Brandon is living the California dream

A talented young Hamilton musician is living the American dream after graduating from the country’s most renowned music college.

Brandon Brown has just completed five years at Berklee College of Music in Boston.

And after specialising on scoring music for films he is already working with a composer in the movie business.

The 21-year-old has moved out to Los Angeles to be in the heart of the music industry.

He said: “I have been doing a lot of really cool stuff. I’ve been on numerous Spanish television shows as a guitarist and started teaching at a music school.

“I’ve been working with a film composer called Megan Cavallari on some projects and I’m about to start working with another film composer, Tom Howe, who is currently finishing writing the music for the Shaun the Sheep movie.

“I’m also being signed to a development deal with a producer called Mark Nilan, who works closely with Lady Gaga.

“It’s fair to say I’m pretty excited about the future. A lot of things happening in a lot of different areas of the music industry.”

Before his scholarship offer at Berklee the college had only ever seen two Scots make the cut at the age of 16.

Brandon’s journey to the States has not been an easy one but his family and friends held various fundraisers to help him achieve his dream.

He also received £10,000 from the Donald Dewar Arts Awards.

But he still had to work as a resident assistant in the college to pay the cost of his tuition.

He said: “I received a lot of funding from a lot of charities, which I am incredibly grateful for.

“I never thought that it would have been possible to finish as the total cost of a degree at Berklee is over $250,000. Insane.”

The former Calderside Academy pupil graduated with a degree in professional music, focusing on film scoring and the music business.

He said: “I had an amazing four years, studying with some of the best teachers in the world, playing with musicians from all over the world and even meeting a few other Scottish musicians too.

“I got to study in Valencia, Spain, for a semester in 2016 as Berklee has a campus there, whilst playing a lot of gigs – even one at the Hard Rock Cafe in Barcelona.

“I was able to be involved in the music scene around Boston too. I played shows in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine.

“I also became a student ambassador and Berklee sent me to Houston, New Orleans, Miami and Orlando to represent Berklee at their auditions.

“The past four years have flown by. I don’t know where the time went.”