It all started at Van’s Warped Tour where a dream formed and catching a guitar pic that lead to Bri Carter deciding that she needs to be on the big stage one day. Bri made it clear that music is what she wanted to do and has easily became a thriving independent artist throughout the years. Being an artist who is also part of the LGBTQIA+ allowed her to express herself in ways that provides safety and understanding to listeners who might be afraid to be who they want due to scrutiny and judgement.

Bri Carter: “Well, I guess I’ll start with what made me want to make music or to be an artist. So I guess the main thing was when I went to Warped Tour in 2015 or 2014. Are you familiar with the band Pvris? So I loved their music and stuff, and so I saw that they were playing at Warped Tour, and I was like, “Oh
my God, I have to go see them.” And just seeing the lead singer, Lynn Gunn, on stage was such an
empowering moment for me as a 15-year-old because back then there wasn’t really a lot of female-fronted bands. It was mostly just men. And just seeing her rock out and be such a powerhouse was just such an insane moment. And then at the end of her set, she threw her guitar pic into the crowd, and I got it. So that was an insane moment. And I actually started crying, which was so dramatic, but I was like, “Oh my God, I got it.“

Bri continues: “But I actually have a really good story about that. So that happened, right? This was like 10 years ago. And then Pvris had a 10-year reunion tour for that album. And so I was like, “Of course, I have to go.” So I bought the VIP meet-and-greet to meet Lynn and stuff. And then when I was talking to her, I told her the story of how I got her pick, and I actually brought it with me to show her. And then she was and then I gave her one of my guitar picks because I was like, “You inspired me so much as an artist. This is just kind of a full circle moment for me to give you something of mine.” And then she was like, “I actually just found a guitar pick in my pocket before.” And so she gave me another guitar pick of hers. So now I have two. And it was just a crazy 10-year full circle moment for me, so.”

“I Don’t Know Who She Is” is the artist’s new single that was released back in March and it’s about being able to finally accept who you are and that the person you use to be does not exist anymore. The single feels like a quiet confession that didn’t have instrumentation that overpowered the vocals that allowed Bri to bring the listener on a journey of her life. You can sense suffocation within the vocals because the song is so emotionally honest that it feels like you can’t breathe, but towards the end of the song; you become more connected to your true self.

Interviewer: You released a single not that long ago. I don’t know who she is. Is there a reason why this song was created, or is there a specific core message of this?

Bri Carter: “Yeah, so that song is probably my deepest song. And I just kind of wrote it as a song that I feel like I would have needed kind of when I was younger. And I kind of go through my whole life stages throughout the song. So I start when I was younger and figuring out my sexuality and getting treated differently because of that, and then just growing up, being in college, and just kind of losing myself. And so, yeah, I don’t know who she is. It’s like I feel like kind of had to kill a version of myself to become who I am today.

“Cross my heart. I would never need no one.” So that kind of alludes to me just being independent and not ever relying on anyone. And then the next part says, “Had to die if I was gonna be someone.” So just metaphorically killing that person to be somebody and almost change myself in a way, not necessarily, but kind of. And yeah, so then I just say, “There’s a new me now. I don’t know who she is.” And yeah, it’s just about losing yourself and then eventually refining yourself again through just life experiences and just connecting with people and just finding where you feel like you belong and realizing you don’t have to change yourself to fit in.“

“Sweet Tooth” was one of the first songs I listened to and it’s very passive aggressive, but fun at the same time. It’s messy, but also shows how some individuals in the world see lesbians as an experiment to see if they truly “like” women or they use them to say they experienced a woman in that aspect. And Bri decided to use that situation and switch it up in a playful manner stating that lesbians will take your girl at the end. The single feels like you are on a sugar rush from start to finish.

Interviewer: “Sweet Tooth” has to be one of my favorite songs. Is the song coming from a personal experience, observation, or both?

Bri Carter: “Definitely a little bit of both, for sure. Just I think a lot of queer girls and whatnot can relate to hooking up with a straight girl or being someone’s experiment. So I mean, and I’ve definitely had those experiences as well. So I definitely tie them into the song. But it was definitely a song that I felt like everyone could relate to because I think we’ve all kind of had those experiences where we don’t get taken seriously or we’re just for fun. So it’s definitely but then I wanted to put a spin on it and be like, “You know what? Your girlfriend likes me more than she likes you.” I wanted a song where the gay girl wins at the end, so.”

Interviewer: How has finding community online or in real life impacted your growth as an artist?

Bri Carter: “It’s definitely impacted it so much. Without my community, I would not have had an ounce of success that I do between all my TikTok followers. I created a Discord, which is really cool, have that little community. And just I realized that so there’s this quote that I have started living my life by. And it’s, “Never beg for a seat when you could build your own table.” And that really resonated with me because I think I was always kind of stuck chasing validation from certain people because I feel like my sound is pretty unique. And I feel like I didn’t really fit in with the gay pop girlies necessarily or the hyperpop boys or the underground. So I was always kind of in the middle“

Bri Carter continues: “And I was kind of always chasing validation from both. And I realized that it’s like, “You just have to build your own. Don’t chase validation. Don’t try to beg for a seat at their table.
Build your own.” And that has created such a great community because it’s like you have to attract the
people. They’ll come to you eventually. It might take some time, but they’ll come to you. And you just have to be true to yourself and stuff and not because I’ve gone through phases in my music too where I kind of was like, “Oh, I need to lean more toward alternative sounding or this way.” Because I kind of was I definitely hover between genres a lot. And I felt like it was kind of isolating me because I wasn’t finding my niche or whatever. But now, I just literally make what I want to make. And I’ve grown the most by being the most authentic to myself and my music.”

Interviewer: What keeps you motivated during difficult moments?

Bri Carter: “Well, that’s a good question. I think definitely my well, definitely, my younger self keeps me motivated and just because I’ve always wanted to for the longest time, I’ve wanted to be a musician and be an artist and be successful. So just me, if I ever feel like, “Oh, I’m giving up,” I’m like, “No, I didn’t get this far for no reason. Why did I put all this work in for the past five, six years for nothing?” And definitely, just my fans and everything, they always are so sweet and leave me nice comments and stuff. And you get the DMs from people that are like, “Oh, your music helped me get through a tough time,” or, “You’re my favorite artist.” And it’s like, “Damn, that’s the most important thing,” rather than letting something get you down. Because in this industry, you get let down a lot.“

She continues: “You hear a lot of no’s from people, way more than you hear yes’s. And it could definitely get draining. And you just can’t base your worth off that because that’s not everything. But it is hard. I definitely have been there. I’ve been down bad before where I just felt like everything was just going wrong for me. I’m like, “Damn, I deserve this. Why am I not getting it?” But you just have to I just realize it’ll come for you when it’s meant for you. And you can’t chase something. You need to just let the time be right. And it’ll all fall into place. Even if the waiting sucks, you just got to push through.“

Keep Up With Bri Carter Online: Youtube / Instagram / Spotify / Tiktok