For Belmont senior Ben Eggebrecht of My Red and Blue, music is about building relationships with other people – plain and simple.
His music project, My Red and Blue, is not that simple of a band though.
“It’s like a solo project minus the solo,” Eggebrecht said.
He described the project like something similar to Owl City or Dashboard Confessional.
“It’s kind of a grey area, but it’s kind of a cool grey area,” he said. “I want it to be about a group of people – kind of like an undefined group of people. That might sound weird and vague, but I just love collaboration and working with people and being in team settings when I’m recording. I don’t want it to be all on me. The reason I do love music so much is because I like being around people and being creative and bonding with that sort of thing.”
The name of the project came about from Eggebrecht’s childhood. Back then, he had a favorite blue t-shirt and red shorts ensemble he referred to as “my red and blue,” which he constantly begged his mother to allow him to wear.
“I made it my band name to portray the idea of being a kid and being carefree and having the mindset of a child,” he said. “I think too many people grow up so fast and forget about what it’s like to see things as children do.”
Eggebrecht hopes to develop My Red and Blue into more than just a musical project. He would like to begin pushing it as a brand rather than simply him as a musician.
“I want it to entail more and eventually add more to that brand, in terms of my blogging, and a lot of different elements,” he said. “I want to bring people into it and let it be this creative thing that gives people an outlet. I’m all about bringing people hope through art and music.”
For now though, Eggebrecht is working on something new for his music -– co-writing music.
“I love the art of songwriting because it allows you to build relationships with other songwriters,” he said.
After exclusively writing songs by himself, Eggebrecht recently began experimenting with co-writes with other Belmont and Nashville musicians.
He said he was initially hesitant to attempt songwriting with others, but with plenty of free time this summer, he decided to try it out.
“I needed to dabble in that, get better and force myself to be in that world. I did that all summer and I loved it – I loved it more than anything,” he said. “I just love the art of collaboration, even in songwriting.”
He said the majority of time co-writing a song with another musician is spent sharing life experiences that can be tied into the song.
“It adds so much more to the songs, because looking back you always have that thing to tie you to that person. It’s a cool kind of friendship,” he said.
Many new songs have come out of these sessions. Some of them will appear on Eggebrecht’s upcoming album, which he is currently recording and plans to release in 2013.
The senior said Belmont has given him immense support as he has grown as a musician.
“I’m thankful for Belmont for the connections it’s given me,” he said. They’re good at pushing you. You have to take advantage of it. They’re not going to hand everything to you; you have to go get it.”
While Eggebrecht wants to pursue music full-time and continue building the My Red and Blue brand after graduation, he said his drive to create music comes from others, not fame or recognition.
“All it takes to push me forward is hearing one person say that they found hope in one of my songs or I inspired them somehow.”
My Red and Blue’s first EP, “I Might Miss This,” is available on iTunes.
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