“A switch flipped. All at once, I knew what I wanted. I wanted to do this. I wanted to make it. I wanted the freedom that comes along with it”.

Stiffic is the musical persona of 21-year-old Brandon Stiffic, a poetry teacher at Gwendolyn Brooks Prep and Percy Julian Middle School. Brandon didn’t always have the dream of turning the words that poured out of him into his life’s work. From a young age, he has just done what’s come naturally – writing, creating, and exploring. He explores different musical avenues. He explores different collaborations. Most importantly to him, he explores himself, and what makes him, as he describes, “uniquely Stiffic”.

Music isn’t the only way Stiffic expresses what makes him unique. He released his first full-length album, “Means to an End,” on August 9th of 2024, after a waterfall rollout of songs throughout the year. The song-by-song release is not necessarily how he wants people to take in his music, but he understands there isn’t much of an appetite or attention span these days for full-length or concept albums. So, he wanted to build interest in the complete product through releasing singles. But now, “means to an end” is out there as he imagined it, and he has a preference and a recommendation for how people listen.

“This isn’t an album where you hit shuffle. These songs are in chronological order and tell a full story. That’s how I want my album to be experienced,” he says.

With the commitment to the full album experience, Stiffic, as the artist, holds up his part of the bargain, insisting the listener pay attention and giving them plenty of reasons to do so.

“I don’t want to be known for one style of music. I like to think of my work as genre-bending”.

On the album, the genres don’t just bend – they merge, separate, swell, drop, and float – think of it like a sonic lava lamp. A soothing base of lo-fi beats and melodic swells can quickly give way to short bursts of punchy phrases. A heavily produced stack of electric synth layers can give way to the sounds of a raw, rusty, stringed acoustic guitar strum. In only 32 minutes, Stiffic moves swiftly through 12 songs, each fitting in the overall album flow, but offering different elements to keep the listener engaged. As the sounds and vibes change, the words tie it together, resulting in a single piece of art.

“I like to express a full range. That’s fun for me. I have some really soft songs, but some songs require a different emotion, and that’s where I’ll push it – add some extra force to the music or the vocal performance to convey the meaning and emotion”

While a listener can enjoy each song for these pivots in genre and the multiple layers, the album as a whole can be reverse-engineered back to something much more simple and foundational – Stiffic’s poetry. His words are still the core of his art, which helps him to create a cohesive, longer-form story. This helps him better understand himself, while trying to connect to those listening.

“My words are the product of deep thought. I will think of a situation that made me feel strongly, and I really explore it. What was the full journey? What was it like to lose control and gain it again? Where were the pain points, and how did I move on from them.”

The result of this self-reflection is his most personal output to date. Stiffic describes “a means to an end” as a ride through his experiences and emotions through the end of a challenging year. As the performer, he exudes confidence and even swagger. As the poet, he recognizes the disconnect that exists between the performer and the subject matter.

“Half of the things I share in my music, I wouldn’t say them out loud otherwise,” he shares. “That doesn’t mean they aren’t true. This is just the way I need to express them. Like, I’m not going to talk about my confrontations with my ego, but it’s powerful for me to do so in music, with additional context from the sounds and mood.”

Stiffic only started writing music for recording and release within the last two years, but expressing himself and playing with his words and sounds have been inherent to him since childhood.

“I was a very secluded kid. Sheltered. I didn’t go to our town’s main street until I was like 13. But I loved music from a very early age, like 6 or 7. My Mom would catch me making up songs, and she was very supportive. She gave me a book to write in and I filled it up.”

Stiffic continued writing, leading to a strong interest in poetry by the time he got to sixth grade. He started the school’s poetry club and got the attention of his 7th-grade teacher, Mr. Colucci, who encouraged him to continue investing his time and energy into poetry, art, and music.

“It helped me build my confidence, having a teacher that believed in me. He understood what this meant for me – both in terms of creative expression and what this did for me socially.”

Stiffic started to perform live, and entered a competition, where he felt seen and accepted from other like-minded poets and musicians.

“I made my first real friends through it”, he says.

As the importance of this outlet became clear to Stiffic and his friends, his school recognized the impact as well, asking him to stay on with the poetry club even as he graded out, working with 7^th and 8^th graders to express themselves through written word and art.

The community that formed around Stiffic’s homegrown passion became incredibly important to him. His first out-of-school experience was at Positive Space Studios, which he described as “eye-opening”.

“My friend is a producer and beats maker, and he once asked me, very directly, “If you could be one thing in the whole world, what would it be?”. Instinctively, I said “musical artist”…said it aloud for the first time, and it was like that switch flipped. I had this feeling that I was about to do this, that I was going to do this. I just had this feeling that I was locked in.”

From there, Stiffic has continued to seek out others like him. Either in person or online, he continues to build his own community around him.

“I love collaborating. I believe that everyone is talented, they just have to find their own voice. I like finding new people and connecting with that voice. It really helps with collaboration.”

The desire to continue to grow his network led him to Social Works and its Open Mike Night. Within the last year he has performed twice, which gave him more of a taste for performing his music live. His focus going into the rest of the year – writing new music, and performing more shows.

“I have plans for my next music. I’m already working on it” he says, three weeks after releasing ‘means to an end’. “I want to incorporate more EDM, some 808 drops to bring another element. And I want to keep getting it out there however I can”.

Stiffic knows that he is still early into his musical journey, and relishes the challenge to keep developing his art and navigating the competitive and difficult world of the entertainment industry. “I have goals, yes. I want to be massive. I plan to be.” The success he alludes to isn’t necessarily measured in the number of streams or fans or money – but the ability to live a full and genuine life.

“It’s about freedom, really. I am chasing the freedom. That’s how I pursue this, and what I’d recommend to anyone else trying to make it as an artist. Be true, make the most honest music you can. Do whatever you want to do, and chase the ability to go and do that. You won’t be great overnight, but if it’s important to you, go and get it”.

Check out “means to an end” by Stiffic on all major streaming platforms, and keep an eye out for a couple of music videos, due sometime this year.

You can next catch Stiffic live, performing September 29 at End of Summer Fest at Chop Shop, 2033 North Ave in Chicago. Show is 7-11, doors at 6pm.

Spotify here

Soundcloud here

Instagram here

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