Ron Brunk grew up in West Virginia, ingesting with his meals the stories of the local coal-miners, as well as the Yankee folk tales, poetry, and good old fashioned rock’n’roll. Ron would often skip class and instead go to the library, where he educated himself by reading the classics, and in so doing, learned all about the human truths within their pages. He memorised hundreds of chords on a guitar that his father sent to him, and quickly learned how to set lyrics to music. We’ve written about a lot of his music over the last couple years, so we figured it was high time we put some questions to the man himself.
What inspired you to create music with Christian themes?
In a nutshell, I’d say it’s because of the crumbling condition of our chaotic society. The further we go down this hedonistic, imperialistic, narcissistic pathway, the more hopeless we become. There is no denying that people turn to God when times get tough, and I think we may be seeing that happen. Many may be realizing that humanism is NOT the answer to life’s important questions. They’ve been telling themselves that everything is going to be the same as it ever was, as they’re living comfortably inside a technological bubble of false security. But I think many are now starting to open their eyes to see these truths, and are beginning to understand how close we are to collapse. I have seen this coming for the past 20 years. For me, this has been a return to my roots and the beautiful faith of my grandparents. As a result, I wrote these Christian songs to spread the message of hope.
How would you describe your music style to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
The best word to describe my music is ECLECTIC. I do not like doing the same thing over and over; I like to constantly shake things up! I think most artists find their lane and stay in there. But that’s not for me. Too boring. I passionately enjoy the creative process, and to push boundaries and change lanes. So you will find a wide range of styles and genres if you listen through my catalogue of 32 albums.
What do you think sets you apart from other artists in the Christian music genre?
In my opinion, it seems like most of what I hear from other Christian artists are worship songs. And worship songs are wonderful; I can’t stress that strongly enough. I have a few worship songs, but many of mine take a different perspective. For example, I do a lot of what I call “warning” songs. There are several of those out there to be seen on YouTube: Everything, Zero Hour, Deep is the Night, and others. And I also do songs that are intended to encourage and lift others.
What was the main inspiration behind ‘I’m Really Special’? How did the idea for the song come about?
The inspiration for this song was really simple and funny. A guy told me after a performance that I was a pretty good writer, but a terrible singer. He was very nice about it, but he said he just didn’t like my voice, and that I should get someone else to sing my songs. I took it in stride. I mean, you’ve just got to laugh about it. But when I got home, I realized there was a great song there! It wrote itself in about four minutes. And you’ll notice that I make funny use of his comment in the song lyrics. And I exaggerated my voice in that spot, just for fun. But anyway, the broader message of the song is obvious….no matter what anyone else thinks or says about us, we are each a special, unique creation of God.
The song has a quirky and humorous tone. How important is it for you to incorporate humour into your music?
Humor is extremely important to me! I can’t stress that enough. Laughter is one of the greatest things God has given us. I was raised in a family that was filled with jokesters, sarcasm, love, and laughter. Almost nothing was off-limits for joking. And so it came naturally to me to incorporate humor into my artistic creations. I often include clever, tongue-in-cheek humor in my songs. It amuses me to do so. I’ve always appreciated singer-songwriters – Loudon Wainwright, Randy Newman, Dylan’s early stuff, even the Beatles – who could do that, and I try to do the same. And again, I will mention that if you work your way through my 32 albums, you’ll find humor sprinkled all the way through. The danger, however, is that some folks don’t seem to have much of a sense of humor. Oh, the times my comedy and humor got me in serious trouble! But those are stories for another time.
Can you describe your songwriting process for this particular track?
Well, I don’t have a process; I usually just follow the spirit of creativity as it moves me. As I mentioned before, a guy commented on my lousy singing voice. So then I went home and BOOM, the song flowed right out in its entirety, in about 3-4 minutes. Most songs come to me like that. It’s like they flow from somewhere in the ether, and I usually can’t write or play fast enough to keep up with the words and music. I rarely think about what the words should be, or ponder on what chords to play or what the melody should be like. It just flows out naturally and mysteriously. I’ve never understood it.
How did you decide on the visual elements and themes to match the song’s quirky and humorous nature?
After all the countless hours and dollars spent trying to create impressive and well-crafted music videos, I decided it was time to finally shoot a music video in cheapo vertical style. So I went to the Goodwill store and bought some unusual clothes. Then I unpacked all my goofy hats and glasses. Then I put my phone on a tripod and filmed myself for an hour, singing the song and acting stupid. Then I spent a couple of hours editing the clips….and voila! —a silly yet entertaining music video with a powerful message of positivity! And the whole video was done entirely spur-of-the-moment.
Are there any upcoming projects or new music releases you can share with us?
Oddly enough, I’m now working on album number 33. I say oddly because I had intended to stop for a while. But no such luck; the muse persists and hounds me. The album will be a VERY interesting collection of diverse material. Eclectic, for sure. The album title is SPECK OF DUST, and I feel pretty sure that title will stick throughout the process. Often my album title changes as we record and mix the songs, but not this time. This album will be entirely recorded by just me and my old friend, Paul Allen. You may know him from his work with Adele, Big & Rich, Richard Marx, Sebastian Bach, and many others. Paul has worked closely with me on most of my records over the years, and he is such a tremendously talented and creative dynamo. I am so very excited about this group of songs because they span a lot of years and different genres. And you can count on some more humour thrown in there too.
Check out Ron Brunk’s new single, ‘I’m Really Special‘, and watch the video for it below. You can follow Ron Brunk online to find out more about him and his music on his official website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
