Artist Spotlight: Singer/Songwriter Terry Bright Interview!
Written By: Philip Johnson
I got the chance to interview singer/songwriter Terry Bright about his dope music and career! We first met at the Atlanta screening premiere for Philaye Films’ Flip Flop TV Show. The pilot episode featured Terry’s beautiful song ‘Fools Paradise’. Read this interview to learn about his dope art and check out his work!
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in Pensacola, Florida. I’m a Florida boy by nature; it’s so deep in my blood. But my 2nd home is Houston, Texas, AKA thee Florida Texan. Houston is where I got my first drink, got drunk for the first time, experienced a real date lol. The growth of me.
From your YouTube, I can tell you’ve been musically-inclined since childhood. When did you first know that you wanted to be a singer? How did the inspiration come about?
I wanted to be in entertainment in general. I wanted to be a wrestler, actor, track star, singer, songwriter, performer. I just always had a big Imagination. But I knew I wanted to be a singer when I saw TLC, Usher, Ciara, Aaliyah. I just didn’t know how to get started because my family wasn’t in show business. It was about getting an education and staying out of trouble. I’ve just always been driven. I go after the things I want, so now they see I can actually do it.
What is your favorite song that you’ve released? Favorite video? Why are these projects so special?
My favorite song is Eye 2 Eye because it’s a part of my everyday life even to this day. The message is about realizing you’re not the only one that’s going through a situation and everyone’s not gonna understand your situation. We grow everyday, and everyday could be a new situation.
My favorite video is Fools Paradise. When I wrote the song, I was so upset because everybody kinda overlooked it on my project so I shot the visual for it to show how beautiful sonically and visually the song is. And I even created this “Brotherly love“ pose to represent masculinity among men, because men’s masculinity (especially for R&B artists) always has this underlying agenda of homosexuality as if homosexuality is bad. Being gay is not bad, but every time a man shows vulnerability to show love to his brother, it always gets labeled as “Gay ass shit” lol and EVERYBODY IS NOT GAY!!! I’m not trying to be the spokesperson for masculinity, but there are a lot of females who represent girl power and black girl magic, and I never see great representation for masculinity. Men always gotta be hard. It’s so much pressure, and black men deal with mental illness a lot. We won’t seek therapy because we have this persona that we have to be the king of the jungle and we don’t have mental problems and we don’t deal with drama and that’s a lie. And from my perspective that’s why I feel like a lot of female entertainers do well because they can be dramatic and put on a great show and guys don’t really put on great shows because they are afraid of being labeled “GAY”. Y’all see what they put Tank through.
You released your 2nd mixtape, “Relationships Aren’t Everything”, at the end of 2019. We LOVE the songs!! Talk us through that album’s process from inspiration to release.
Whew! The inspiration can from years of living honestly. I feel like as an R&B artist, we talk about relationships a lot. That’s normal. But art comes from how someone dealt with the situation. For me the “relationships” that inspired this project were my friends, family, haters, producers, other songwriters, etc. Obviously in addition to my intimacy with another person lol. However, I didn’t want to create a project that talked about just love. For example, North Florida Flow talked about the progression of wanting to do better. I’m telling you watch me do better because Imma do better. I say “Every year is my year”. I want people to understand that this just don’t have to be only one year, but your lifestyle. It’s not going to be your only year you hit your “peak” because you manifested that every year is going to be your year. For years, I searched for validation. That’s normal for any young adult or kid chasing a dream. ‘Urban Dictionary’ talks about those “situationships“ that we find ourselves in. I just wanted to explain my title of the different variety of relationships people are in that I have experienced.
Your first mixtape, “Owls”, was released in 2017. What are the biggest differences between “Owls” and “Relationships Aren’t Everything”?
A lot of people don’t realize I’m doing a saga (water, fire, earth and air) four-part mixtape. My first project was the water element, blue cover. Water represents a new beginning, like a baptism, fresh start, going with the flow vibe. 2nd project was fire, representing passion, desire, rebirth, resurrection, eternity, destruction, hope and purification. So that’s why the 2nd project is call “Relationships Aren’t Everything”. It’s about self love, and figuring out how you wanna love yourself before you try to open up to love someone else. So my next project will be the earth element called “Fluorite”. It’s a crystal.
Who are some artists with whom you dream of collaborating in the future?
Solange, Dawn Richard, Frank Ocean, FRANK OCEAN!!! Lol Lil Keke from Houston and Beyoncé. Those are major ones musically to me. But I would love to collaborate business-wise, like a tour or feature, with Kehlani, Tinashe, Frank Ocean, SZA, Solange.
What has been 1 of your biggest obstacles in your music career? How have you managed/overcome it?
Nobody listening to my music. I overcame that, so now I feel like I can do anything. I can shoot the visuals now, and if they like the song they will at least watch the visual. I’m still learning this business and things have already changed because of the coronavirus. I was already in talks of possibly doing a full tour with Tayla Parx. I got to open up for her earlier this year and we were going to see if I could do a full tour in September. But shows and festival are a thing of the past for now.
I call myself the owl because I wanted to make self-conscious music; something you can learn from. And I wanted my very first project to represent something wise and strong and real R&B. My very first project represents me, the owl. Something timeless, like the old wise Owl.
Your music videos are breathtaking- from the concepts to the quality execution. Can you talk to us about the team that helps you CREATE THESE masterpieces?
A very small team, and I love discovering new videographers for my videos. I come up with a concept in the treatments. Then I scout a location, scout dancers if I need them, pay the dancers, pay for the location and the set up! I could do anything with my friends. Josh (@Tengofilms) shot Fools Paradise, Urban Dictionary promo video, and Think About It visual. De’shawn Crawford (@Uvlifestyle) did North Florida Flow. Rahjiv (Trinity productions) shot the dope ass Eye 2 Eye visual, Owls (single) video and i... visual. Lyrik London choreographed North Florida Flow. Shoutout to my guy Jordan (@justjstylezzz) for helping with Eye 2 Eye visual and Fools Paradise. I love visuals and thank you for watching and enjoying them!
What projects do you currently have in the works? What can we expect to see COMING UP from Terry Bright?
More visuals and merch, and hopefully something surprising happens like a music placement on television or something else dope in the in-between time.
thank you for talking with us! Where can the readers find you? what can they do to best help support your career?
Instagram/Twitter: @TerryBright
TIKTOK : @Terrybrightlife
Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: Terry Bright!
Stream my music everywhere on Apple Music, Tidal, YouTube, etc.
Thanks for reading, and make sure to share this post + Terry Bright’s social media and music!!
With love,
-Philaye FIlms