So, first of all, congratulations on the new project! I know it's been out for a couple of months, but I listen to it all the time. I absolutely love it. It's an amazing debut. I wanted to know how long it took from start to finish— from the inception of the project until its release.

Honestly, I guess I could say a few years. Some of the songs, like “Favorite Kind of High," for example, I wrote years ago, but I only started working on the EP at the beginning of this year. To record it —it probably took from January through March, so probably two and a half, three months. So, some of the songs on it are from years ago, and then other songs are more recent.

That actually ties into a question I was going to ask later— when you're working on a project, do you tend to be like, “OK I want to make an EP, and I'm just gonna sit and write and record until the EP is done.” Or is it more that you have an inspiration for a song and then maybe a few months go by then you have an inspiration for another song and it kind of more gradually comes together? Does that make sense?

So, this was my first time ever releasing an EP and when I wrote that first song “Favorite Kind of High” I had no idea that I would be releasing an EP. Then, as I started writing more, I was like, “ahhh I really want to release an EP.” So, I kind of just compiled the songs that I thought would fit together into one project. Also, “Everything” which is the main song on the EP, is the one that I wrote most recently. I knew that I wanted that to be the meaning of the EP and also the main track. I think that going forward, I am in the mindset of writing an album. So all the songs that I'm writing now are going to be going towards that album. But, yes, originally I was writing the songs as I was inspired.

Ooo ok so do you think the direction is kind of shifting and now you're in “album mode?”

Yes yes definitely.

Wow, I love that. That’s a really interesting shift.

Yeah

I was trying to look at artists' credits on Spotify, but I couldn't find any producer credits. Do you produce everything yourself?

Um, no, I was working with— his name is Patrick Taylor. He is in a band called “Trash Panda” --I don't know if you know that band.

Definitely!

He's the lead singer, and he produces all of their stuff. And he's one of my friends. He actually lives in Jacksonville Beach 10 minutes from me, but he produced all of my songs on the EP.

Wow. How did you meet him?

Um, I met him through a mutual friend. Christian Pittman. He's now the drummer of Trash Panda. But he introduced me to him. And I really liked his work on— so my favorite artist in Jacksonville— I don't know if you know Hovvdy, but he's a really good songwriter. And he (Patrick Taylor) produced his songs. I really wanted to work with him after hearing that stuff.

Ahh ok cool what a fun connection. So how did you get into music? I was reading the interview that you did— I can't remember who did it— but it said that you have a musically inclined family. Is that how you got into music? Do you work with them a lot? What's the story there?

So probably my first instrument is the piano, which I started when I was —I think— three years old. My mom put me into piano lessons because she's a big piano player. So are my grandma and my aunt, they all are ridiculously good piano players. They were never in bands or anything like that. But that's kind of like what initially inspired me. I was always surrounded by music. My grandma would come over and play the piano all the time and I would sing and dance around with her. But yeah, they are all piano players so then I started playing piano. I would do all these recitals when I was growing up. I was actually on the worship team at my church— I was the worship leader and would play songs for the church. As I went to college I started playing music out at bars and restaurants, just like cover gigs. It wasn't until recently, maybe like, a year, two years ago, when I actually started singing songs that I wrote. So it's a pretty new thing for me, honestly, to be doing my original music.

Yeah, I think that part you were talking about as a worship leader is really interesting. Does your faith help inspire music, like lyrics or melodies or anything? Or was that more just a vehicle for you to practice singing?

I think in a way— I mean— I wouldn't say I'm not religious anymore, but I don't really go to church anymore. It's kind of like, my family was super religious. And it was a way for me to practice. I also was taking music lessons from the drummer in the band so in that way it definitely inspired my music. I feel like a lot of my songs—or maybe just my melodies--sound like they could be worship songs. But at least right now I'm not really an active church member so it doesn't really inspire like my lyrics

That makes sense. So did your family help at all with this project? Like in terms of—I don't know—did your mom play piano on a song or something like that? Or did you go to them to help with writing or anything like that?

No, it was kind of all me. My dad helped me a little with funding the project, but no one played any instruments on it. That would be cool, though.

Yeah! Is that something you'd be into for the album or would you like to keep it separate?

I honestly have not thought about doing that, but I would definitely consider it. My grandma's an amazing piano player so I think that could be a cool thing to incorporate.

Definitely. Very excited to see if that ends up coming to fruition on the album.

That would be awesome.

So where did the name Sun Child come from? Were you ever putting out music under any other name or have you always been Sun Child? I know you said this was your first EP but I mean even before that.

