As someone about to graduate, I’ve been thinking a lot about the traditions I’ve engaged with at Vanderbilt. While some are directly related to the university, some of my favorites are ones I created with friends. One of those traditions is attending Briston Maroney’s Paradise Festival as a final hurrah before Thanksgiving break.
Held each year at Brooklyn Bowl, Paradise is a three-day festival filled with some of the most talented indie and alternative artists. If you’ve never attended, I encourage you to check it out. This year marks the third anniversary of Paradise Festival, and Maroney shared that a lot will be the same, but there will also be some changes.
“Music totally is the focal point [of Paradise],” Maroney said.
Fans can expect another talented lineup, including The Hustler favorites Gus Dapperton and Yoke Lore, as well as Nashville staples Hana Eid and Noah Pope.
“Generally, the lineup this year is definitely all pretty high octane and high energy,” Maroney said. “I just want it to feel like a bouncy house; I want it to be fun the whole time.”
In addition to great music, there will be classic vendors such as portraits and tattoos, plus a new airbrush T-shirt station. Another exciting change is this year’s new theme: rainforest, a shift from last year’s underwater theme.
Maroney shared that he feels both excited and weird about playing this year. After living in Nashville for eight years, he moved to California at the end of 2023, making Paradise feel like a bit of a “homecoming” for him. He is excited to come back and reunite with the community that helped shape him into who he is today, but he also noted feeling anxiety and pressure about returning to Nashville after having lived here for so long.
Not only has Maroney been prepping for Paradise, but he’s also been putting out new music, including the release of his single, “Monday,” which came out on Sept. 9 (a Monday!). “Monday” is a lighthearted song that describes being spontaneous and living life to the fullest. The music video reinforces this concept, as Maroney and his director Neil Shukla didn’t go into it with an extensive plan. Instead, they took a more chill approach and filmed things that were funny to them. This included scenes at Los Angeles International Airport and the beach to poke fun at Maroney moving to L.A.
Maroney shared that “Monday” marks the end of an era, which he describes as the bow wrapped around his most recent album “Ultrapure.”
“Ultrapure is a soft, sensitive album, which is where I was mentally when I was writing all that stuff,” Maroney said. “So this song is kind of a fun exit to that album.”
Even though Maroney is wrapping up his “Ultrapure” era, there is certainly lots of new music coming that we can all look forward to. He’s been focusing on creating music that feels like him, even if it means not conforming to what is trendy or commercially successful.
To wrap up the interview, we asked about his advice for aspiring artists. He encouraged Nashville musicians to get outside their comfort zone, such as by moving to a new place or not being afraid to let their art shine in its most authentic form.
“Have fun and experiment, because you’re only young one time,” Maroney said.“You can really push as far as you want to go artistically. So yeah, just have fun and experiment.”
