Bruce Driscoll Explained

Bruce Driscoll
Birth Date:13 June 1983
Birth Place:Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States
Instrument:Guitar, multi-instrumentalist
Years Active:2000 - present

Bruce Driscoll is an American record producer, songwriter, guitarist, film composer, and vocalist.

He is one-half of French & American indie pop, folk duo Freedom Fry and co-founder of Alternative rock band Blondfire. His other writing or production credits include Avicii, Arty, Fredrika Stahl, Ivy, Sleepy Rebels, Stroik, Westrin and Mowry, and the Voyces.[1]

Biography

Early life and career

Driscoll was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to an American father and a Brazilian mother. He started playing piano and drums at an early age, eventually picking up the guitar when he turned 15. He soon began performing alongside his two older siblings in a band called Nectar.

The siblings embarked on a national tour and eventually landed a development deal with EMI Publishing when Bruce was aged 17. Soon after, they showcased for many of the US major record labels, including Warner Bros. Records, Maverick, and Capitol. In 2002 the siblings disbanded over creative differences and no worthy record deal on the horizon.[2]

Personal life

Driscoll is married to his Freedom Fry bandmate, Marie Seyrat. The couple have a young son and reside in Los Angeles, CA.[3]

Astaire

In 2003 Bruce and Erica Driscoll began recording songs in their parents' Michigan basement which would turn out to be early Astaire demos. The songs took a stylistically more left of center pop sound. The demos were sent to Andy Chase of Ivy who loved the songs and wanted to produce the duo at his studio, Stratosphere Sound, in New York. After working with Chase in the studio the siblings relocated to New York and released their first EP, Don't Whisper Lies, on their own label. The EP garnered the duo a feature in Entertainment Weekly as well as several film placements, including in the Jennifer Lopez film Monster-in-Law and the Nicolas Cage film Bangkok Dangerous.[4]

The EP's single, "L-L-Love" became an iTunes Free Single of the Week and the band embarked on a national tour with Ivy, Robbers on High Street, and Stars. In the middle of the tour, lawyers for the Fred Astaire Estate threatened to sue if the duo did not change their name. Lacking the money to afford legal fees they changed their name to Blondfire.[5]

Blondfire

The duo continued on as Blondfire signing a record contract with EMI UK in October 2006. Shortly thereafter EMI was bought out by Terra Firma and went through internal changes. The duo left the label in mid-2007 and self-released their debut album, My Someday, in April 2008.[6] [7]

In September 2012, following the viral internet and radio success of their song, "Where The Kids Are", Blondfire signed to Warner Bros. Records and Primary Wave Publishing and began mixing of their album, Young Heart, with mixer Wally Gagel.[8]

Blondfire’s music has appeared in films and tv shows such as Dallas Buyers Club, Fun Size, Pretty Little Liars as well advertisements from Honda and others.[9] [10]

Freedom Fry

In April 2011, Driscoll met Parisian born Marie Seyrat during pre-production on Blondfire's "Where The Kids Are" video. Seyrat, the stylist on the video, played him a cover of her singing a song in French over a ukulele. Entranced by her whispery voice, Driscoll asked her if she would be interested in writing some songs together. In August of 2011 Freedom Fry released their first EP.[11]

Freedom Fry’s music combines many genres, with folk, indie pop, and dance elements. Their songs are primarily sung in English but there have been several French-language releases.[12]

In 2016 Freedom Fry signed a singles deal with Universal Music France for the song, “Shaky Ground.”[13]

Freedom Fry songs have been featured in many notable places including M3GAN, The Morning Show, Locked Down, Shameless, Atypical, and Intuit’s Super Bowl film, “A Giant Story.” Their song, “Rolling Down” is the hold music for Amazon.[14] [15]

They have performed alongside Stromae, Echosmith, Phantogram, Lilly Wood and the Prick, Aurora, as well as performing a nationwide in-store tour with the clothing brand Madewell. They were official South by Southwest artists in 2016 and 2018.[16] [17]

Film Composing

Driscoll and his Freedom Fry bandmate, Marie Seyrat, provided the original score for seasons one and two of the Apple TV+ original series, Lovely Little Farm, starring Joel Fry and Shirley Henderson.[18]

He also provided additional music for Netflix’s reboot of That '70s Show, entitled That '90s Show, including engineering and performing bass & guitars on the revamped theme song with the show’s principal composer James Iha and Brett Anderson of the Donnas.

Internationally, Driscoll has composed the score for Bangladeshi feature film, “Kingdom of Clay Subjects,” as well as for the Romanian comedy, Sweet Little Lies.

