Bronze Avery on New Single ‘Happy with Nothing’

Emerging multi-talented artist Bronze Avery recently released his new single, “Happy with Nothing,” featuring singer and Glee actor Kevin McHale.

Penned entirely by Avery himself and calling his collaboration with McHale a perfect match, “Happy with Nothing” is an uplifting pop track about looking on the bright side after a rough break-up. Finally finding a place of peace and ready to move on from an unfulfilling situation.

Avery pulls inspiration from retro grooves and fuses them with modern vocal production to create a unique sound made for movement. As a proud member of the queer community, he uses his voice to change the sexual perspective in mainstream music while constantly uplifting art from commonly marginalized groups. Not only does he hope to be a prominent force in the music industry that abandons the usual stereotypes that have been placed to hold queer people of color back for years, but also a guiding light of inspiration for other queer people to live their truth in a mainstream setting.

OFM had the opportunity to talk more with Avery about the new track and how his queer identity influences his music.

Can you begin by telling us more about the concept and inspiration behind your new single, “Happy with Nothing?”
I was going through this rough patch where I was feeling a little bit, I guess sad about the current state of this flirtationship I was in with this guy. I was out with my friend, who is also the producer of this song, and I was just getting to the point where I was like, this kind of sucks, but at the end of the day, I felt so much closure about it. I am happy with whatever the outcome of this is. I am happy with basically nothing, and I actually feel pretty good. I felt really sad about it the week before, but I think that day, I just felt good about it. No matter what happens, I will be happy and okay.

That is kind of how the song came about. I took a hit from a joint and wrote it as a stream of consciousness. Then I listened to it over and over, and I really loved it. My partner, Justin, actually suggested that I reach out to Kevin McHale to be on it, and I thought it was a great idea. I met Kevin before, briefly, at a big charity performance that we had all done. Kevin loved the song and immediately hopped aboard. It was really great, and I was so happy about that.

What did you enjoy the most about working with Kevin?
Kevin is a down girl [laughs]. Anything that I mentioned, he was going to do it immediately. He was like, anything you need, anything you want to do, if you need me to do vocals, I’m here. Anything that I needed for this, he was so down. He is also just so nice, and obviously, very, very talented. I just loved that he was so easy to work with because doing collaborations is not an easy thing to do in the music industry at all. I try to avoid them as much as I can because so many different people can get crazy, but working with Kevin was so easy. I think that was my favorite part.

Is this track part of an upcoming EP?
There is a bigger EP coming up later on in the year, around fall, where there are more somber songs. For summer, I kind of decided because the songs are so sonically different from each other, which I actually really lean into because I feel like my music is pretty genreless, I stay away from honing into one genre, but I wanted to do a string of singles in the summer to stand on their own. There should be one more coming up at the very tail end of the summer. I wanted them to all stand on their own and then kind of encapsulate all the rest of my feelings in a project later on this year.

What is the number one message you hope listeners take away from “Happy with Nothing?”
I think the number one message is that people should always look for the good, even in situations that are shitty. As corny as it sounds, they say that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it. I really do believe that is true. Nothing really changed when I was talking about that flirtationship that was kind of dying. Nothing really changed except me and my mindset, and that is what I would like people to take away from it. No matter what your situation is, if you can change your thinking on it, you are going to get through it a little bit easier.

Have you always had a passion for singing and songwriting?
Oh my God, ever since I was a little kid. It was like the only job I ever wanted to do. Be a singer and be an artist. As I got older, I figured out that I had a skill for songwriting and I could actually go into this more professionally. I always played around with production, but I never took it seriously until the last few years, which changed everything about it. I grew up as a theatre kid and choir nerd, so I was definitely involved in drama and chorus in high school. A lot of my first love for music came from dance music and music that made you move. That was some of the first music I ever recorded. I have always had such a deep love, and still do have a deep love, for music. It is the thing that basically gets me up in the morning.

How does your own queer identity influence your work?
I feel like I did not make my best art until I was out. When I first started doing music, I was not out, and once I really started the Bronze Avery Project and everything was so out there, I feel like that is when I found my true network of fans and people who believed in me and my sound. I feel like through seeing how people have reacted to it, that inspired me to keep making it. At first when I was making it, I was just telling my truth and singing songs that were honest to me.

As I started to get a little deeper into it, I realized that I am actually such a beacon of inspiration for maybe a queer kid who has never seen a queer kid do this before. When I was growing up, there was no such thing as a queer pop star. There were people like George Michael and some other queer leading people, but there was no Lil Nas X like there is today.

So, I think creating art like that being honest to the visibility and representation is so important, and I did not really understand the breadth and depth of that until I got a little bit deeper into my career. That is one of the most rewarding parts of it. Even if my music flops, I still exist, and that is more important for the future.

You desire to be a guiding light of inspiration for other queer people to live their truth and pursue their passions. What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform to do that?
I just want to accomplish as much as I possibly can to show people that it is completely possible. Like, I want to be in the same spaces that mainstream, non-queer musicians, performers, and artists are currently in. I want to win a Grammy, I want to be at the award shows, I want to perform at late night shows, things that have been mostly dominated by non-queer people. Getting queer people in there is the real representation. Where we are all intermingled in the same spot. That is my goal. Get as far as I can without, obviously, killing myself, but achieve as many goals as I can to show that it is possible and create other benchmarks.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention our plug?
No, I think that is pretty much it. I am very excited about the next song coming, and that is probably my favorite one. I am so happy that so many people have been listening because I have been putting out a ton of music this year. Probably too much, but everyone seems to vibe with it. I am just grateful that everyone is listening.

Follow Avery on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to stay up-to-date, or visit his official website. “Happy with Nothing” is available on Spotify and all other musical streaming platforms.

Photos Courtesy of Justin Gilbert