Please first tell us a little about yourself. How did you learn music and how many projects did you work on before Good Kinda Tired?
Music has always been part of my life. I grew up on a farm in a small Indiana town where I started singing in church when I was 5. My mom bought an old upright piano at a garage sale and found a local piano teacher for me when I was six and then a voice teacher when I was 13 years old and has always been my passion. I performed in the school musicals, and choir and sang the National Anthem at home varsity games. I’m grateful my voice teacher prepped me for my college auditions, where I earned a full ride scholarship for vocal performance at a liberal arts college in Indiana. I then got my first repertory musical theatre contract at the Round Barn Theatre where I performed 8 shows a week, and as soon as the 9 month contract ended I moved to New York City where I continued to work in theatre, TV, films and gigging for about 6 years. Then I met my husband while I was working on the Disney Film, ENCHANTED and moved to Los Angeles. I went back to school shortly after my daughter was born and earned my masters in songwriting from Berklee College of Music in 2012, then released my debut EP, Live and Let Live, in 2013, followed by the albums, Sexy N’ Domesticated, Showin’ Up, and most recently, the 10th Anniversary remaster of Live & Let Live and music video for Good Kinda Tired.
Tell us about Good Kinda Tired. How did the idea for this track come about and how would you describe it?
Good Kinda Tired was inspired by the late songwriter Harry Chapin who shared during an interview how his Grandfather taught him, “There’s good tired and there’s bad tired…bad tired can be a day that you won. But you won other people’s battles; you lived other people’s dreams. And when it’s all over, there was very little you in there…It’s that good tired, you fought your battles, you chased your dreams.” I grew up listening to Harry Chapin and would think about that quote when I would be hustling to make ends meet while I was living in New York. At one point, I gave in and took an office job working for a Broadway Producer so I could finally have a steady stream of income, but quickly realized that the money wasn’t worth trading in my purpose to take on other people’s problems to make their dreams come true so I wrote Good Kinda Tired as an anthem to inspire and encourage people to chase a good tired in life.
Talk to us about the music video you made for this track. How did you collaborate with its director Michelle Bossy and how long did pre-production take for this music video?
I have worked with Director, Michelle Bossy on several music videos. Our first music video we collaborated on was for my single, Horrified, that we shot in New York City, then we did the music video for my song Rainbow, fresh off the pandemic lockdown where we filmed it over 3 days using green screen and SFX to bring the vision to life. When we approached the song Good Kinda Tired, we initially thought about filming in a laundromat, but that’s been done so many times in music videos, so we went back to the drawing board and were thinking about how women have evolved over time and we zeroed in on the pivotal year of 1968 when women began to break free from society’s definition of a woman’s success and self-worth should be based on being a wife and mother and putting everyone else first in their lives to pursuing a career. I myself have to juggle the roles of wife, mom and artist and we wanted to play on the idea of shapeshifting between each of those roles by having me play a housewife in 1968 but also a rocker chic on the Ed Sullivan show, where the “house wife” sees herself outside of her wife/mom role on TV at the beginning of the music video but by the end you realize she wasn’t seeing things or having one too many martinis but that she pulled off filming the performance on the Ed Sullivan show AND made it home in time to put the kids to bed and be waiting for her hard working husband when he got home. Hence, the wink at the end of the video. We get to see what a good tired is for her being true to herself and for her husband who comes home after a long day and ends it on a high note with his wife and partner.
What do you think are the distinguishing features of today's music videos compared to works from other eras?
Today we have so many avenues to visually tell a story for a song that I am always inspired by an artist being able to move an audience with a small budget. I’ve seen music videos with huge budgets and special FX that feature the latest technology, but don’t move an audience or leave an artistic impression like Alanis Morissette’s music video did for Ironic.
What was the hardest part of making this music video in your opinion?
Honestly, the Good Kind Tired music video was the easiest shoot Michelle Bossy and I have ever done. We have worked together so many times that we had a dream team crew in every department that came with their A Game. My favorite part of the video is the disco ball bathtub moment that wasn’t part of the story board, literally the day before we shot. I was in a wardrobe fitting the morning before filming when my wardrobe designer, Devon Sheridan was fitting me into the disco ball dress I wore for the “Ed Sullivan” look and Michelle Bossy mentioned she really wanted to use the bathtub on set but the location we found, Honeymoon Inn Studios in Los Angeles wouldn’t allow for us to use water or bubbles in the bathtub. That’s when Devon said, “why not use disco balls instead of bubbles?” The three of us lit up and Devon volunteered to drive around Los Angeles the rest of the day and gather up as many disco balls she could find. It wound up being a fan favorite feature of the video!
Tell us about the audience's feedback regarding Good Kinda Tired.
The audience feedback and number of film festival Music Video Awards the Good Kinda Tired music video has won is incredible. Several people have reached out on social media as well to send congratulations and say they watched it several times and sent their favorite moments from the video. You can see the outpouring of support on my socials @brookejosephsonmusic
Finally, if possible, tells us about your future projects.
Currently, I am in the midst of meeting with DJs interested in remixing Good Kinda Tired for a release this June. I am also a certified sound healer and play sound baths in Los Angeles with the HIGH VIBE TRIBE led by Ana Netanel. I am passionate about sound healing and prepping to record sound baths to offer online for those who cannot attend in person or need energetic healing at their convenience.
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