Enter Brittany and Brian Chordocoff’s home on any given day and you can rest assured that there will be music playing and creativity pulsing through the walls. Spaces like this are magical to me. The ability to inspire just about anyone that steps foot through the door is something I can’t quite put my finger on. I always pick up an instrument with a new found confidence while I am there, despite the fact that I don’t know how to play it at all. Growing up, Brittany and I had a lot in common. We both loved music and art but were timid to approach it freely. Now Brittany & Brian's home is a space where everyone feels inspired to be artistic.

They tied the knot back in August, and their marriage is something I found to be inevitable given their incredible friendship, romance and creative collaboration. Their connection is something I have been hearing about from Brittany since we were 16 years old. I sat down with the newlyweds recently, via video conference, to pick their brains about their creative collaborations.

Brittany and Brian, as illustrated by Brian Chordocoff.  

Caroline Aylward: So... you two are the first artists on 1985 from Orlando. What do you have to say for your town?

Brian Chordocoff: Orlando is a hidden gem and it has been for a long time. There is a lot of talent in Orlando that people who come here and go to the theme parks don’t run into. There are so many great bars on Mills Avenue that will constantly have shows. You can just walk up and down the strip on any given night and catch great music. Old bands, new bands, soul music, rockabilly, punk, funk - and it’s good! Per square mile, the music really holds its own - more than anywhere in the world.

Both Brittany and Brian were born and bred in Orlando. They met at a guitar lesson - Brian was the teacher and Brittany was his student. From the very start their relationship was founded on music. In addition to the guitar, Brittany plays the piano, harmonica and just about any instrument she picks up. She is also a talented artist - painting and drawing portraits being her specialty. More specifically, Brittany and Brian’s abilities have naturally fused Brittany’s artistic talents and Brian’s musical prowess.
 

CA: I have one of your posters framed and hanging in my room from your Sights & Sounds show. This was your first collaborative show. How did the idea come about?

Brittany: Well, I’m really shy about things like this. I never show anyone any of my work. So Brian had never really seen me work before. I hadn’t done art in a long time. Brian bought me a bunch of drawing stuff for Christmas that I let sit around for a while before I picked it up and started playing with it.

Brian: There was no show planned - which is the best kind of show. Britt asked me what to draw and I said “Muddy Waters” without much thought. I came back from the store 45 minutes later, took a look at her drawing and was like “...oh my god, you just did that?”

Brittany: I’ve always worked fast and Brian’s never seen the process of me working so he was a little stunned.

Brian: So, I said do it again. Next thing you know we are spending every night working on this doing 4-5 a night. We are both reading about blues musicians, I am learning the licks and she is drawing them. It was amazing.
 

Brittany: Brian plays DJ and he just noodles along with whatever we are listening to and we have a party.

Brian: It’s a great way to spend time with my favorite person… and Britt (laughs).

Brittany: It’s a hard thing to get out of once you dive in. We just kept going. I didn’t have a goal of how many I was going to do and ended up doing 52 drawings. It just kept going because there are just so many people that are so badass!

Brian: We didn’t design a show, the show designed itself. I got a bunch of people that I respect musically to play the songs of those people in the portraits. That show was unbelievably packed. It was a huge night for both of us.

Their shows, infectious talents and good vibes have drawn big crowds all over Orlando. Given Brian’s goodhearted nature he wanted to use the shows as a way to give back to their community. After doing some research, Brian and Brittany founded a food drive for Fern Creek Elementary, a school largely made up of children in need from their area. All of the Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix tribute shows became food drives.

CA: These tribute shows are such a fun way to bring the people together & for such a good cause!

Brian: We do those tribute shows because we are so lucky to have such musically talented friends and it’s a way to selfishly take advantage of their friendship. It always makes for an amazing night. Britt really dives into the promotional side of it.

Brittany: I’ve become poster girl. Every time a show comes up I will design one. I love it because it makes me work creatively. The Sights & Sounds show was so much fun but it did drain me because it was just cranking out portraits.

Brian: I wanna do it all the time but she is lazy and shy.

Brittany: I accept the fact that I am not that kind of person that paints and draws all day everyday. I have so many interests so it’s nice when we set a goal and have a show. It gives me something to complete and provides direction. I don’t just wake up like “what am I going to paint today?”

CA: It’s amazing that these shows just naturally come into fruition and yet still challenge you both creatively.

Brittany: Doing these shows brings out the nerd in me because I learn so much about genres and musicians and I love learning. It was also exciting because I was introducing songs to Brian that he had never heard - like the song “Freight Train” by Elizabeth Cotton.

