Conditions release new album
Written by Matt Liasse | | mliasse@toledofreepress.comBrandon Roundtree had Fisher-Price instruments when he was little. His mother, Julia Barden, knew very early that he was interested in music.
“Brandon has always been a pensive, introverted child,” Barden said.
Roundtree’s band Conditions has released a new album, “Full of War,” made with producer Brandon Paddock; it is available on iTunes.
Roundtree said the album touches on a wide spectrum of things, tied together by “duality and paradox.”
“That’s why I called it ‘Full of War’ when it came time to name the album,” Roundtree said. “I’m touching on two different sides in every song.”

Brandon Roundtree, second from left, and Conditions; the band took its name from a quote from Juliette Nadia Boulanger.
The band name was inspired by a quote from French composer Juliette Nadia Boulanger, who said, “The essential conditions of everything you do must be choice, love, passion.”
“When we started this band, basically we saw dishonesty and a huge absence of depth in the music that we were playing,” Roundtree said. “When it came time to name Conditions, we wanted a quote that would tie up our mission statement with what we wanted to do with the band.”
Roundtree said the best art stands for something and Conditions stands for being a band with depth instead of singing about “momentary things.”
He said listeners should have a “musical opinion.”
“I think that people should be very careful in a way,” he said. “I see too often today all these kids attaching to music basically because they like the way it looks or they are being force fed it.
“I don’t want to throw anyone under a bus, but someone like Ke$ha, for example, that’s completely manufactured in the studio and forced and pushed then musically shoved down people’s throats,” Roundtree said. “I think people these days feel out of touch if they don’t choose to like the stuff.”
Roundtree urged people to go with their own tastes, not to like music only because it is popular.
He cited Foo Fighters as a band they look up to, saying they are “in awe of their longevity” and the way they stay true to their original sound.
Roundtree does vocals and writes the lyrics for Conditions. The band also consists of Alex Howard on guitar and vocals, Corey Thomas on bass and Ryan Tinsley on drums. The band has toured the U.S. and Europe with Paramore and New Found Glory, according to a news release.
Barden said music runs in the family.
“There is an inherent need for it,” Barden said. “We don’t use music as an escape, we use music to survive. We breathe music. We need it as much as we need water.”
Barden moved to Toledo three years ago while Roundtree lives in Virginia. The band stays at her Toledo house when they pass by on the road. She had a hard time describing how proud she is of her son.
“How do I convey such deep parental pride and indescribable acceptance of his talents?” Barden asked.
She said the fact that he chooses to write about tough subject matter is what makes her the proudest.
“It is the pride I feel, as a fellow writer, in his ability to convey such poignant life experience in a musical way so that people relate,” she said. “It is not just his vocal ability because that comes and goes, if you will. Your words go on forever. My son has decided to be an artistic poet for his generation,” Barden said.
Roundtree said there is no tour planned, but he hopes to make it to Toledo by the fall.
“Toledo is always on the map,” he said.
Tags: Brandon Roundtree, Conditions, Foo Fighters, iTunes, Julia Barden










