Bandi co-wrote his breakthrough single “Man Enough Now” with Jason Massey and Jason Duke. “I had a write with two of my best friends in Nashville that day. I was thinking about a relationship I was in prior to moving to Nashville and I thought about if I were to make the same mistakes today that I made when I was younger. I thought I was ‘man enough now’ for a relationship. I brought that idea in and they loved it and we were done in an hour and a half. It was one of those songs that fell out,” he said.
He shared that his music is inspired by “everyday life.” “When I write songs, lyrics are the No. 1 thing I like to focus on. I like to gravitate towards the songs that have been situations that I’ve lived through or experienced,” he said.
On being an artist in this digital age, he said, “It’s crazy. The opportunities that artists have these days are limitless. You can throw your music on any platform you want independently, by yourself. We got placed on the ‘Hot Country Playlist.’ It was so cool to see that my song was on the same level playing field as such artists as Florida Georgia Line and Luke Bryan. It is such an amazing market..”
Bandi is all for the Music Modernization Act (MMA). “I think it is great,” he admitted. “Without songwriters, we as artists have no music. Songs and songwriters are the biggest part of this machine. Without them, we have nothing,” he said.
On his dream duet choices, he said, “I am a huge fan of Julia Michaels and Kelsea Ballerini. Kelsea is great and I’ve watched her career take off from before anybody knew who she was to the superstar that she is now.”
For young and aspiring country artists, he said, “Don’t compare yourself to somebody else. Also, be true to who you are.”
He hails from St. Louis, Missouri, and he grew up listening to a wide range of musical genres from rock and roll to pop to ’90s country music.
Bandi shared that his forthcoming new EP, with seven new songs, is expected to be released in early 2020. He defined the word success as “getting to do what I love every single day.”
“Man Enough Now” is available on Apple Music and on Spotify. “I am excited about the radio edit version of ‘Man Enough Now.’ We are so excited about this whole experience and keep your ear out on your local country station,” he said.
