We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Bryce Maopolski, Reece Maopolski and John Haring NA a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Bryce Maopolski, Reece Maopolski and John Haring, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Learning the craft of being a musician has so many facets and intricacies. Beginning with the simple discipline of practicing your instrument with dedication and vigor, all the way to learning the ins and outs of the industry we hope to thrive in, the most key skill in all of this is perseverance and unwavering belief in your goals. Emphasis on “your”. Create the music YOU want to hear. Play the shows YOU want to play. All of this will come together to make the life YOU want to live. Invest in the scene you want to thrive in and show them your true, unapologetic self while staying open minded to learn more, experience new things, and overcome new obstacles. Be willing to learn, to help, and to take the next step when that time comes. Be you and others will love what only you can make.
Bryce Maopolski, Reece Maopolski and John Haring, 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?
Brotality is comprised of myself, Bryce Maopolski (guitarist/vocalist), my brother Reece Maopolski (bassist and vocalist), and John Haring (drums). We each came from a home that revolved around music and we grew up with parents who enjoyed metal. This led to us being around it all the time which sparked our desire to become a part of this scene. For years, starting in middle school, we played 3-4 hour gigs in local bars, covering all of the classic hits and playing to community members, until we realized in 2018 that we wanted to release our own music to the world. Thus began Brotality. We began recording music on our own and releasing it as soon as we could, which was very important to us. Though we may look back and see things we would change with our old music, we still released that music and it gave us a foundation to build upon. From there we began playing live, but not with long sets of covers, but with short, frantic explosions of our own music in our local metal scene. In 2022 John became our drummer and at this point we buckled down harder than ever. From here we began touring extensively (in the summers, while we are all on summer break from college), writing and releasing music that we feel truly captures our own sound, and pushing as hard as possible. We have done this process independently, and while we are still all college students, we operate as our own record label, distributor, booking agent, manager, tour manager, and more, simply for the love of the craft and the purpose of our mission.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In order to support artists and to create a thriving ecosystem of the arts, we need to actively go out and pursue art. We need to be immersing ourselves in a world that revolves around art and human expression. This doesn’t mean that we all have to live in studio apartments in Greenwich Village and frequent art shows every day, but we should be taking time on occasion to enjoy and appreciate the forms of human expression which others debut to the world. This can be as easy as going to an art gallery on a weekend, listening to that song that your friend’s band put out, or, a pretty big one, simply spread the word about others’ creative endeavors. Art, in any medium, is based off of self-expression and creativity, and when someone feels comfortable enough to allow this glimpse into their soul out into the world, we should be supportive and encouraging. So share someone’s creative efforts of your social media, stop by one of their shows, stream their songs, buy a shirt, do what you can to help them pursue their dreams just how you would love support for your dreams.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
At the forefront of all of our music is the mission to spread one simple message- you are loved and worth so much more than you know. You were created with a purpose and there are so many people, including us, who are genuinely so happy that you are here on the earth. There is hope for your life, no matter what you are going through, have been through, or what you may have done. We find music and live shows are the best way for us to spread this message and get one-on-one with fans who would never hear how much they are loved. We invite anyone reading this to contact us on any of our social media platforms if you would like to discuss any of this with us or to talk about where we find our hope in life. You are loved.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.brotalityband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brotalityband?igsh=eHZic214cWRweG8w&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brotalityband?mibextid=hu50Ix
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@brotality6217?si=ihAY-BSa81TQU4Xi
Image Credits
Concert Fotos by Chad