pandemic so I have a whole other project ready to go. I’m excited to keep releasing and keep going.
**I saw your post about your dad's passing. I'm so sorry. How does music help you cope?**
Music is therapy, thank you for saying that about my dad. My dad was my person. He’s the first person to tell me I should be an artist, which I'm so grateful for. Music does help me cope and this project specifically, I'm really glad it's coming out now because these songs are all about what I'm feeling. It’s really hard for me to be perfect or on right now, because it's sad. It's sad I lost my dad.
These songs mean more to me now than they did even when I wrote them, having gone through what I've gone through. “Masterpiece” is an example of that, it's about finding beauty even despite the pain in this life (and there’s a lot of that). I owe literally everything to my dad. I hope I can go out there and make him proud with this music and keep going. If anyone else is going through a similar experience of grief, I hope I can encourage them through this music as well.
**Anything else you want to let the people know?**
I’m doing a livestream concert of the EP on Moment House on July 15th. My dad was a big part of that, he helped me. One of our things is we really loved to talk about my live show, creating moments and experiences on stage. He was really good at that, I’d always go to him for advice. This whole EP and all of the live experiences and shows surrounding it are a really beautiful tribute to my dad.
Photo Credit: Jimmy Fontaine
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