Yeah, actually my first three singles that I released in 2022 were under a separate name. It was called Girl Pluto. That was basically my first band. All of these songs (referring to songs on ‘Everything’) are songs that I wrote and just had people play on basically, but my original name was Girl Pluto. So, this was my band in Charleston and I was playing with another girl violinist, we were kind of like a duo, and it didn't end up working out. She moved to California and I wanted to continue with the project but she didn't. I kind of decided that I should come up with a new name because it was kind of like our identity so I switched to just my name Brooke Garwood for a little bit, but I always knew that I wanted to have a new band name. I thought of the name Sun Child because my mom used to sing to me, “You are my sunshine” every single day when I was growing up. So I have a lot of memories around that and I guess I wanted to have a name that was bright. Also, my favorite color is yellow so I wanted my branding to be yellow. I thought that was a perfect name. It also kind of describes me because I live at the beach so I thought it was a good fit.

So in the decision to transition from putting out music under your own name to Sun Child, is that partially because you may want to add other people and make Sun Child a band? Or did you just like the idea of having a name that wasn't your own to put out music under?

So this was actually something that I was contemplating for a while, whether or not I wanted to just be solo and release kind of like singer-songwriter music without a full band backing me. I released those first three songs “Can’t Move,” “Not Your Bitch,” and “Acid” as Girl Pluto. Then I changed my name to just my solo name and I released the song “Elephants,” which is a singer-songwriter type song— basically just guitar and vocals and harmonies. But I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to keep with that vibe or do more of a full band sound. And I— I kind of just decided that I do want to have more of a full band sound and find members. I mean, at least now, I do have a solid band here. It took me like a few months to find them, but I have a solid band here in Jacksonville that will play all my shows with me.

But your Spotify—like if you’re looking at your social media presence— it looks very much like a solo endeavor. Do you think this band that you have for your shows will eventually become part of Sun Child that this band that you have for your shows? You don't have to answer anything if you're trying to decide and don't know yet.

At least for this EP it was all the songs that I wrote alone. So I think that now that I have a group that wants to be all in on Sun Child once we start writing together it'll probably feel like it's more of like a band entity. But right now, it's kind of like I feel like, in a way, I am Sun Child but also I’m Sun Child with a band too. It could go either way.

Speaking of your band and shows— do you have any upcoming shows?

Yeah, my next show is September 22 in Charleston. I’m opening for this band, Virginia Man, and then I'm playing this festival called Sing Out Loud here in St. Augustine on September 10t. So, those two are the biggest ones coming up.

Very cool. Who would be your dream artist to open for if you were to go on tour?

So my biggest inspiration is probably the Lumineers, but I’m also obsessed with this artist named Searows, which is kind of a smaller artist so I feel like that would be more attainable, you know. But I, I would really love to go on tour with Searows or the band Slow Pulp is also one of my favorites right now. But yeah, of all time, my biggest dream would be to tour with the Lumineers.

I mean, that seems attainable to me. Just keep doing what you're doing! Do you have a manager that arranges all of that stuff for you? Or is it still your job to try to get these shows.

Right now I'm kind of managing myself. I have—I would say like a mentor who is not my manager, but more my friend. His name is Sam. He works for this booking agency called Atlas Touring. They work with bands like flipturn, Trash Panda, Hotel Fiction, and a bunch of Charleston bands too. But I knew him while we were living in Charleston. He was sort of my manager for Girl Pluto. Then, when I was going through my transition phase of whether or not to continue being a band or just solo, he kind of stopped being my manager. So now I'm kind of just doing it all myself. He'll still help me out with shows— he got me the show with Virginia Man. He also got me a show opening up for the Head in the Heart this year.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, that was really cool. So he still helps me out a lot but mostly I'm managing myself.

That's crazy. Head in the Heart. Wow, that must have been surreal.

Oh my god. It was crazy. It was like a full circle moment because they've been a big inspiration to me too. I grew up idolizing them. Getting to open up for them was kind of like a dream come true.

Wow. So what has your approach been to marketing? Have you been trying to navigate TikTok and the other short-form platforms? It seems like a challenging environment currently to market your stuff.

Yeah, I'm not a big TikTok person. I've been trying to force myself to start getting into it. Like, I know, my plans today—I wrote this down—I honestly write this down every single week —“Make TikToks." But it's just so— I don't know—I’m a huge perfectionist, so taking videos of myself always takes like 10,000 videos and then I'll listen back and I'll be like, “none of these are good enough.” But I'm trying to get into the TikTok thing because I know that it's a huge way to reach people. Like me and my band the other day spent a few hours making videos and I posted some of them on TikTok. People already were like, “Oh, we need to find you on Apple Music! So yeah I am planning on trying to get into that a little bit more this month. But honestly, I’ve mostly just used Instagram for promoting…and word of mouth for shows and stuff.

Yeah, that's why I asked. I just think TikTok is so interesting. It feels like artists I talk to either all in love it and think it's the best thing ever, or they cannot stand it and they're just trying to make themselves get into it.

For a long time, I hated it. I thought I would never be a TikTok person, but recently, I've just been like, “Okay, well, I kind of have to because I feel like that's like a very easy way to create new fans.”

