Interview With Brad Sevy

We are joined by Brad Sevy to chat about his music and future in the music industry! We’re excited to learn more about you! Let’s dive right in. Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your latest release? What motivated you to create this particular piece of art?

The love for God and wanting to get the word out on how much God loves each and everyone of us.  I started a church a few years back called, by no coincidence, Living Love and we had this really cool band.This really, really good band! Yes! So we decided to record an album to help supplement the Church. One thing led to another, members of the band came and went, but Wayne Ingram stuck around and after a seven year labor of love we finally finished the album, Living Love, which will be released in November. But through that seven years the desire to get the word out of God’s goodness was the driving factor that kept us motivated and inspired. 

The artwork for this release is so unique. Could you share the story behind the visual elements and how they connect with the music or content? 

I started Storm Chasing back in 2019 and have gone now three times total. I learned to chase from some of the top photographers in their field. The chases took me all over the midwest from Texas to Montana, and I saw these incredible storms, in incredible locations and I took some amazing photographs while we were recording the album. When Wayne saw the pics we decided that we should incorporate these amazing photos, which was Mother Nature in all of Her pure beauty, with the natural purity of these photos that fit with the glory of the music we were making along with the Lyric Videos. It’s actually a perfect fit.

What was the creative process like for this project? Did you face any challenges or breakthrough moments during its development? 

Absolutely! Man seven years worth. I’m so grateful for Wayne Ingram, the dude is a warrior! With band members coming and going during this time I had to figure out how to make this work out. With lots of prayer and patiences we prevailed. Wayne started working for Han Zimmer and for three of those years we could only record like three hours each month. Then when that gig ended we were able to dedicate four days a week to recording.

As far as the creative process, one song on the album God is Love had a version that is not on the album. We had thought we had finished the album and we went home to listen and came back a few days later with notes. When we saw our notes Wayne and I looked at each other and said, “We need to redo this song!’ So we stripped it down to nothing, that’s why it starts out acapella. Then I was silent and prayed asking the Father what he wanted us to do with this song. The ideas started to come measure by measure. The first day we had four bars. At the end of the second day we had 16 bars. That’s how the inspiration came for that song. Sometimes I hear notes and riffs in my head. If I can’t play them on the keyboard, I’ll sing them and Wayne will figure it out and we have magic. That’s why I liked working so much with Wayne because we had a connection to each other. For the guitar solo for Redeemed I air guitared the solo I wanted and Wayne got it, dude so cool. I don’t look at myself as a musician in the sense as the guys I play with, I can’t play like them but we find ways to make it all happen with God’s guidance and inspiration.

Your music has always been known for its unique style. How would you describe the sound and themes that listeners can expect from this release? 

It’s officially CCM, Contemporary Christian Music, but I think we expand a little more to the Christian Alternative side more or less, but we also have some really good deep worship songs too. We wanted to have a fresher sound, I think more of a cross over feel so some of the influences in sound comes from a band called Pvris. Love their sound and how they craft their songs. We also like Phil Wickham too. His deep love for God and Jesus really comes through in a really energetic way with lots of rockin’ soul behind it. Check out his Children of God album which came out a few years ago for example.

Collaborations can bring a fresh perspective to an artist’s work. Were there any exciting collaborations involved in this project, and how did they impact the final product? 

I was DJing throughout the ‘80’s and ended up Music Supervising on Various shows for Paramount and Warner Brothers all through the ‘90’s. While doing that I met some really great musicians James Newton Howard, Danny Elfaman, Steve Porcaro, John Keen and Jay Ferguson who composed our show Viper. Jay was in the band Spirit in the ‘60’s, became a solo artist and had a big hit with “Thunder Island” and then formed Jo Jo Gunne and had a hit with the song “Run Run Run”. Jay and I became good friends and started writing songs together, one being Living Love’s latest release Faithful.

When I collaborated with Jay on writing Faithful. I started out by asking Jay that I wanted to do a song that had a techno feel but had a driving rock edge to it. I had the lyrics already from a hymn written in 1792 that I wanted to use. So Jay went to work and came up with something like 16 bars that we then took and edited into this beast of a song. Kathie Talbot came in and layed down the melody and sang for the demo. Jay has been the composer for NCIS Los Angeles for the past 12 years or so and Kathie has been doing music for movie trailers for the past 15 years.

Jay and I also collaborated on our Christmas Song, “What I Want for Christmas (Peace on Earth)” coming out at the end of October. Make sure to check it out. It’s really fun. 

As an artist, growth and evolution are essential. In what ways do you feel you’ve grown or evolved as an artist with this new release?

Patience. That is the biggest thing I think came out of this experience. Knowing and listening for what is God’s time instead of Brad’s time. I’m still learning that but at the same time I know I’ve come a long way. I’m a better keyboard player and drummer now and a better singer too, thanks to singing in the choir over at Lake Ave. Church in Pasadena, CA. I trust God more and I know that His time is what I need to be open to,

Thank you for joining us today Brad, we are so excited to see your music career flourish! Lastly, where can our audience follow you on social media to stay updated on your future projects and connect with you?

Thanks for having me too, this was fun! You can follow, and yes please follow us Living Love, it helps a lot. Check us out at these sites:

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/livingloveband/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LivingLoveBand

YOU TUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@LivingLoveBand

URL: https://livingloveband.com/

SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5tEqf91tpb6G0HQGKeEcRp?si=j3yempbDTcCN-w8HpFHsyQ

End of Interview