We were lucky to catch up with Backwood Brad recently and have shared our conversation below.
Brad, appreciate you joining us today. Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?
This story starts late in my senior year of High School. (March-April 2006) It was while attending a job fair I would receive some words of encouragement that would change the way I think about things. A Navy Admiral said to me, “The way you do anything is the way you do everything.” In the moment I didn’t really think much about what was said but those words and his voice would begin to regularly replay itself inside my mind whenever I would start or complete a task. It wasn’t until my late 20s after years of battling depression, anxiety, PTSD and drug use that those words would be the words I needed to hear at one of the darkest times in my life. Repeating these words daily along with another phrase I repeat often “Not now is not no” that would help me start to feel like myself again. The first step towards anything is often the hardest but the last step is never possible without taking the first step! These days I’m happy to be in a better space mentally and emotionally while using the music I make to express myself and my story. I’ve never been that good at telling stories about myself and this is more of an awakening moment for me, than a detailed description of why I am who I am today but it all started with a choice. A choice to do better! A choice to eat better, sleep better, think better and overall improve my health and wellbeing! I’m on that path and have no desire of detouring these days! I often quote anime and this is the part of this story where I will do so also. One of my favorite anime is one titled “Fairy Tail” about magic and wizards and dragons and a lot of other fictional things. Natsu once said “I will never stop trying, I will never stop fighting for my future and everyone else’s, the world we live in is what we make of it… and no matter what’s going to happen tomorrow, I’m going to keep fighting to live today!” Gildarts also said “Fear is not evil. It tells you what your weakness is. And once you know your weakness, you can become stronger as well as kinder.” We are all in need of self discovery at times and this was one moment in my life that stands out often to me! Often hurt people hurt people. I have protected things I never intended to and also have hurt people out of pain and suffering I was going through myself. My music is an expression of my guilt, insecurities, bitterness, and repentance through a message of hope, forgiveness while traveling a path towards redemption! I want to wish peace, light and love to you all and don’t ever give up!! Our battles are all more connected than we will ever know!
Brad, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I go by Backwood Brad , but you can call me Brad, B-Rad, Brad-E Boy, Straw Hat Brad or The Sage. I am a hip-hop recording artist, song writer, poet, and motivational speaker. For me music was something that was a part of my life since a young age. My uncle Jay had friends in a cover band and would always play an array of music whenever we were together. My uncle Ed had friends and family who made music as well taking me into a music studio at a young age and I was actually able to see some of that process in my early preadolescence years. I grew up a military brat so I moved to the Tacoma,Washington area for middle school where I’d meet a life long friend (Zikki Carr) who I started the music journey with. I had begun to write poetry a few years earlier (7-8 years old) so to be able to make these into songs was something that really drew my interest. Zikki and DP (childhood/life long friend) on one of my first days of middle school with them during lunch took me to a group of people who were “freestyling” as they called it where individuals in the group “rapped or rhymed words together” one after another in a form of expression that would change my life forever! I started this journey long ago but only began to really take it seriously in 2020. There are a lot of of influences and people who have helped me get to where I am today , but for me consistency was always something that has plagued me in the past. I’m most proud of the consistency I’m able to display and staying focused on the positive changes I’m making on a day to day basis.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
I’ve been beaten, betrayed, abused and abandoned but none of it made me the villain I always thought I would become. We all battle demons but when the environment around you plays such a volatile role in the creation of such eminent forces could result in mental torture. Often escaping these feelings or emotions can seem impossible. Every where you turn there is negativity, doubt, pain, anger, excuses, danger, poverty, remorse, fear on a long list of other things you see no plausible outcomes that point to hope. No light in the darkness to show you the way out. Most of the tattoos I have are all dedicated to people I’ve lost along the way. Kendrick Lamar made a song called “sing about me” which is the best depiction of my music notes I have tattooed on my body. They are all people I lost, who I “sing about” often so to say with the thoughts and feelings that are invoked through memories of these individuals. As someone who was abused as a child until 14-15 years old. Sexually abused, exposed to substance abuse at a young age as well. I began drinking in my teens which led to me almost drinking myself to death. At age 24 I was having terrible stomach problems. I had IBS, GERD, developed ulcers and also was on the verge of Crohn’s disease several doctors had told me due to inflammation in my intestines. I made a personal choice to change everything. I changed my diet and my whole lifestyle at that point. Within 2 years I was no longer taking medications for any stomach related issues and the ulcers were gone. Most of the damage related to poor choices were almost all corrected. Everyday isn’t rainbows or full of happiness but it also is not the extreme negativity or feelings of despair. Happiness is not a daunting task or challenge but a personal choice and a mature mindset to know it’s a choice regardless of the battle or circumstances. I’m sure they may be exceptions to these things but I try not to be my own exception. In my experience the hardest part of anything is often what you believe it to be. I refuse to be my own worst enemy today! I’m happy to be in the space I am mentally today!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Most of my life I had done things in hopes to fit in to a particular group or be part of a particular community etc etc It wasn’t until 2019-2020 I really grew out of that. I was 30+ years old and finally emotionally mature enough to forgive myself for the pain and misery I had caused myself. Actually loving myself which is something I’ve struggled with and still do at times. I confided in personalities or characters I would create within the music I make and was able to integrate these better into my day to day life over time. Currently I’m in therapy still working out a lot of the mental anguish but the willingness to do this was not always there! Keep fighting and never give up!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://backwoodbrad.storenvy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realbackwoodbrad?utm_source=qr
- Facebook: Facebook.com/backwoodbrad
- Twitter: Twitter.com/backwoodbrad
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/c/BACKWOODBRAD
- Other: https://linktr.ee/BackwoodBrad https://backwoodbrad.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Photos by : GBU Filmz (Gary Myers Jr) Alex Beasley Backwood Brad