For sure.

It doesn't really take much effort. All you have to do is video yourself, but it's just that getting into it is tough.

When you're trying to make TikToks do you find it harder to be authentic on that platform compared to Instagram? I feel like I see videos of artists who are like “Look at my new song!” and it just doesn't seem authentic. Has that been something you have struggled with?

Yeah, I think that's the thing— I will definitely not be like that on TikTok. My roommate is really into TikTok and she'll send me all these videos and she's like, “You need to do this!” for everything that's trending. I just do not see myself doing that on TikTok. I’m going to try and be as authentic as possible. But it's definitely hard because that is the stuff that gets the most views. I guess, yeah, I don't know.

There is no right or wrong answer! I think everyone is struggling with it. So for music, other than a vehicle for making money and being a job, what are you hoping to achieve through your music? Is there a message you want to give to the world or something that always inspires you? What does music mean for you?

I think the purpose of sharing it is to hope that other people can relate. Or that my music makes other people feel something or helps someone go through something. Some of my biggest inspiration right now comes from Searows. He writes a lot of sad music and I know that listening to those songs helps me through a rough time. So I guess that I would hope to do the same for others. I don’t know--it's a little hard to explain.

Yeah, it’s definitely a more expansive question.

Yeah, I think music is almost like therapy in a way for me. All of my emotions kind of come out when I'm writing. And sometimes, for me, I guess writing is easier than talking or saying what my feelings are.

Yeah, that makes total sense. That's a great answer. So to conclude this interview I have three kinds of rapid-fire questions that—I promise—are not as deep as “What does music mean to you?” type of question. The first one is are there any songs that didn't make the project that you cut? And why didn't they make it?

Well, I still have a lot of songs that did not make the project. Some of them I didn't end up finishing and I also thought that this EP should have the most solid six songs. I totally could have finished the other songs, but I didn't want to rush it and have it not turn out the way I wanted it to. But I thought that these six songs were the best six songs for the time being. They also all told a story in a way from start to finish. There are just some other songs that I didn't feel fit the whole message of that album. So yeah I just chose the six that fit the vibe the best. I also wanted to save some for either releasing as singles or the next album that I have.

So do you think you'll save the majority of those for the album?

Yeah I think so.

Wow, now I’m even more excited for this album. Is there a song of yours that you believe should be getting more love? A song that you were like, “Oh, this is definitely going to do well” and then doesn't do as well as you think?

I think for me my favorite song off the EP is Dizzy.

Yeah, I love that one.

Thank you. I know. Like the most popular ones right now are “Favorite Kind of High” and “Everything.” And those are the ones that I pitched for playlist curators on Spotify, so I didn't get to end up pitching Dizzy. So that might be one of the reasons why but yeah this is definitely my favorite one. I just recently passed 1,000 streams but compared to “Favorite Kind of High", which has 40,000 streams, I'm like, alright come on I want this one to be heard too. So that’s definitely one that I’m trying to post more on TikTok to see what happens.

Yeah, that is definitely where TikTok can work in your favor. Spotify playlists can be hard but TikTok can definitely help boost songs. I agree with you though. When you sent me that song I was like “Oh absolutely I’ll put this on Lettuce and Cheddar this is my favorite song off the project.

Oh yeah, thank you.

Definitely. So last question — which is one that I love asking people. So you’re on tour with the Lumineers and you’re in your green room. What’s on your rider?

Probably - you mean like food-wise?

Yeah, or anything really like what do you want before you go on to perform?

I need some tea. Throat coat tea with honey. And—I’m vegan so my obsession is juice. Green juice or any kind of juice I would love to have in my green room or any kind of smoothie bowl.

Ahh ok, so this is a very healthy kind of green room?

Yeah I eat very healthy.

Wow, I love that. Couldn’t be me but I love it. That was my last question so thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me. Is there anything else you want to say about the project? Anything else I didn’t ask?

I guess I remember that I came up with the idea of releasing the EP when I was on a plane actually and I had my headphones in listening to all my songs and was like “Wait…I’m going to release an EP called ‘Everything’” because I had just written ‘Everything’ and I was listening to it in my headphones and I wanted that to be the main message of the album. I just remember being on the plane writing down the songs I wanted on the project and then calling my mom and being like “I’m going to release an EP!” So it’s cool to think back to when I first came up with the idea because I didn’t know whether or not I would go through with it and now it’s out. It’s funny to think back to.

Oh wow yeah, that’s such a cool story. I’ve definitely been there getting sudden inspiration from being on a plane. So before Zoom kicks off us I just wanted to say how happy I am to be able to talk to you today.

Yeah, thank you for interviewing me. I like your platform for helping independent artists.

Of course, I mean I am a huge fan so please keep me updated with everything you have going on.

I will!