Meet The Team: Brett

Name:

Brett

Smule Name:

VE_Brett_MOF

Tell us a little about yourself... where were you born, where did you grow up, married with children?

I was born and raised in England, just outside London. I grew up in a house with 8 other siblings, and none of them are musically inclined at all - which just makes me ever prouder of honing this love of music. I remember my father singing to me... and he always encouraged me to pursue it, especially with my cousin, Hayley - we used to put on little shows for everyone in the family. I'm single, by the way - wink wink.

Do you remember the first CD/cassette (or vinyl) you bought?

I don't. I do remember it was a cassette - but I grew up in a household where we didn't have many luxuries - it wasn't until my teens that I actually got to buy my own music. It was probably Take That or Aqua or something highly embarrassing.

I listened to alot of my elder siblings music, so there was lots of Michael Jackson, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper around the house... I also was one of those guys who used to sit in my room on a SUnday afternoon, recording the chart from the radio, and getting annoyed when the announcer would speak over the song.

What are your favourite genres and eras of music?

I love listening to pretty much everything - my Spotify playlists are FULL of mixed genre playlists for every mood, and I genuinely enjoy songs from all walks of the musical world. Thats another reason I love judging Vocal Edge, and why I created it to be such a vast, unpredictable test of your versatility.

Singing them, however, is another story - I generally sing Pop Ballads, and Musical Theatre... I do enjoy singing some others, and generally avoid singing RnB - I dont have those vocal runs that everyone is always so proud of.

My favourite era is between the 80s and the 90s. 80s has such a distinctive and powerful sound, but I grew up on the boyband and girl groups of the 90s, and LOTS of novelty music, like Mr Blobby, Aqua and the 'Cheeky Girls'... They were fun!

You created Vocal Edge and have done pretty much every role, including coach. How would you describe the competition to those considering auditioning from May 2nd?

Its a demanding test of your verstility. It will push you outside of your box, and at times, it may even upset you to read critique about yourself... BUT... I have built an extremely talented team of individuals who want nothing more than to assist you to make your performances the best they can be. That means honesty above all else, and pushing you out of your comfort zone... musical versatility is like a muscle... it will strengthen when you exercise it - and THAT is what this competition is about. It also VERY VERY scary to compete against over 1000 other individuals in such a limited arena, but every round you advance, it feels good to know how many people you beat out to make it so far... be brave - you won't regret it!

One final thing... boxers or briefs?

Depends... usually boxers but on sexy day - it can go either way ;-)