Throughout the year, Atwood Magazine invites individuals from the music industry to contribute a series of essays that reflect on themes such as art, identity, culture, inclusion, and more.
On November 14th, Boston-based band Tiberius will release their debut album, 'Troubadour,' through Audio Antihero Records. Initially a solo project for Brendan Wright (they/them) from Rutland, Vermont, Tiberius has now expanded into a four-member group. Moving away from the rougher aspects of Wright's earlier teenage works, their new material combines influences from Punk, Psychedelic, and Country music, resulting in a sound they humorously refer to as "Farm Emo." The album is a striking mix, embracing a rustic and confessional Indie Folk style that may resonate with fans of their labelmates Frog, CIAO MALZ, and Avery Friedman, while also incorporating a distorted, expansive Alternative Rock sound reminiscent of bands like Sioux Falls or Pinegrove.
In this guest essay, Wright reflects with Atwood Magazine on the challenges that informed the album's creation, the diverse contributions from "the Expanded Tiberius Family" (including Ben Curell from Clifford, who played drums), the recording process of the album, and the emotions tied to revisiting a work rooted in difficult experiences from their past.
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:: stream/purchase Troubadour here ::
:: connect with Tiberius here ::
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Stream: “Sag” – Tiberius
Tiberius © Zoe Hopper
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By Brendan Wright
After relocating to Boston in the fall of 2019, I often tell people that I'm on a year-to-year contract. This is partly because my lease operates on a yearly basis; however, I feel like each year since then has brought an unmistakably different experience to my life. 'Troubadour' encapsulates one of those years.
Writing (Fall 2022 – Fall 2023)
I didn't set out to write 'Troubadour' in a chronological sequence, but that's effectively how it unfolded. In the fall of 2022, I was contemplating my role in Boston and the significance of music in my life. Friends of mine were relocating to New York to pursue music full-time, which left me feeling uncertain about my own path. I shared "Sag" with my band to help develop it further. Ben Curell and I collaborated on it, and then we presented it to KP and Christian at the Sound Museum – a rundown warehouse converted into a practice space. This was early 2023, just before the building was demolished. It marked the end of an era for that group, as Christian moved to New York to take his band, Trophy Wife, more seriously, and Ben began investing time into Clifford, stepping back from live Tiberius performances.
On a personal level, that period marked the start of a transformation for me. Fresh out of a breakup, I sought distractions rather than addressing underlying issues and engaging in a healthy recovery. I compartmentalized my emotions and turned to casual dating, even though it brought me feelings of shame and guilt. From this stage emerged "Tag" and "Felt."
At that time, Ben and I were sharing a practice space – a temporary rehearsal area for those displaced from the Sound Museum. During that spring, we worked on refining "Felt" and "Tag." We had a few other tracks that we thought might make it onto the album, but they weren’t fully developed yet. At that point, I was more focused on releasing tracks for our forthcoming mini LP, 'Fish in a Pond.'
That spring, I entered a brief but intense relationship that ended almost as quickly as it began. This experience sparked a deeper phase of self-reflection, prompting me to explore the foundations of my self-worth. Looking back on that time, I don’t like who I was; although I’ve learned to be kinder to myself recently, it's still challenging to confront how destructive I could be when overwhelmed by emotions.
Summer came, and I had a few months off work. I spent some weeks away from Boston, and upon my return, I discovered that three of my five roommates had moved out in preparation for our new lease. The night I came back, I found myself in our empty kitchen, and “Moab” poured out of me.
In the weeks that followed, I slept most of the day and stayed up at night in the basement working on demos. It felt easier to focus in the absence of distractions. Out of that month emerged "Barn," "It Has to Be True," and "Redwood."
By September, when I returned to work, each day felt draining. I wandered through various parks in the greater Boston area, finding solace in the trees while practicing my breathing. I was also reading Rick Rubin’s 'The Creative Act' during this time. Before long, "Sitting" and "Painting of a Tree" came into
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