Gracie Van Brunt On DnB: "This Community's Love And Support Keeps Me Going"

Gracie Van Brunt swung by to talk about her approach to making music, collaborating with other artists, and her thoughts on drum and bass culture.

Los Angeles-based DJ, vocalist, and producer Gracie Van Brunt has been a musician all her life, but she found her calling in the drum and bass community. Early into her career, artists like Rene LaVice, Richter, and Machete from Respect DnB encouraged her to keep honing her craft. In 2021, she fully locked into making drum and bass, at a time when the genre was just beginning its recent US resurgence.

“The EDM community, specifically the drum and bass community, is one of the most accepting, supportive, loving groups of people you will find on this planet,” Gracie said. “Growing up, I was always different. I always fit in everywhere, but I never felt like I truly belonged anywhere until I found drum and bass in 2020.”

That commitment paid off. Drum and bass continues to grow larger by the day stateside, with Gracie carving out an important place within the scene and contributing meaningfully to the genre’s growing momentum. Today, her unmistakable vocals are part of some of modern DnB’s biggest tracks, with standouts including “Alone” with Culture Shock and “Deep Blue” with Kanine. These releases mark her evolution from a promising newcomer to a fully recognized force in the scene.

The love and support that this community gives me is what keeps me going even on my darkest days. I wouldn’t even call the fans in the drum and bass community fans, they are more like friends, and this is something I genuinely cherish about this community. We are all just here for the love of this genre.
Gracie Van Brunt

Gracie is part of a small but mighty number of US artists cultivating a strong culture around drum and bass in the States. She highlighted mainstays of the genre who’ve become good friends of hers, like REAPER, Justin Hawkes, Bensley, Kumarion, Skanka, AIRGLO, Rebel Scum, and fellow singer-producer Bella Renee, saying they bonded over “this immense passion of drum and bass, and having a desire to blow it up in America the same way we saw it happening in Europe.”

The passion these artists possess for the genre has left a strong impression on the American scene, and Gracie said each artist brings their own flavor of drum and bass to the table. When asked where she sees the genre headed in the future, her eyes are on the stars: “Oh, you will be seeing this genre hitting the mainstream charts very soon,” Gracie promised.

Just a few years ago, DnB’s journey to America’s mainstream charts seemed like a long road ahead. Despite the genre’s uncertain place in America, Gracie never gave up. In fact, she only hunkered down on her decision to focus her project solely on drum and bass.

“I’m so glad that we made the decision to push forward and amplify my project to be what it is today,” Gracie said. “Because I have always truly believed in this genre and the artists that are pushing it forward.”

Beyond producing, Gracie’s artistic talents extend to singing and songwriting, and she said that being a singer influences how she creates a song, emphasizing that melodies are “everything.” She’s also thoughtful of how her music will connect with listeners on an intimate level.

The musical human connection thrives on melodies and moments. Being able to provide more of a live experience to my audiences and fans has given me more of an opportunity to connect with them on an emotional and human level. People don’t just recognize me when they see me on stage, they recognize my voice and my lyrics and can relate with them on a more personal level. I always strive to write songs that I know will create moments during my sets that my audiences can either sing along with or vibe to.
Gracie Van Brunt

Gracie’s discography is extensive, and many of her songs are collaborations with other artists, including AIRGLO, Murdock, Ekko & Sidetrack, and Original Sin. She expressed particular fondness for working in the studio with Culture Shock on “Alone,” saying they “flowed so well together that I think we wrote that song in probably 20 minutes.”

She also handles all her own vocal production on any song she contributes to. This means she records, comps, edits, pitches, and processes all of her own vocals before handing over the final audio files to the producer. She also provides both reference mixes of her vocals and isolated vocal tracks for the producer to work with.

Gracie mentioned that most producers will use her vocal stems and then shape the track according to their own creative vision, but when she worked with HD-4844, she had authority over how her vocals sounded in the final product.

“[He] really gave me control over how I wanted my vocals to sound in the final mixing and mastering process, and that is something that I truly appreciate as an artist,” Gracie said. “Vocalists get underestimated a lot, and when I am actually brought on as a production collaborator, it means a lot!”

On the mix she spun for our Drum & Bass Devotions series, Gracie said she spent a lot of time “perfecting the balance of epic melodic moments and filthy drum and bass drops.” It includes newly released tunes and fan favorites, along with unreleased cuts from her upcoming EP, In My Veins, woven throughout.