At ten years old, he was writing stories, a little later-songs, and by his early twenties, he had managed to step onto the Off-Broadway stage. Waiting for his moment is clearly not about Branch Anthony. The musical trajectory of the independent queer-pop artist unfolds between dynamic New York and peaceful North Carolina, while his sound attracts with the nostalgic spirit of the 80s and 90s. He called his debut album “I LIKE MY BOYS BEASTIE” a love letter-to his hometown and college years. Next was “Eligible Bachelor”-a little more mature and a little more about himself. Branch is already mentally living in his next album: he doesn’t like pauses. We talked to Branch about dreams of stadiums, his theatrical past, and finding his own voice.

Branch, hi! Thanks for finding the time – I suspect that, going back and forth between New York and North Carolina, you probably spend more time on planes than at home. Before we get to the music, I suggest we start with a warm-up and take a little look into your childhood. You literally grew up between two homes – a skyscraper in Manhattan and the quiet, measured life of North Carolina. How do the hustle and bustle of a metropolis and Southern quiet coexist in you – or is it more like an eternal battle of personalities?

It’s actually less busy as you’d assume, which is great for now but I know there will be a time where I’ll be doing more transporting than being at home. I grew up in cities mostly, so it wasn’t as shifting as it may seem going from one place to the other. More of my formative growing up was definitely up north, right outside New York in Westchester County, but I was always a train ride from the city.

They say that by the age of 10, you were already actively writing songs. Do you remember your very first “masterpiece,” and where did this pull toward music come from – was there some kind of triggering moment?

Actually when I was 10, I was more so writing stories, and that soon evolved into music around 15. I wanted to be a screenwriter when I was younger, and so I was always coming up with ideas for movies, TV shows and stuff that tended to have sort of a musical element to them. I think most of that inspiration came from the things I was watching, which tended to all be musicals in a sense. Eventually, I just shifted to writing songs and it’s been like that ever since.

Your mom was probably the most important person to hear your first vocal experiments when you were ten. How did she react to your early musical experiments?

My family is very into the arts, and so it was always encouraged by my mom to go out and try things. I used to just sing around the house when I was a kid and she loved it. When I got older, I became much more shy about singing and stuff, so by the time I started writing songs, she didn’t really know what I was doing until I was in college and performing some of my own stuff. I do wish I had started earlier, just so I could’ve been less shy about it.

While your peers were growing up on TikTok playlists, you seem to have gotten stuck somewhere around 1985 – and, judging by the sound, you got pretty deeply stuck there. Confess: where did this love for the ’80s and ’90s come from? Did you find your grandmother’s chest of vinyl records in the attic, or is it a family thing – did your parents play nothing but cassettes from that era at home?

I guess I was just a weird kid! I love history, and so I was always into things from the past, whether it be films, TV shows or music. I have way too much storage in my brain for things like that. I actually was way more into music from the 50’s and 60’s when I was younger, and then I just because really into 80’s and 90’s stuff as I got into my teen years. Most of it was just self discovery online and also just from the content I was watching, but my mom was always playing stuff from the 90’s.

Your musical palette looks like a music lover’s dream – from George Michael and Wham!’s light pop to The Smiths’ melancholy and Janet Jackson’s groove. How do you manage to bring these different worlds together, and what would Branch Anthony’s signature cocktail be?

A lot of it just comes from interest. I usually think of a concept and then play around with that. If I know I wanna go for certain sounds, then I try and find things that will work with what I want to do. I think the main thing I always want in my music are synths. I love anything synthy. There’s something about it that just can be translated to whatever music you want to do.

You spent 2024 sending singles out into the digital ocean and wondering whether listeners would respond – and then, in April 2025, all of that turned into your first album, “I LIKE MY BOYS BEASTIE.” The title is loud and full of character, and you called the album “a love letter to New York and college life.” Which New York story or emotion is most deeply embedded in this release?

I think just the idea of falling in love in New York is that main story. The album came together after my first serious relationship ended, and getting back out there and trying to go and date again really was the driving force for the content of the album. Besides that, it’s such a time capsule to that time in my life. I was about to graduate college, I had turned 21 and I was trying to figure out where I wanted to go after. There’s a lot of uncertainty and yearning for more in that album.

Let’s talk about your album “Eligible Bachelor,” which came out earlier this year. How is this record different from your debut album? And have you changed as an artist in the time between these two releases?

To me, the record is an upgraded version of the first one. It’s a bit more me in the sense that I produced most of the album myself alongside writing, so the album feels a bit more like myself than the first. It’s also just a bit more grown up. I wrote the album alone in my room after coming back to North Carolina, and I wasn’t going out or doing much, so a lot of the album is just rooted in my thoughts rather than from experience. It’s also a bit more theatrical, which is something I like to do since I have a big love for theatre.

I think I’d gotten more confident this time around, and so that really was the biggest change when it comes to me as an artist.

Personally, the tracks that especially caught me from your new album were “Marius,” “Cat Burglar,” “Clandestine Lover,” and “Dark Blue City Lights.” You can clearly hear synth-pop aesthetics and a retro vibe in them. Were you ever worried that a modern listener, used to songs that are a minute and a half long, might not pick up on this nostalgic aesthetic?

I think there’s always the worry about grabbing attention and having the listener enjoy the song start to finish, but for me, it’s less about the modern trends and more on what I as a music enjoyer want in a song. I personally love to dance to stuff, so I want to make music that gets people up and moving.Most of the music people listen to when it comes to dancing tends to be some sort of throwback, so even if they’re not aware of it, it’s almost like there’s a sleeper agent somewhere in them that awakes when they hear some synth and drums.

“Eligible Bachelor” came out only a couple of months ago, and yet, supposedly, you’re already completely immersed in the next album. For other artists, release time means vacation and recovery; for you, it seems to mean starting a new shift. So when does your creative brain actually take a break – immediately after hitting the “release” button, or did you at least manage to hold off until morning?

Sometimes I do hold off! My unfortunate thing is that I actually hate taking time off from something. I think spending so much time immersed in something like an album, and holding those thoughts and emotions and ideas for a long period of time can be a bit draining for me, and so I’m always ready to let it go and see what happens next. This new project is somewhat a companion to Eligible Bachelor, as that was rooted in my mind and this one is rooted in my experiences. It’s also just ways to challenge myself musically, as I’m someone who likes to experiment and try and step outside the box. And the best thing about being a newer artist is that I have time to play around and be less constrained to a sound.

What is Branch Anthony’s dream venue for the next couple of years – Madison Square Garden, a cozy cult club in Greenwich Village, or a massive European festival?

My dream venue is the stage! I’d like to get back into acting in the next few years. But beyond that I would just love to be wherever I can make people dance and have a great time with the music that I make. I will say that I’d love to do a show at Stonehenge for some reason.

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