Familiar with the spirit world and a fighter in the more tangible one – with her weapons of choice including her words, empowerment and inclusivity, Brocarde is a musician, actor, ghosthunter, presenter and – maybe most importantly – a (albeit spooky) safe space. She’s the queen of creepy who has created a world which welcomes all those who have ever experienced feeling outcast, ignored or undesired. Devolution’s Jo Wright had an enchanting chat with this soul who is beautiful both inside and out, about her music, inspiration, life, loves and more.
But first of all – who or what is Brocarde and the wonderful realm she has singlehandedly created?
‘It’s really tricky, but I always feel like it’s a little bit like a musical horror story,’ she tells us. ‘When I write something, my main focus, regardless of any genre or anything else, is to kind of tell the story. And I find a lot of what I’m doing is basically just orchestrating my inner emotions so naturally the music just sounds haunting and creepy. It’s quite cinematic. I try to take people into my own mind. It’s a little bit of a story book. It’s a really dark fairytale. Whimsical but heartfelt! My sound now feels one hundred percent natural and it’s one hundred percent who I am. When I was younger it took a while to figure out who I was. And as soon as everything clicked into place I was like, ‘This is absolutely the kind of music that I should be making, and it just comes out that way now. It’s an exciting journey to be on, even for me as an artist!’
Brocarde’s music is unique. Razor sharp lyrics rolled around, enjoyed and then spat as an all-encompassing fever dream of every single sound she can make with her own voice over nu-metal. It’s high drama and high class. An utter freak show. And we can say that with the greatest awe and respect – because we’re all freaks here.
And this is certainly a sentiment the artist herself feels. Did Brocarde have to hide who she was when she was growing up? ‘I’m not sure if it was a case of hiding. I think it was more not having the confidence to fully be myself,’ she says. ‘I think I was always a little bit quirky and I felt that I didn’t quite fit in. I know that’s a cliché! I know that a lot of people in the rock and metal genre say that. But I genuinely didn’t feel like I’d met my people. I was quite awkward growing up. I knew one hundred percent inside who I was, I just didn’t have the confidence to be that person. I went through a phase of trying to dye my hair blonde and trying to fit into a bubblegum aesthetic, and I feel like when you do that there’s something inside you that naturally rebels against it if it’s not you. And I kept feeling that that was what was happening with me. Even when I first started writing music I would have these really dark lyrics. They were very heavy. And because I was presenting myself with this blonde hair people used to think, ‘Oh this is a pop project! This is like a bubblegum thing!’ And it never matched the words or what was inside of me. I had all of these emotive and heavily driven words that were quite deep and dark. And for a long time it didn’t quite match and it didn’t quite gel. I knew I had quite a lot to say! And I think now I’ve found the confidence to say it. And the right people like it. I’m not saying everyone does, but the right people do.’
Every single word Brocarde sings is considered in its use and relished in its release. She agrees absolutely with his. ‘I feel like words are my kind of superpower. I understand their power. From when I was that kid not fitting in, I understood how words could almost be a weapon and then I turned them into something that could potentially empower people. I love words and I love playing around with them, and thinking of different ways to say the same thing.
‘As a songwriter I can say things in a song that I couldn’t say I real life. Although as I get older I’m getting better at saying it in real life!’
Noone sounds like Brocarde. If pushed we’d say Dead Posey is probably the closest you’re gonna get. So who are Brocarde’s influences? Does she even have any?! ‘Musically I’m a weird one! I don’t profess to be cool! I trained in musical theatre. And people are like, ‘Oh, you’re very theatrical!’. Even when I talk I’m very theatrical and I don’t know whether that’s my training that just won’t go away! I’m quite an animated person as well, with the way I talk and move. Musically I grew up listening to things like ‘Phantom of the Opera’ and all those dark, intense, story-telling songs. And things like Meat Loaf, where the songs took you on a bit of a journey. I know a lot of metalheads will be like, ‘Oh no! That’s terribly cheesy!’. But I’m proud of that!!!! Things like ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen – that is a hundred songs in one! I love the way that song broke every single rule that existed!’
