PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING is the latest release from Ypsilanti-based indie-pop standard-bearer Brandon Wiard, his third solo release to date.

PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING was tracked at Big Sky Studios (Ann Arbor, MI), Pop Squad Studios (Hollywood, CA) and Studio C (Grand Rapids, MI). The entire album was mixed at Big Sky Studios (Ann Arbor, MI) and mastered at Sound on Sound Recording (New York, NY).

"I'm learning to be cynical..." Brandon Wiard dead-panned to a reporter. This would most likely be the "effect" to the "cause" found on his latest epic-release PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING. Tales of love, loss, growing up and hope penned by this 24 yr. old "boy genius". Lush indie-pop intended for tight-fitting headphones and attentive listening.

PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING's charm lies within it's chameleon like approach to songwriting/production. Songs like "Already In Amazement" (temptations of an "other woman"), "Since You've Gone Away" (loss of friends/family/love) and "Moving On" (relationship's end) lean more on the Cars-esque rock tendencies with squealing synth/chunky guitars. Then you have the Costello-ed "I'll Write These Songs" (generational gap), the soulful "Permanent Smile" (growing up), the Sebadoh-ed rocker "KMS" (office-crush) and the Old 97's/Built To Spill thriller "Loose Women" (the title says it all). Once we arrive at the end of the disc things take a turn for the Brian Wilson. "Old Heartless Sun" (voyage gone wrong) is a proggish electro-sea chantey. "Second Story" (secret admirer) is a warm Wilco-esque tune that goes into a "KMS" reprise and then an extremely somber sound collage. "Seeing You In No Time" (train-wreck and suicide) is another proggish tune which goes into a "Since You've Gone Away" reprise and yet another atmospheric sound collage that ends the album. Hidden in the mixes on this masterpiece are members of Ozma, The Singles, The Verve Pipe, Blues Traveler, Saturday Looks Good To Me and The Original Brothers and Sisters Of Love.

It all started singing Hall & Oates' "Maneater" in a stroller at JC Penney's...Brandon Wiard was born into a family of apple growers in a small Michigan town but he always knew he'd make his own path. Art was his passion but music had to fill his ears 24 hours a day. He was an addict. When there was no radio in sight he would simply replay songs he knew in his head to get his fix. You can only be an addict for so long before you start dealing. It was in the middle of his sophomore year of highschool (prep. school...unfortunately he only focused on art/English/Latin) that some friends wanted to form a band and Brandon became the singer-songwriter for the group. The group wasn't very good so Brandon quickly formed a new group, with friend Eric Sloat, and dubbed the project "Starmotel". A mix of indie-rock and classic pop sensibility, the band meandered over the next three years.

Eventually Eric left for college and Wiard started his solo career in the fall of 2001. TO SOMEONE I KNOW, a collection of his own songs and some co-written with Sloat, was independently released in November 2001. In lieu of having a band he performed his arsenal of songs with just an acoustic guitar and a golden throat. In between the 2 albums Wiard released SUPER SECRET DOUBLE AWESOME JAPANESE IMPORT B-SIDE COLLECTION, a collection of 17 solo and band demos. To date he has opened for the likes of such acts as Mason Jennings, David Dondero, Hey Mercedes, Clem Snide, Joseph Arthur, Mike Watt, Ours, The Church, The Divine Comedy, Ryan Cabrera and many others. He has toured nationally, playing such venues as The Knitting Factory (Hollywood, CA), Maxwell's (Hoboken, NJ), Clutch Cargo's (Detroit, MI) and The Bluebird Theater (Denver, CO). He has just played the 2004 Midpoint Music Festival (Cincinnati, OH), Dewey Beach Music Fest (Dewey Beach, DE) and M.E.A.N.Y. FEST 2004 (New York, NY). His self-created video for "Miss Michigan" (feat. Andrew WK) received heavy play this fall (nationwide and on MTV Latin America) and PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING reached #179 on the CMJ charts (was 16th most added it's first week).

Brandon has assembled a group dubbed "His Army" (feat. David Brown {bass}, Chris DuRoss {lead guitar}, Carly Pichini {trumpet, piano, guitar, backing vocals} and Adrian Robles {drums, backing vocals}) and has been performing tracks from PAINTING A BURNING BUILDING with the same tenacity he put into recording them.

“Catch him while he’s catchable” as one reporter put it.