Exclusive: Brandon Victor Dixon Is In His Songwriting Era

As musical theater fans know, Brandon Victor Dixon is no stranger to dominating a Broadway stage. With his very first credit in The Color Purple, he was nominated for a Tony Award. Five Broadway shows and two more Tony nominations later, the Broadway star is now entering into a self-described "expansion" of his musical career with a debut album of recorded music.

The currently untitled album, dropping later this year, has been previewed with the recently released single Maybe. Penned by Dixon himself, this first song tackles themes of homefulness and resilience during a time in which, for many people, those qualities are sometimes difficult to come by.

BroadwayWorld caught up with the performer to discuss the unique single, what fans can expect from the full album, and finding the right collaborators for the project.

This interview has been condensed for clarity and length.

---

This marks your debut album, which includes some original songs. When did you begin writing music?

I started writing music years ago. I think, like many artists, the traumas of the heart led me to start to seek to express myself through songs. So I began writing about relationships, but it's just been kind of like a hobby. I would write here and there, maybe I'll help somebody with something. But I came into the space in the last year or so where I really wanted to put my own music out there.

You recently got off a successful run in Hell's Kitchen. How did you find the time and energy to begin this album during that run?

I was thinking about it a lot while I was off-Broadway with Hell's Kitchen. I really got started in earnest during the break between off and on Broadway, just working to organize my time and work on the rest of the music. I think the thing that really takes time is finding the right collaborators for each song. 

I know you wrote the single "Maybe," but what about the rest of the tracklist? Are there other original songs and covers as well?

Most of them are covers. There are definitely two originals on there, but we might add another. I chose the songs based on whether I thought there was something uniquely compelling about what we were doing with them that would make them interesting.

The originals were picked if they had an appropriate sonic relationship to the covers that I had already chosen, and if they had a messaging relationship that could go in as well. I would probably call the genre of the album something like "Pop/Soul." There are some big, culturally American pop hits in there, and they're songs that speak to different phases of life.

I’m curious if, when writing and recording an album, you feel you are using a different part of your creativity or flexing a different creative muscle than performing in a musical?

It is a different muscle, but I don't know that I've thought about it differently or approached it differently. Ultimately, it's about interpretation. That's what you're doing when you're performing scripted material: you're interpreting the work that's been created. If I'm covering something, I'm interpreting the material, and if I'm writing something, I'm still interpreting the thoughts and the feelings. It's like there are thoughts, feelings, and ideas, and how do we manipulate them? How do we interpret them into an artistic medium that can then be shared? 

This first single delves into the theme of hopefulness. I was wondering if there was a moment or experience you had that kind of made you feel like you wanted to tackle that particular theme in a song.

I think I encounter the things that made me want to tackle that theme on a regular basis. It's a theme that I deal with in different ways. Those images of conflict and challenge that are constantly flooding our screens make me want to address these kinds of issues. But also, when I see random acts of kindness in a video, I find that very moving. I know that connection and kindness are the majority of what is circulating, even if it's not the majority of what's being pushed through our screens.

The design of the song is to remind people that these are cycles. We're going through cycles of violence, but there was a time in human existence and human consciousness when we were united as a people and connected on higher levels than we are now. And can we choose to return to that if we're willing? We're certainly capable, but are we willing?

I found your artist statement on your website where you say, “As an artist, I’ve always wanted to inspire people. Not to act or sing necessarily but to reach for that which is greater than themselves. Because succeed or fail, the beauty is in the endeavour.” How do you hope that this project accomplishes that?

I hadn't thought about that statement specifically concerning the album or this song, but it still applies. Not every artistic pursuit is going to reach the highest of heights. Not every song is going to hit number one, but hopefully, the attempt of what the song and album are trying to push, and those intentions, are enough to get us to the next step.

Hopefully, my desire as an artist to put this kind of work out there is compelling enough, even if not every recorded track on the album is everybody's favorite. I am endeavoring to communicate something, to put something out there, and there is beauty in the endeavor. We are inspired, not when we are assured of the outcome, but when we see somebody willing to take the leap, even if they don't know where they're going to land. 

You mentioned earlier that you have some collaborators with you on this album. Who are some of the people who helped bring it to life?

First and foremost, I would cite the singer and musician Ryan Shaw. He co-produces a lot of my songs with me, and he vets my songwriting. He also did the vocal arrangements for the backgrounds on the album.

I also have collaborators like Rick Hip-Flores, with whom I went to college. He and Ray Angry both collaborate on the string arrangements for me. I have Tony Award-nominee Crystal Lucas-Perry and the talented dancer and actress, Leanne Antonio, singing in the background with me. 

Looking ahead, do you see this album as kind of a new chapter for you artistically?

I think so, but I'll probably describe it as an extension or an expansion. I pretty much have half the second album done. For that, the songs are a bit different, and the style deployed is a little different.

But it is an expansion, and I think that's why I'm starting with the songs that I've chosen and the style in which I've chosen to do them. It's very much connected to the style of music with which people are familiar with me being associated: classics, standards, and traditional soul and R&B. A lot of the traditional soul and R&B that you're used to hearing from me is Motown or Motown-related such as Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles. But then there's also Sondheim and things from traditional musicals. So you get a blend of styles. Even if I took a pop song that I decided to cover, I might do it with an orchestra and a spring arrangement, so we're giving it a different feel.

Could you see yourself writing songs for musical theater?

I don't see myself doing that. Interestingly enough, I was up in my alma mater, Columbia University, last week. Columbia has a program called The Varsity Show, which is a student-written, produced, and performed musical satire on life on campus, and it's been going on for 131 years now. We were honoring one of our alums, the actress Kelly McCreary. Kelly and I had done the show together at Columbia, and so I introduced her while they gave her her award. That is the last time that I really wrote musical theater songs. It was when we were doing this musical.

Do you have any upcoming Broadway or theater projects on the horizon that you are excited about or can talk about?

I do not, but I will be appearing live in Los Angeles with the organization MUSE/IQUE, and I'll be performing a number of tunes with them June 15th through the 18th. And we'll announce tour dates for the album when it comes out in the fall.

---

Photo credit: Rachel Monteleone