Inside Broadway's “The Outsiders”: 10 Questions Backstage With Star Brody Grant

Brody: Before The Outsiders came to my life in the way that it is now, I was songwriting like crazy. Most of the time I spent in New York was working at the Flatiron Equinox, just waking up at 3 a.m. to get there (I had the graveyard shifts at Equinox), or just going and meeting people and writing songs. I was just really using social media to connect with producers and songwriters. “All Talk” was the first song I wrote when I moved to the city. This amazing guy named Michel, one of two of the duo Lucky Dog, reached out to me through Instagram, and we connected.

As an independent artist right now, let’s say the goal is to release one song a month. I say this knowing that it’s challenging — this goal might change, it might not. I have a lot of songs that I went back to and thought, I need to release this into the world. I’m also looking to meet more songwriters and producers and just get to work, especially now that I’m in the rhythm of the show and that the awards are done. I really want to commit some time to that while also being in The Outsiders.

(Brody shows me a demo of a new song he’s working on — it’s excellent!)

You also went to the Grammy Awards recently! [The Outsiders was nominated for Best Musical Theater Album]. How was that experience?

Brody: It was one of the most amazing experiences. Also, congrats to Hell’s Kitchen. They won ‘Best Musical Theater’, which I thought was awesome. Alicia Keys — she doesn’t miss when it comes to the music; it’s just like, wow!

At the awards, I heard Bruno Mars start to sing, and I remember watching Bruno Mars absolutely kill it on the Super Bowl halftime show with Red Hot Chili Peppers. It changed my life. He’s just an incredible artist. I look up to that guy so much artistically, and it made me emotional.

While I was just sitting there, I looked over, and I saw, is that Bruno Mars in a cowboy hat? Nah, there’s no way. And then he started singing with Lady Gaga, and I just lost it, like it was amazing. As I watched him walk off with his Grammy, I was just like, I want to be back here one day and perform as a nominee for my solo project. It was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.