High Strangeness with helmsley: Bran Schlia Positively Shines on New Double Album

(EDITOR’S NOTE — There are some artists on the Buffalo scene who create at such a rapid pace that attempting to keep up with their output is like pushing water uphill with a rake. Many of these folks are not only prolific, but their output is also varied, spanning a range of mediums and roles. Bran Schlia is one of those artists. A musician, filmmaker, engineer/producer, ZUZU Radio (podcast host) and founder of Steak and Cake Records, Bran’s latest addition to his expansive catalogue is a double album released in late October under the name of his solo musical project ‘helmsley.’ In fact, this marks the third consecutive October in which he's dropped a double LP under the helmsley banner. Split under separate titles, Bran’s latest albums — engaging as they are superb — are available on Bandcamp at the links provided: ‘Low Positive’ is a bouncy and melodic work inspired by the indie music of the aughts, such as Saves the Day’s “In Reverie” and The Strokes’ “Room on Fire.” Meanwhile, the album “High Strangeness” is a captivating tribute to LA producer Kenny Segal’s “Kenstrumentals” album series. Recently, Bran was generous enough to speak with 1120 Press about the double-album drop. We thank him for his time. Our conversation is below. As we’ve stated, Bran’s output is astounding, and you can view his body of work via Steak and Cake Records HERE. Bran is also the founder of Headshrinker Studios, and you check out some of his film and music video work HERE. Despite the Herculean effort of a double-album release, Bran has no intention of taking a pause. In fact, his new film “Double Fault” premieres this Tuesday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. at Hallwalls, 341 Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. Entry is $10. — Photos below provided.)

Bran Schlia

1120 PRESS: Thank you for speaking with us and congratulations on the new double album! How do you feel now that it’s out in the wild for public consumption?

BRAN SCHLIA: Relieved! It’s not unusual for me to get caught in some second guessing. The fact that it’s out means I somehow escaped the loop. 

1120: One album, ‘Low Positive,’ you characterize as a throwback to the indie music period between 2000 and 2010-ish. The other album, ‘High Strangeness,’ is instrumental, and experimental. You pointed to the ‘Kenstrumentals’ series by producer/DJ Kenny Segal as the inspiration for most of your instrumental releases. What appeals to you so much about his work?

And, as for ‘Low Positive,’ what led you to want to explore that era of indie music and what is it about the two LPs — ‘In Reverie’ by Saves the Day and ‘Room on Fire’ by The Strokes — which you cited as influences for the album?

BRAN: Kenny and I have a similar process where we sample performances instead of

'Low Positive' by Helmsley

tracking them ‘as is.’ Noodle, then edit, then refine. It’s a way to collaborate with a hard-to-reach part of your own creative mind. It’s like I’m working with a part of myself that I don’t know and I like that.

If the ‘Kenstrumentals’ series is the sound I’m hunting for now, those two indie albums are the sound I was raised on. I was drawn in by the way the instruments worked together. Seemed like there were all these different melodies at play and, somehow, they all worked together. You mean the bass doesn’t have to play the root?? Formative stuff.

1120: We were kind of fascinated by the movie and television samples you used on ‘High Strangeness.’ How much did your own love of film come into play in the samples you chose?

BRAN: I love instrumental music, but I think I’m an outlier. So, when I’m making lyric-less music I think it’s a good idea to incorporate the human voice in some way. On other albums (like "East Hills #1") I experimented with a found sound approach, voice-memo-ed my life for a few months and worked it in as atmosphere. But for this one, with its boom bap roots, it just seemed like those clips would be nice ornaments. 

1120: You’ve mentioned that October of every year has become a self-imposed deadline for you to drop whatever solo material you’ve been working on because otherwise you would never get around to releasing music due to your inner critic/perfectionism, so to speak. It makes us wonder: just how much unreleased material are you sitting on and will we ever hear any in the near future?

BRAN: That’s a hard question to answer. There are so many one-off moments that end up tracked into a session. Sometimes it’s because of who’s visiting at the time, and sometimes it’s because I just heard a sound or a genre and I’m exploring what it would mean to build that world. But mostly those sessions are a mess. It takes a deadline like this October one to force me to fully realize the idea, and even then, so many of them are abandoned because they don’t seem worth the energy of figuring them out. So long story short, there are probably thousands of loose ends hanging around on hard drives. 

'High Strangeness' by helmsley

1120: This is the third straight October in which you’ve released a double album. When you look back on the course of these past three years and the making of this trilogy, as you’ve called it, is there anything that stands out to you about this experience?

BRAN: The triple trilogy thing feels like doing research on a theory. It started when I committed to a deconstructive approach in 2019 and it only really started to work as of 2023. I think it worked because I discovered I was trying to force two different creative styles into the same space, and everything was easier with them separated. 

1120: You also mentioned on Instagram that you feel like you’ve reached the end of a cycle with this trilogy. Are you talking about the way you’ve constructed these three releases — one always being somewhat traditional and the other being instrumental — or do you mean no more double albums for a while? Either way: Why and where do you think go from here?

BRAN: Well, I know I’m searching for the next discovery. I have some ideas on what comes next but it’s too fuzzy to put into words for now. I promise I’ll have something by October 2026. 

1120: Your work, whether its helmsley, Ismatic Guru, Cheshire Cat (just to name a few), always seems to push the envelope. It’s never the norm. You said that you are interested in ‘the accident more than the intended part,’ which definitely stands out, but at the same time you confessed to an inability to ‘never stop tweaking things.’  How would you describe your philosophy/approach when it comes to making music? 

BRAN: They might sound like a weird pair, but the accident and the tweak are interconnected. The blindfold approach that I mentioned before is like pouring all this random creative energy into a bucket. Then I sit there like a forty-niner and sift the sediment for a few good bits. Like maybe I captured a really cool Jake-King-homemade-instrument one day, that might go in the “keepers” folder. That folder takes in a lot of randomness and filters it down to the ideas that could be expanded or maybe even fit into each other. Building from so many disparate sources is part of my trick. 

1120: Going back to ‘High Strangeness,’ we have to ask what inspired some of the names on these songs such as ‘Hills Department Store,’ ‘The Ground Round,’ ‘Izzy Mandelbaum.’ We love them all. Are they just random or are they tied to something that you are trying to convey on the album?

BRAN: Thank you! Glad you like those. That’s also part of this dual creative identity. The

songwriter album has simple, one-word titles that sum up the song. The instrumental album has longer phrases, or weird call-outs, almost like the lyrics are the title since there aren’t any lyrics in the song. I keep a list of things throughout the year that catch me and then when I’m listening to the final mix, I connect a few dots.

1120: So what else is cooking on your end right now because you are always up to something?

BRAN: Recently, I had the opportunity to mix and master the new track from Astronaut Head, ‘Talk to Frank.’Jessica (Stoddard) made all the music, and I just jumped in near the end to help shape some things. I had a lot of fun helping a great artist realize the full potential of her vision. I feel like I used to do that more in the production and tracking end of things, but as technology makes that more accessible and easier to navigate for the artist, it seems like this mixer/master space is a place I could have a good impact. I’d love the chance to work with more artists like this. If people already have songs tracked and they just can’t seem to get them sounding right, they can send the stems my way and I’ll get it finished off.

1120: Thank you for speaking with us and again, congratulations. Is there anything else you want to say about these albums that we haven’t touched on?

BRAN: Thanks 1120! Just want to say I really appreciate you taking the time to highlight everything that’s happening in Buffalo.