TMI doesn’t exist for 23-year-old Canadian artist Braden Bales. In 2023, TikTok clung to his song “CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,” a candid rumination on the tension between his mental health struggles and his pursuit of creative fulfillment through music. Maybe the chorus’ sheer relatability is to blame, but so are the short-form videos of Bales hooked up to his CPAP machine for his severe sleep apnea, or the clips divulging that he lived out of his car for a month when he first moved to Los Angeles to pursue his music career.
Two EPs and his first-ever headlining tour later, Bales is still doubling down on striking a chord with his audience, and not just through his catchy pop-rock tunes. “I think the role that I play is being the open book people can read,” Bales told WSN. He doesn’t stray from overly honest explanations on the breakups and mistakes that influence his songwriting on social media and reaches out to fans about their own hardships.
With the release of his new single “SUBTITLE” off his new EP “5 STAGES OF GRIEF,” which comes out later this year, Bales sat down with WSN to discuss maintaining vulnerability in his music, social media’s ongoing impact on his career and what to expect from his upcoming project.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
WSN: Less than three years ago, you were living out of your car in LA while simultaneously trying to establish yourself as a musician. Now, you’ve just finished your first headline tour in North America. How has your journey here shaped you as an artist?
Bales: The biggest thing that it’s done for me is show me that no situation I’ve ever been in — or ever will be in — is unique to me. Seeing that other people felt the same way that I feel took away the negative feeling of vulnerability, where I felt like I could be alienated. It’s encouraged me to be a little bit more adventurous in my art, and a little bit more honest and just say exactly what’s on my mind, because I know that I’m not alone in that.
WSN: What was it like being able to interact with your audience in a new way on this tour?
Bales: Interacting with the audience felt so good as a headliner. I felt like I could do whatever I wanted, knowing that these people were there to see me after so many tours of them not really being there to see me. Before the first show of this run in Toronto, I threw up. I was very nervous. And immediately as I got on stage, I was like, ‘This is awesome. I want to do it as much as I can now.’ This was the first time that I fully owned a stage, and I didn’t expect that. I did a lot of wild things that I didn’t feel like my music fits for me to do. I started ripping my shirt off halfway through the set. I gave people lap dances on stage. I went out in a boxing uniform for my intro.
Being able to show people the new project before it comes out was also lovely because it felt like I was showing my family my music. It felt really good to showcase that EP and this new, vulnerable part of myself with all the people who are the biggest fans.
WSN: Two years after the virality of ‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,’ do you find your relationship with the music industry has changed at all?
Bales: I don’t know if it’s gotten better or worse, to be honest. The feeling behind ‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS’ was about wanting to be able to make music for the rest of my life as a job. That’s what I’ve been doing, and I’m extremely thankful. But what I understand now about the industry that I don’t like is that everybody will treat you according to a number. You have to work tirelessly to bring your vision to life and detach yourself from the outcome.
WSN: Social media has been an integral part of your career as a tool to connect with your audience. How do you navigate your pursuit toward transparency in a digital landscape that’s so concerned with image?
Bales: I’ve tried very hard recently to strip back my efforts on social media and make less ‘salesy’ content. It’s been the hardest part, especially since you’re being judged every day on how well the video is going to do. I want to make sure that there’s enough of myself that when something does go viral again, people can latch on to me and understand who I am and who they’re listening to very quickly.
WSN: You’re credited as a co-producer on ‘5 STAGES OF GRIEF.’ What was it like stepping into this role and developing your sound more autonomously?
Bales: I used to produce and mix master all my own music before ‘CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,’ and getting away from that felt amazing at first. But with this new EP, I was in a place mentally where I felt I needed to express myself in a new, fluid way. It really helped me dial in the specifics and make it into something that was more of a project and less of just five random songs. I will definitely be doing it more, and I think maybe for the next EP, I’ll be the only producer on it.
WSN: What can listeners expect from the new project? Has it made you rethink your own grieving process?
Bales: Listeners can expect similar music to before, but this project is more simple. It’s meant to be played live, and sounds like it could be played in front of you.
What it taught me about my own process of grieving is that going through those stages doesn’t mean you’re going to end up completely fine and over it. It’s fully coming to terms with the new reality you’re facing, and allowing yourself to fully feel all the emotions that come with it.
WSN: You hold a degree in audio engineering from the Metalworks Institute. What advice would you give to young people pursuing music who are also anxious about the need to ‘make it?’
Bales: Do more work than everyone else. If I did audio engineering school and only did school, it would have been terrible — I wouldn’t have learned anything. Going into music, there’s always a minimum you can do, but there’s no maximum. If you’re somebody who doesn’t like to work hard, this is probably not the industry for you. You have to be passionate about music enough that you will live and breathe it for as long as you have to. Stay in touch with why you love it.
Contact Dani Biondi at [email protected].