Exposed Vocals just interviewed Clarence “CJ” Branch

Clarence “CJ” Branch,Musician/Producer/ Music Director & Philanthropist
from North Philadelphia has traveled the world performing with industry artists such as Bruno Mars, Robin Tarena & Usher & more. Back home, CJ creates music to impact the lives of the youth & to influence musicians in the city to share more music. CJ continues to use the power of influence to create change.

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

CJ Branch: “I grew up in North Philadelphia. I started playing music as something to keep me occupied during church. It was the only thing that kept me focused; I never knew what it was like to not ever play music.”

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

CJ Branch:  “CJ was a nickname that was given to me by my family to shorten my full name. So, it just stuck with me growing up.”

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

CJ Branch:  “I love online music sharing personally. It’s quick and really relevant to how local artists and musicians get discovered. Any music that I personally create I give away for free. I post on sound cloud, and all digital store outlets.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

CJ Branch:  “Be consistent. Consistency is key for any local band or artist; whether that’s being consistent in practice, promotion, skills etc. You sow the seeds in which you want to reap for the harvest, so  to speak.  “

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

CJ Branch:  “Yes, I make mistakes during performances, but I just keep going. I never stop even after a mistake is made.”

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

CJ Branch: “Yes I do tour. The most interesting thing is seeing the diversity throughout the crowd and how many people just love the joy that music brings. When thousands of people are jamming to the same beat, it’s almost overwhelming. Feels good to know that music brings people together”

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

CJ Branch:  “I gather inspiration from everyday life. I gather inspiration from Movies, church, friends, etc. The usual process for song writing sometimes depends on what sparked the inspiration. Being a musician, sometimes I’d lay the piano part down first, or the drums to see where I should build from there. Once I get started, I don’t stop until I have a solid track.”

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

CJ Branch:  “My website is CJBranchmusic.com and you can find me on all social media platforms through my website. My sound cloud is soundcloud.com/cjbranch and facebook.com/cjbranchmusic1”

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

CJ Branch:  “uhh, the only thing I guess you can say is embarrassing is Michael Bubble- Perfume genius. “

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

CJ Branch:  “I would pay my tithes to the church first and then invest the rest in building my music summer camp “AMP CAMP” for young musicians ages 8-18.”

Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?

CJ Branch:  “Crazy thing is I use logic 9 still for production. I’ve made so many hits in logic 9, its hard for me to give it up.”

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

CJ Branch:  “Truthfully, I feel blessed to have a PR who helps with most of the promotion, but I like how I can promote on social media and word of mouth. Technology has made it much easier to be discovered.”

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

CJ Branch: “If I could perform with anyone…hmm I would choose Andre 3000 and or Mumford and Sons.  We would be in Denver Colorado because of the historic venues there.”

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

CJ Branch: I’ll be working on a few projects with a couple local artists such as Brianna Cash, Doug C. Wes, and a few others. I will also be releasing more music with my brother Mario Crew, and releasing some Christmas songs before the year is up.”

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

CJ Branch:  “Man, that’s a good question. To be honest, I have no idea what I’d be doing, music is my number one passion; wouldn’t know what I’d be doing without music and creating.”

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

CJ Branch: “Crazy story, but the first album I bought was “Usher-My Way”. The reason I bought it is because growing up I was only allowed to listen to certain music. My mother was very particular on what I listened to. While I was on the bus at summer camp, all the kids would always sing songs from Usher’s album, and I wanted to know them by heart. So I went out and bought the cassette tape version of the album and listened to the album over and over to learn the words the other kids knew.”

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

CJ Branch: “I look at everything as a full time business. I make it all of my responsibilities part of my everyday life.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?

CJ Branch:  “Theirs only a short time left in the years, look forward to more music and upcoming projects. I’ll be in and out of L.A. until the end of the year, always looking for local artist to collaborate with. Most of my fans can find what’s next on my social media outlets and website CJbranchmusic.com. More music to come, very excited about the music that’s out right now.