And these influences created a (lovable) monster in Brocarde… ‘I’ll write an eight minute song – because I ain’t done!!!! My biggest challenge is cutting things down!
‘Some people are like, ‘Ugh! A minute and a half before you even started singing?!’. And I’m like, ‘I was setting the scene!!! When you’re making the video to a longer song it gives you chance to tell a story.’
One of the best examples of this is her song ‘Identity Theft’. Brocarde explains, ‘I wanted to show birth. That, to me, is an important song in my own journey. When I wrote it, I fully imagined an alien birth and conception, and yeah it’s longwinded – it’s a birth! It doesn’t just pop out!’
Amen to that.
Brocarde likes to let the songs speak for themselves – as moments in time and the stories that they are, so releasing her music as singles makes perfect sense, but in 2026 her debut album will be unleashed.
She explains, ‘I am an album artist and I’ve got that body of work, but you can get precious over your work, and fearful of letting it go. I’m slowly coming around to letting it go and moving on, because you change so much as an artist. I’m lucky that when I hear a lot of my songs they still mean the same to me. But you do grow, and you do change as an artist. You have different things to say. I feel like the time is coming though – I’m really excited to get that album out there, and I feel like sharing that body of work is different from sharing a single.’
As an independent artist, Brocarde is in control of everything. Whether she like it or not. And this includes being behind and in front of the camera for her videos. ‘I hate watching myself back!’ she laughs. ‘I annoy myself so much! But I’m getting to the stage now where I’m forcing myself to do it because now I’m trying to take out the whole vanity thing. When it’s just you, you see things that other people don’t necessarily see.’
The desire to let her songs and their videos tell a story can be, understandably, all encompassing. Agonising even. But time and experience are great teachers. ‘I’m learning to relax a little bit and to let things go,’ says Brocarde. ‘I used to be so much more bothered about everything, and I learned to accept that sometimes things aren’t perfect and things do go slightly wrong. Things may not be perfect but they are real.’
Having complete control over every single aspect of her art also means that Brocarde has to shoulder all responsibility and – on the odd occasion – blame if someone has an opinion on her work. And she’s happy with this. ‘When you’re an independent artist shit does happen! It’s part of life. To have that fighting mentality, sometimes a really bad situation forces you to address who’s around you or to push yourself harder. I’m one of those people who, if something bad does happen, I will start fighting. And I think it’s good sometimes to have those moments in life.
‘Everyone presents this perfect life and this perfect world where everyone loves them and their life is amazing, but it doesn’t always work like that. And having the courage to say and to accept things are not perfect is important.’
Latest single ‘Feed My Soul’ takes inspiration from feeling it’s not ok to be yourself. Brocarde tells Devo, ‘It’s quite a sad song when you go back and look, because when you write something you think it’s about a certain thing, but sometimes when you go back to it the meaning changes. For me, it was about toxic relationships and having that feeling that you’re not quite good enough to suit someone else’s ideals. It kind of starts with quite a vulnerability and I felt like I just wasn’t good enough in a certain situation. And as the song progresses that sadness turns into more of a fight. It gets more progressively aggressive and sarcastic. It’s sad if you analyse what I’m actually saying – but in the delivery I’m not accepting what I’m saying. But there’s a defiance and a sarcasm there. There’s the idea of hate me if that’s what you wanna do!’
Empowerment is also a big part and aim of her art. Brocarde explains, ‘I remember how difficult it was for me as a teenager, just feeling that I didn’t fit in anywhere. And I hope that someone can just listen and hear that they are not the only one in this sort of situation and that a lot of people feel like this, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel – you will eventually find your way.’
Watch out for Brocarde’s coming Hallowe’en single – complete with video shot in a scare maze. And she hopes to release another track before Christmas. Then there’s her debut album coming next year… Brocarde is for life – not just Hallowe’en.
https://www.facebook.com/brocarde
Interview by Jo Wright