Staying True to Her Mission

Emily Brimlow, whose fresh sound can be described as a mix of soul, R&B and pop, is looking to take over the world and spread her message of love and positivity. Growing up with a musical family, she “listened to a lot of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Donny Hathaway,” making music an element that has always been a part of her life. She credits her father (who taught her how to play the guitar and is a songwriter himself) as being a huge influence on her decision to be a musician. “I was so young when live music came into my life. My whole family would jam together. My dad was always the leader of the music group for my family,” she recalls.

As she notes that she has written songs “about injustices and things that are going on in the world” – including the fur trade and human trafficking – one of the 23-year-old’s latest singles “Spiritual War” shares a bold message of humans coming together: “We, as humans, are not meant to fight each other. It’s really a spiritual battle between angels and demons. I think we’re fighting a bigger battle that we can’t see,” says Brimlow. With her intense lyrics and battle-filled music video, she is trying to portray the idea that “we should love each other because we have way bigger fish to fry.” She feels it is important to use this art form as a way to spread messages that you are passionate about.

The young singer is also a firm believer in humility and is sold on the idea of making beautiful music while she refuses to sell out and sell herself short as a musician. “It saddens me to see people give their life away to being famous,” she describes. “We, as people, have so much potential, and we shouldn’t compromise – especially with art.” She is constantly thinking of ideas for new music and wants to create songs that are “thought-provoking.” “Normally, I jam out a song, and I start to just hum something or sing anything. Sometimes, the greatest things I’ve found I’ve done with my songs have come out of moments where I’m just joking around. Even when it’s freestyling, it’s always got the [thought-provoking] undertones,” she adds.

While Brimlow is still relatively new to the music scene, she has toured the Australian outback, bringing joy to the small indigenous towns. “I was sitting on top of my roof, I would always go to my roof [when I was] in high school to try to get away from my mom,” she laughs, then continues. “There was this moment that I don’t even know how to explain – that I just knew I had to go to Australia.” She joined the non-profit organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM) and was a part of their Music Art and Dance Discipleship Training School (MAD DTS) in Brisbane where she led a 10-piece band on the road (“One of our goals was to bring entertainment to people who never get live music from the outside”). It was Brimlow’s first taste of touring and performing for different crowds every night, proving to be a life-changing experience.

Originally from British Columbia, the Canadian native currently resides in a surf town in California, and is focusing her life on creating art. “In the last year, the reality of [music] being a career and the longevity of it hit me but I just thought, ‘No, I’m going to go after this forever,’” affirms Brimlow.

Writer: Gavy Contreras  

Photographer: Paul Collins  

Art Director: Al David 

Stylist: Marc Littlejohn (@marcalittlejohn - for Ken Barboza Associates Inc.)  

Hair: DaRico Jackson  

Makeup: Kim Bragalone  

Editor: Eiko Watanabe