Spotlight: Brie emsee

Written by: Chris Arencibia

Welcome back to Skylyne Spotlight Series! We know it’s been a little quiet, but we’re thrilled to announce that we have many more spotlights coming up over the next few months. Kicking off on April 8th, we’re excited to be partnering with Schuylkill Yards for “Square Season” at Drexel Square - where we will be hosting weekly acoustic lunch hours with some of Philly’s finest musicians!

Kicking off the 2024 Skylyne Summer Series is local artist Brie Emsee. Brie is a singer and keyboardist based out of Philadelphia who self describes as “indecisive indie” - constantly trying to throw new influences into her music to keep her listeners on their toes. With a core style based around the general indie genre, she also pulls influences from funk, rock, and psychedelic elements. With her debut EP currently in the works, Brie Emsee is the kind of artist you can tell your friends you discovered before her first song ever came out.

We had the opportunity to chat and learn more about Brie ahead of her performance, but if you’re interested in hearing more make sure you swing by Drexel Square at 12pm on April 8th for her acoustic spotlight!

SKYLYNE: Hi Brie, thanks for sitting down to chat with us, we can’t wait to have you kick off our 2024 Skylyne Summer Series! I’d love to start off by learning a bit about your musical background?

Brie Emsee: Thanks for having me! I feel like everyone says “I’ve been doing [music] my whole life”, but I have to say, that’s kind of how it’s been for me. Honestly, I came from a not very musical household, so it was something “unique” for my parents to get me involved in. I’ve been doing music ever since I can remember, I went to school for it, and I’ve been gigging since graduating in 2020 ever since! I’ve mainly been in a wedding band and singing with other groups such as the Groove Merchants and Good Game, but ever since moving to Philly the songwriting community has been so welcoming and it opened up the opportunities for me to write my own music.

SKYLYNE: What was the first instrument you learned, and what made you start?

Brie: I started playing piano when I was 7. I originally wanted to play drums but the parents really didn’t want to deal with all the noise that comes with that, haha. I started playing piano because I really wanted to learn how Sara Bareilles played “Love Song” and it ended up being one of the first few pieces of actual sheet music I BEGGED my parents to get for me - back when you actually had to go out and buy singles on physical sheet music at Guitar Center if you wanted to learn them. From there I got into singing, then percussion stuff, and it’s just been snowballing ever since.

SKYLYNE: I love that you’ve described your music as “indecisive indie”. Can you elaborate on what that means?

Brie: When I got into writing my own music, it felt like one of the hardest things for me to do was to describe what my sound is. The question “what kind of music do you play?” literally haunts me. Everyone around me was very decisive, whether it was “singer/songwriter”, “country folk”, “R&B funk”- I just felt like I never fit into any one category with what I wanted to put out into the world. I know I fall into the “indie” subgenre but there are times maybe I don’t want to write an “indie” song, and I don’t want my genre to be too confining so I settled with calling myself indecisive indie. I have music written that ranges from super catchy pop-esque hooks to sad and vibey atmospheric sounds, so it’s hard to confine it into one word.

SKYLYNE: It sounds like you pull influence from multiple genres, so is there a Mt. Rushmore of music artists that have inspired you?

Brie: For sure, I really gravitate towards artists and bands such as Matt Corby, Moonchild, Hiatus Kaiyote, Crumb, and Mac Demarco all for various reasons. When I was in college, one of the first few songs I sang in front of my peers was in a rock band class and we did the song “Building a Ladder” by Hiatus, and if you know that song, it’s a beast vocally, but it was the first song I ever heard that set off the light bulb of ‘oh, this is what music can feel like’.

SKYLYNE: Your debut EP is planned for this year and we’re on the edge of our seats. Any idea when we can expect some music?

Brie: Yeah! My goal is to start putting out some singles by late spring, and the BIG goal is to have my EP out by this summer, but we will see how long it will actually take! I’m still toying around with how many songs I actually want to have on it. ​

SKYLYNE: Is there any song from this EP you’re most excited to release? Why?

Brie: I’m really excited to release my song “Cerulean”. I play a lot of instruments, but guitar isn’t one of them and this is the ONLY song I can play on guitar comfortably. My first ever gig I got where they wanted me to play some original music, I honestly chickened out of all but one song - this one. I was so convinced no one would like it because of how deep the song is for me, and afterward I had people coming up to me saying how it made them really emotional, and that meant the WORLD to me. I can’t wait to have people hear the song in its entirety of how I envision it, and not just me nervously playing it on guitar.

SKYLYNE: It sounds like you’ve played a lot of live shows. Would you say your experiences within live music have influenced your songwriting?

Brie: Absolutely. My first exposure to the gig world was when I got asked to join a wedding band. Years of doing covers and learning how singers got to be the way they are, style wise, opened my eyes to all the possibilities I can go toward with my own personal music and style.

SKYLYNE: What’s the weirdest place you’ve ever played a show?

Brie: I played this one duo gig outside. I wasn’t told the vibe of the typical crowd or demographic or anything, all they told me was they wanted modern songs to be a focus. I showed up and they had all these crazy DJ lights and sound system things set up. It was a pizza place. It was just me and a guitarist. So here I am, expecting to play some background music outside and I have borderline club lights flashing around me, haha.

SKYLYNE: What color best describes your vibe?

Brie: Dark green!

SKYLYNE: Great color. Okay Brie, it was a pleasure chatting and we can’t wait to see you kick off our Summer Series! Here’s your spotlight - tell us what you have going on and what’s coming up.

Brie: I post all my upcoming projects on my instagram, @just.brie, I’m working out having some more shows in the Philly area soon but they’ll all be there! Music is coming to streaming platforms as soon as I can, super stoked for what the year’s gonna bring.