Warped In Reverse - Episode #10
Interview by Cosmic-A (Monica Demattei) | Transcription by Kiya Gaskin
At the Vans Warped Tour 2016, Tour Press Force headed to the acoustic stage to catch up with SayWeCanFly. SayWeCanFly is the solo project of Canadian singer/songwriter Braden Barrie. Since he was 14, Barrie has been writing and compelling audiences with his soothing music.
This not being Barrie’s first Warped rodeo, he played on the tour once before, the singer said that he was a great and less stressful time on the tour.
“(The tour has) been good,” Barrie said. “It’s nice having a year under my belt. Coming into this tour, I knew how it goes. It doesn’t feel so insane this time, so it’s been really good playing on the stage.”
Barrie still finds it surreal how many fans show up to watch him and sing along with him during his set.
“(The fans) are amazing,” he said. “They run everything pretty much. It’s really cool to be able to meet so many kids every day and hear them sing my music. When I started, I never really thought that it would ever mean anything to anyone. So it’s still really amazing.”
Through his music, Barrie hopes to show people that we are not all as different as we pretend to be.
“I started writing songs because I was going through a lot of stuff when I was a kid,” he said. “I didn’t really have any friends. I was very depressed. So (songwriting) was kind of my only friend. Meeting so many people, no matter what age, who go through that stuff and experience all the same things, it means a lot to me to show people that we all go through that stuff and we aren’t that different. I think that’s really what’s wrong with the world. We’re very separated from each other and we don’t need to be.”
After Warped Tour, SayWeCanFly released a new album called Blessed Are Those through Epitaph Records. Ten years from now Barrie sees himself doing what he loves, but he would also like to accomplish a few major milestones.
“I’d like to still be doing this,” Barrie said. “I think I will be; I’ll never stop writing. There are certain things I want to accomplish in life. I want to have one of my songs placed in a movie at some point. I want to tour with Ed Sheeran. I really hope I’ve grown.”
Sometimes being a musician is difficult, but Barrie believes that perseverance can get people through anything.
“You have to be willing to work,” he said. “I really believe that if you know what you want and believe in yourself, it kind of does the work. You have to go with the flow of things and stay in the moment. I think staying present is a huge part of it. I’ve been doing this for seven years and I feel like there are times when I doubt and get hopeless and want to give up, but I just can’t. I want to be doing this for a living and be able to share my art with people. That’s all I can ask for.”
Barrie explained that he gets through his doubt by recognizing that his music helps so many others, and that his fanbase is his support system.
“Sometimes it’s so hard because no matter what anyone says to you, you still feel it inside,” he said. “Whatever you feel is all that matters at the end of the day. I think knowing that there are a lot of people in the world who care about what I’m doing and care about me even if I don’t know them, that helps a lot. And I’m very blessed to have that, to feel that kind of love from people no matter how I feel, that’s a big part of it.”
Although many artists connect with fans on social media and through other outlets, Barrie sees his music as the best and most important way he connects with fans.
“My best way is writing music,” he said. “I’m not the best at talking, but I know I can put everything into my songs, and I think that’s kind of the closest connection I get with people.”
For anyone who missed SayWeCanFly at Warped Tour, Braden will be on his Storyteller Unplugged Tour across Europe and the United States this coming May.
Check back every Wednesday for a new Warped in Reverse. And don’t fret! There are only 99 more days until Warped Tour 2017.