One of Oxford’s most unique musicians, Arnie Brenn, debuted his live set for a packed house at the second annual Rebel Radio Local Music Night on April 1st, 2025, at Proud Larry’s. 

It was an impressive crowd for any Tuesday night opener, and Arnie got loud cheers after each of the original songs he played, in the style he calls psych-pop/rock. 

A solo act; it’s just him and very minimal gear. The stage setup includes a laptop computer and an old TV set on tables beside him as he sways to the rhythm of his own pre-recorded music and picks out catchy themes on an electric guitar. 

The multi-instrumentalist, who warmly greets the crowd as “Your friend from the Philippines,” will also sing without guitar and casually dance to the flow of his lyrics, backed by music he says he created “in the comforts” of home. 

At times, the monitor will run words to the songs, along with a festive animated background, or a video of himself performing elsewhere, as if the image of his past self is the band accompaniment, and present with him in the performance.  

“I don’t have a band, but I make music that sounds like I am in a band, and so I figured it’d be silly to just have it be me and a backing track,” he joked. “I thought I’d bring out some visual aid to my performance on stage, to record myself playing the other instrumental parts to the songs, and basically clone myself on TV.”

The lo-fi video presentation, paired with progressive and alternative pop music, conjures up dance hits from the late 1970s and 1980s and also lends an otherworldly quality to his delivery. He feels it puts a modern twist on disco music. “No one’s really thought of that. So, I’m like – I may as well be the first to do it.”

Since Brenn arrived in Oxford from his hometown of Laurel, MS, on a Sousaphone scholarship at Ole Miss, he noticed an element wide open with the local live music scene.

“There are a lot of fun songs being played, but I never heard anyone try to do an original disco-sounding song, just covers of disco or funk songs.” This gap inspired him “to provide a bit more motion to the scene, in that way.”

Brenn’s live set at Proud Larry’s, which he told the audience would be a “preview of what’s to come,” premiered songs from his debut EP, “Introspectacular,” released on April 20th.

Arnie began playing music at age 11 and participated in band class throughout high school to get a “foundation on music theory.” Still, he always maintained a greater interest in the guitar. “I wanted to do the touring musician thing,” he said. 

After arriving at the University of Mississippi in 2018, Brenn eventually grew tired of his chosen major, and COVID-19 arrived.

It was a moment of clarity during his job as a DoorDash driver, when the auxiliary cable failed in his vehicle and he was driven to entertain himself by running through ongoing musical themes in his head.

Since then, he’s been writing songs in his free time, and after several years of developing material, he feels it’s finally ready to present to audiences—a sound that he’s both “proud of putting out” and “workable” for creative marketing.

Continuing to produce music from the comforts of home, Brenn explored the depths of digital production and creative audio, always mindful of the steady learning curve ahead.

“Just not knowing what I’m doing – and figuring it out along the way – is what really interested me. It’s like sitting in a spaceship and figuring out what each button does, until it just clicks with you,” he said. 

The upbeat track “Dancing With My Demons,” which infectiously repeats, “That it will put an end, that it will put an end…As if it puts an end, as if it puts an end,” has been catching some treading.

“I just thought I should make a really fun track,” he commented on the song.

It doesn’t come automatically regarding his songwriting process as a whole. “I don’t really force creation,” said Brenn, “I just let the idea come to me. I might pick it up and go to work on it for days at a time, then take a breath on it for a month, then pick back up where I left off later. I don’t really have a due date.” 

Some musical influences these days include a couple of Australian bands that share his “sonic ethos,” including Babe Rainbow, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.

Arnie finds a kindred spirit in the ‘do-it-yourself’ artist.

“You’d think a very clean-sounding song may come from a nice studio that’s out of my financial reach,” he said. “But these people have made it possible to sound like that from the comfort of their bedrooms. There’s a lot to be said for that.” 

For more information, visit arniebrenn.com