We were lucky to catch up with Brad Ponzar recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brad, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
The easiest thing I can say is they raised me right. I love my mom to death but to be honest the reason I’m a musician today is my dad. He put me on to rock and metal music early on listening to bands like Slayer, System of a Down, Foo Fighters and others.
Though he isn’t a musician himself without my dad I wouldn’t be who I am today and I cannot thank him enough for introducing me to this wonderful world of music.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Brad Ponzar I am the founder guitarist, bassist, harsh vocalist and lead songwriter for the local St. Louis band Brave New World.
I’ve been playing guitar for over a decade (since 3rd grade to be exact) and have been playing bass for roughly a decade as well. Outside of those I also play Alto Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Stand Up Bass (both finger style and with a bow) and 6-string Banjo. I’m a product of the Guitar Hero generation and wouldn’t have wanted to pick up an instrument without that game being as influential as it was.
I had been looking to start a band since middle school to no avail. Throughout middle school and high school I formed at least 5 different bands and none of them panned out so I eventually gave up on trying to make it work and figured Id meet people later in life to do this with. Thankfully, I was reached out by a teacher my senior year of high school to perform for our schools Comiccon which prompted me to once again try to get a band together.
This one finally stuck and I’m still playing with this band and we’re in the process of recording new music and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s turning out.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
While it may sound selfish I don’t do this for anyone but myself. If I can get people who enjoy my music that’s awesome but truly my goal is just to share my music with the world wether people like it or not. I know I can always look back on what I’ve done and be proud of what I’ve put put.
Ever since I started writing my own music I’ve dreamed of getting my music released for others to listen to. Now that it’s finally happening I’m feeling very accomplished and its the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Show up! You can stream our music to your hearts desire but without your live support we can’t continue to do what we love. Seeing the look on peoples faces when they show up and show their support for us live is more fulfilling than any amount of streams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/bravenewworldofficial?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAabVmSlmhm5S-oWpaliIQF1al1BbkfzFgiK_Wfl0U5lVPdvtp_tvmRzVl3g_aem_AfqlVS1Z2aRD56UMaYbOfE-4dWzD8I2q3ivKF77ZQdMlpXku5BwJ_mjd8BcOn7nBi_chgLUKjRjXkaJf_xuhE3Pc
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bravenewworld_official/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/thebandbnw
- Youtube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCbrS9ebuwgL3aiC1Raf26vA?sub_confirmation=1&sub_confirmation=1
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/brave-new-world/1498294021 https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XKb8ESmdej0CD02rW1mjx https://www.tiktok.com/@bravenewworld_official