(Brian starts playing it)

Brittany: That's not how it goes. (laughs)
 

CA: The Sights & Sounds show had a lot of focus on your art, Brittany - do you see that happening again?

Brittany: Maybe one day I will be the center of attention again at a show. The blues thing felt like “my art show” and it opened the door for painting things for Brian’s shows. It’s just naturally evolved into me supplying the visual elements for the music show and I can sell my art there as well. It’s a great way to work together.

Brian: ...And secretly I get more art for the house. Britt gets annoyed because we are running out of wall space, but I want it all everywhere.

Brittany: I feel like the walls are being suffocated. Brian says this is like playing the same music all of the time.

Brian: Having to paint is a lot different than learning a song.

Brittany: Yeah, painting for the blues show took about 6 months. We kept collecting the work and then created “Blues Hallway” in our house. I just hung up all of the blues art in one hallway and it was packed. Once I did Muddy Waters, Brian started naming off other artists. We would start listening to their music more and it just kept going. You can hear the music by the whiny look on their faces. They have been through some shit. They look like the blues. It was something very attractive to me as an artist. Someone asked me once, "why do you only draw old black men?" Their faces are beautiful. Theirs faces tell stories.
 

CA: Have you found inspiration to do other shows?

Brian: I remember asking Britt where she wanted to  go that she’d never been before and she said Graceland. It turned into a rock n’ roll pilgrimage. So we were going to do a Sights & Sounds of Memphis. That one is kind of on the shelf.

Brittany: I did a big Elvis painting but it sold very quickly and I needed the money so I couldn’t hold on to it.

Brian: The funny thing is, it’s hard to keep her paintings around to start building another show. There is a Ginger Baker portrait in the other room and about five of our friends already want to buy it. It’s gonna be hard to do a show unless we keep it away from people! She did a really amazing Grateful Dead on a frame that I built but now it’s hanging at The Smiling Bison in Orlando and they still want to buy more! They want as much work as Brit will give.

Brittany: Creativity comes in waves, you kind of just have to roll with it. I feel happy that we are in a position to do that.

CA: It’s a pretty amazing problem to have when people want to buy your work before it is even finished.

Brittany: We have such a large music/artist community here in Orlando and they are all our friends! They come over on Saturday night and walk by my little studio, see my work and love it! We are just surrounded by some amazing human beings that all love art and music.

Brian: If Britt wanted to be working more she could. All of those people have asked for her to make shirts and posters and what not. There is definitely a demand. But sometimes you don’t want to do it. Being forced into it can sometimes ruin things.

Brittany: I also really like playing music. So I may want to just play the drums all day. I love films too. My interests shift day to day. I have a short attention span and I love everything. People are like “paint more! paint more!”.

When I return home to Orlando and hang out with these two I am reminded of how their artistic capabilities are so naturally a part of who they are, as individuals and as a unit. If all arrows are pointing to creating a new show in Orlando, they do it. Otherwise they are perfectly happy banging on their instruments and making art at home. Nowadays, branding yourself is such a huge part of being an artist. This is a world that these two don’t push to enter which is such a unique and beautiful thing.
 

CA: Has Brian ever talked you into playing music in front of a crowd?

Brittany: He tries but no, no, no. I am scared shitless.

Brian: Well sort of, our house is an after hours nightclub. Here, she is the star attraction.

Brittany: That’s true. I don’t know who I’ve become. Our house is my lounge or something.

Brian: She gets drunk and starts playing or singing because then she doesn’t give a shit. People are blown away. They always ask where she plays and finding out she doesn’t blows their minds because she just played like 12 fucking songs and people that make a living playing music are crying.

Brittany: Our friend George calls our little after hours club, The Land of Milk and Honey.

Brian: Everyone that comes in says that they feel the vibe. Creative people want to get more creative while here and a lot of times people who aren’t usually creative feel comfortable doing so! People who never usually sing and play music will do it while they are in our home.

Brittany: I was getting a haircut the other day and the hairdresser said I’ve been to your house and you played piano for me!

Brian: It’s overwhelming. It is so amazing to feel like people want to be here. We’re not trying to do anything like that. It just happens.

Brittany: We know some talented people who will be over at two in the morning and their performances will blow your mind. I always wonder how they are even sitting in my living room. People don’t really know how many amazing musicians and artists we have here in Orlando.


With or without the live music playing in their living room, just standing in the hallways of their home you can hear the voices of the musicians hanging on their walls. You can count me in.
 

Brian and Brittany’s next Jimi Hendrix Tribute Show / Food Drive is on December 18th at Will’s Pub in Orlando.