For the past two years, Brandon has been playing his dream guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Special Double Cut in TV yellow, which his Creative Director, Caroline Ridings, affectionately calls “Banana.” As we chat over Zoom about his latest EP Blush, Brandon excitedly shows off the guitar:
“This is my baby. I love this guitar dearly,” he says. “When I was 16-17, this was my dream guitar, and it still is. The tone is so beautiful. This is the best guitar ever made, unless I get one custom-built for me. I can make it sound big and heavy or light and thin—just how I want it.”
Brandon’s new EP Blush, his debut with Secretly Canadian, showcases the full range of his dream guitar. It sounds bold and powerful on the track Falling, supporting the choral quality of his layered vocals, while it becomes light and delicate on Without You, where Brandon’s precise picking interacts with Latin-inspired percussion.
Beyond its sonic capabilities, Brandon’s rhythmic approach on the guitar is fluid and responsive throughout Blush. Rather than repeating standard riffs, his guitar sounds evolve within the songs, creating an orchestral effect. Other instruments like drums and keys join in selectively, building around the guitar’s motion and mood.
“The EP is about feeling and movement. It takes you on a journey,” Brandon says of his more experimental approach on Blush.
A key part of that experimentation is Brandon’s multi-instrumental talent—he played every instrument on the EP except the saxophone. The freeform nature of the drums, bass, and keys comes from his process of building everything around the guitar.
“My band’s drummer once said I play drums like a guitar player,” Brandon shares. “Since guitar is my primary instrument, it’s usually the first thing I record, and I think about how everything else fits with it.”
On his earlier release, the 2020 EP Coming Clean, Brandon used a more traditional setup, relying on his 1997 Gibson CL-20 Plus acoustic guitar and a Squier Jazz Bass. However, he has since expanded his collection, adding a Hofner Jazz Bass, a fretless bass, a Fender 72 Twin Reverb amp, and various effects pedals, including Hologram Electronics’ Chroma and Microcosm, and, of course, his beloved Les Paul Special.
“I’ve got all the gear I need to make the music I love, so I thought, why not take some risks?” Brandon says. “Let’s see how far I can push things, see if I like it—and if others do too.”
Brandon has been pushing boundaries since he first picked up a guitar as a left-handed player. With lefty guitars hard to find, he initially played a right-handed guitar upside down, later restringing it to suit his needs.
“Being left-handed can feel like a disadvantage, but I love it,” Brandon says with a smile. “Once I got the guitar strung the right way, it changed everything for me. I felt more comfortable, more confident—like I finally belonged.”
After almost a year with the upside-down guitar, Brandon decided to search for a true lefty instrument. He eventually found a left-handed Epiphone Les Paul Special II on eBay, which had been modified by its previous owner. Despite the seller’s shady behavior, Brandon cherished his first left-handed guitar, discovering it had been rewired to sound like a ’60s Gibson.
“That was one of the happiest days of my life,” Brandon recalls. “It sounded amazing, like a vintage Gibson. I finally had something that felt truly mine.”
Though he still uses that first guitar on Blush, his connection with “Banana” runs even deeper.
“I’m definitely more confident with this guitar,” Brandon says of the Les Paul Special. “It’s just so fun to play. The neck is perfect. I don’t even know how to describe it—it’s just special. I can’t help but smile when I look at this guitar.”
As Brandon continues to write his debut album, following the release of Blush, he carries that confidence with him. When asked what listeners can expect from the album, he simply says, “People can expect me at my best.”
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