We recently connected with Brandon Lehman and have shared our conversation below.

Brandon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump to the end – what do you want to be remembered for?

I think less about how people will talk about me after I’m gone and more about what kind of place I’m leaving behind for younger generations. I’m even more interested in laying the groundwork now for a better experience in the music world for audiences and creators alike. I’ve been lucky to experience all that I have so far in my career, but some things have come much harder than I think is necessary. My focus is and will always be to work to smooth out some of these pain points for those that come after me.

It is so, so important to me that people continue to write, perform, learn, connect, experience through music every day, at any level, whether recreationally or professionally, with as little friction and as much access to spaces, funding and other resources as possible. It is also very important to me that fellow professionals in the music industry feel financially supported by their craft both on a daily-basis and as they look towards post-career endeavors. As I’m currently focused on how spaces can impact our creative communities, I will eventually be shifting my focus to financial support and the dreaded R-word: ‘Retirement’. Retirement, to me, means less about end-of-work and more about how our time spent working in creative industries will allow for comfortable living as we get older.

These plans, I hope, will make a substantial impact on our younger creators and audiences even after I’m gone.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m a professional musician, event producer and business owner in Pittsburgh, PA. I’ve done a lot, from writing songs, touring the country, working as a hired-gun guitarist for artists all over, producing shows, making records and now, running a rehearsal and production studio called Little Giant.

I kind of had a dual musical upbringing, attending my uncle’s brass band and symphony concerts and studying jazz/classical music in school. During and after school, I also started, toured and wrote songs with a handful of rock bands. Coming up in those bands, I had a DIY work ethic that seemed to work well in that context. We booked our own tours, made our own merch, recorded our own music and threw our own shows. It was empowering to know how far we could take things with our own two hands. The more I experienced, the more I learned about aspects of our industry that were either broken, or didn’t really work as well as I thought they should’ve. I also learned how Pittsburgh was severely underserved both in resources and funding for creators. That started me down the path to diagnose problems my peers and I would encounter, and design solutions to those problems.

Some plans worked while others didn’t. Among the more successful ideas were:

– Multi-faceted concerts that would feature collaborations with local brewers, chefs, visual artists, bringing more to the stage than simply a band playing music
– A regular networking event and jam session that would invite musicians, storytellers, and other creators to meet and perform in the same space
– Publicly accessible resources like performance contracts and flyer templates
– A boutique agency, pairing great artists/bands with clients in need of great live music
– A studio for more meaningful music rehearsal and creation

That last one is called Little Giant. We started in 2022 in a tiny 15×15 storage room as a practice space. We’ve since turned into a multi-room rehearsal facility, production studio and creation lab with industry-standard professional sound, backlined performance area, podcast studio, office space and a classroom. We even host live shows with the help of our friends at Bottlerocket Social Hall. We’ve had both bands from all over the world & emerging local groups rehearse, play or record here. It has been fulfilling, to say the least, to see how creators will use a space that is purpose-built just for them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I’m not sure if this was a lesson I was taught growing up or one I simply learned myself through observation, but when developing an idea, I needed to think about and be ready to answer almost any question about the idea itself. By the end of the development phase, it was important to me to be able to look 5 miles down the road and have a plan for every obstacle, personal or economic change, answers for what-ifs. What I eventually learned is that, to be ready for anything, you don’t need all the answers. In fact, needing those answers up front may lead you to delay your idea or worse, it never seeing the light of day.

What you need is trust. Trust in yourself, your mind, your agility. Trust in the team you’ve built around you. Trust in your audience. A colleague of mine says all the time, “you’ve got to be able to drive the car while you’re assembling it”. You can only foreshadow so many variables. Aside from that, be ready to adapt. You will ALWAYS need to adapt. I’ve learned this with making records as much as I have with Little Giant.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

My business is built by and for musicians and creators, so as long as the space has the amenities necessary for music creation and preparation, word-of-mouth works wonders in this space.

Now, when I was first opening I had to think of just how much time I had as a full-time performer to serve my peers who were also performers. I can’t be at the studio every day to meet clients, nor did I want my hours of operation to limit when they can utilize the space.

I put a lot of attention and effort into automating Little Giant to truly make it a self-serving operation with 24/7 availability. My clients still have the option to have me or someone else on-site to assist in a recording session, playback for a rehearsal, or to produce a podcast, but I am not present for the majority of sessions booked. As you can imagine, folks in our industry are used to odd hours. This flexibility resonates with them more than any piece of gear in the studio itself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.littlegiant.io
• Instagram: instagram.com/golittlegiant
• Facebook: facebook.com/GoLittleGiant

Image Credits
Pat Francart Eddie Provident Tyler Vietmier David Beck