Driscoll composed the theme music for the cooking and travel TV series “From Scratch” starring David Moscow.

Collaborations

One of Driscoll’s most notable co-writes was with Tim Bergling, better known as Avicii, with whom and Erica Driscoll he co-wrote the song “Liar Liar” for his multi-platinum album, True.[19]

Freedom Fry collaborated with Chicago rapper Vic Mensa on the 2020 single “Happy Little Thoughts.”[20]

Throughout his career Driscoll has continued to collaborate with Ivy’s Andy Chase. First playing keyboards in Ivy, guitar in Chase's band Brookville, and then co-writing and producing tracks for his band, Camera2.[21]

Driscoll filled in on guitar for several dates with Belle and Sebastian’s Isobel Campbell on her tour as a duo with Mark Lanegan in 2010.

Discography

[22] [23] [24]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Kings of A&R . Freedom Fryl . Kings of A&R . 2023-10-02.
  2. Web site: My Old Kentucky Blog: Pop Dee-Lite : Interview with Blondfire : The MP3 blog that puts some stank in it.. 20 May 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080520002019/http://myoldkyhome.blogspot.com/2008/05/pop-dee-lite-interview-with-blondfire.html . 21 January 2021. 2008-05-20.
  3. Web site: Jon Chattman . Type Without Thinking (Much) with Freedom Fry's Bruce Driscoll . . 2020-06-03 . 2023-10-02.
  4. Web site: Independent Study: Blondfire - today > entertainment - Music - TODAY.com . Today.com . 2023-10-02.
  5. Web site: MacKenzie Wilson . Astaire | Biography & History . . 2023-10-02.
  6. Web site: PopJustice . A note regarding Blondfire . . 2008-07-24. 2023-10-02.
  7. Web site: Burn the Bowery . Blondfire - Interview . Burn the Bowery . 2008-03-29. 2023-10-02.
  8. Web site: Jen Weinberg . Want a Song That'll Make You Move? Listen To Our New Obsession, Blondfire's "Where The Kids Are" . Glamour . 2012-09-10. 2023-10-02.
  9. Web site: IMDB . Blondfire - IMDB credits . IMDB . 2023-10-02. 2023-10-02.
  10. Web site: Primary Wave . Blondfire's "Where the Kids Are" in Honda Ad . Primary Wave . 2013-02-13. 2023-10-02.
  11. Web site: Roman Gokhman . Q&A: Freedom Fry hopes its long awaited LP becomes a 'Classic' . Riff Magazine . 2018-06-27. 2023-10-02.
  12. Web site: Patricia Sanchez . Freedom Fry Flaunt New Single Sun in French . Grimy Goods . 2021-01-27. 2023-10-02.
  13. Web site: Ilana Kaplan . Freedom Fry Are Seriously All About His and Her Gear . Vice . 2016-08-09. 2023-10-02.
  14. Web site: IMDB . Freedom Fry - IMDB credits . IMDB . 2023-10-02. 2023-10-02.
  15. Web site: American Robb . Freedom Fry and the sci-tonic wanderlust of "Mr. Nobody" featuring A-F-R-O . American Pancake . 2023-10-02.
  16. Web site: Impose Magazine . Freedom Fry, "Shaky Ground" . Impose Magazine . 2023-10-02.
  17. Web site: Christy Young . The Beehive SXSW 2016 Day Party Announced . Mxdown . 2016-03-08. 2023-10-02.
  18. Web site: IMDB . Bruce Driscoll - IMDB credits . IMDB . 2023-10-02. 2023-10-02.
  19. Web site: umusicpub . True by Avicii - Album Details . umusicpub . 2023-10-02.
  20. Web site: Scott T. Sterling . Freedom Fry and Vic Mensa Turn Up "Happy Little Thoughts" Remix . Flood Magazine . 2020-09-19. 2023-10-02.
  21. Web site: Camera2 – "How Does It Feel" (former Smashing Pumpkins and Stellastarr members) | Music That Starts Your DAY!. 28 August 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130828024033/http://musicthatstartsyourday.com/camera2-how-does-it-feel/. 21 January 2021. 2013-08-28.
  22. Web site: Bruce Driscoll . Discogs . 2023-10-02 . 2023-10-02.
  23. Web site: Bandcamp . Freedom Fry Discography . Bandcamp . 2023-10-02.
  24. Web site: Bruce Driscoll . AllMusic . 2023-10-02 . 2023-10-02.

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