Name: Brandon Miranda
Age: 22
Major: Guitar Performance & Economics
Hometown: Newport Beach, California
Campus Involvements: Delta Tau Delta, co-founded Chapman Surf Club, Chapman Guitar Ensembles
What is your passion?
I get afraid to say just music because it’s more than that. I guess the ability to inspire other people to create and that they can do so much. Music is my medium for communicating that.
How many hours a day do you practice your music?
So usually pretty much all day I’m doing something musical-you have to exercise the muscles the entire time. I’ll either be writing, studying, analyzing, recording, producing, playing piano, or any kind of musical activity. And when it comes to just practicing guitar it’s about 2-3 hours a day. And the crazy thing is that is not enough for me to be a professional guitarist.
How do your roommates feel about it?
Thank god Lijah is chill about it and he lets me practice in the room. I think it’s relaxing for him too. And since a lot of what I have to do when I practice is repetitive, I’ve noticed that they start to memorize what I play.
What’s the name of your band?
We are called Nightair.
How long have you guys been together?
The band started with the bass player (Lucas) and singer (Tony), about 2 years ago, and they wrote most of the music. Then they found me about a year ago. Then we finalized our lineup with Lauren, our drummer, in March. So the full band has been together for about 9 months now. It’s definitely been a journey.
What is it like to be a part of a band?
It is the most fun thing in the world because it’s music and it’s a cool community and you’re always really tight. It’s also extremely stressful, and a very spontaneous kind of lifestyle. You can’t rely on the idea of making money in the future- you just have to go day by day with what you love to do.
Tell me about what it was like to put out your first EP.
It was really cool, it was a really special experience. We haven’t been playing for really long, so everything has been on an accelerated path. We started playing out of my garage and our first couple of shows were at the D for like 5 people. We’ve made some really special relationships with people, who made it clear we needed to record professionally, not just out of my garage. So through that we met our producer, and he was really awesome. He’s extremely well-respected and professional. He was Young The Giants’ first producer and their tour manager so he has a lot of credibility. He really pushed us and made us realize what you can do as a musician and made us feel like we can take this very seriously. Then after getting the music side all done we had to get the logistics, the businesses, the art, and the merchandise all figured out. That was an insightful learning experience about how you deal with more than just the music. That was a growth experience and taught us to approach our art with a free spirit but also to be mature and disciplined and how to package it all together to release it. And this guy that’s been writing for us has this awesome quote, “Create like a child, detach like a warrior, and edit like a scientist” and that’s the way you should approach your art.
Who is your musical inspiration?
That’s so hard. I’m a huge music nerd and Chapman is all classical, so I’m a huge classical fan. I really like composers like Debussy, Ravel, and Wagner. They’re all composers that took music (because before them music was just music and they broke all the rules) and did something completely different. And that’s what I believe inspires art that lasts. And modern guys I’m listening to are Tame Impala and Kendrick Lamar. I think he (Kendrick Lamar) is the artist of our generation.
What is something people don’t know about you?
We have a bunch of poodles. My family loves poodles. I guess that’s something no one would expect. I’m also a secret nerd. Star Wars and Lord of the Rings are franchises I obsess over.
Be sure to check out Nightair’s website & EP!
Website: http://www.nightair.com/
SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/nightairband/sets/rzbn4kwrzuep