Bell explains what went in to 'God Speed'

 

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

 

Back in March, I’d not yet heard of Brian Bell. Then New Balance Nationals Indoor came to The Armory and Dunbar of Dayton Ohio came crashing through the door and broke the national record in the sprint medley relay. Bell, this guy with dreads and a larger-than-life personality closed it out with a fast anchor leg.

 

And the next day, Bell was there again. Placed into the fast heat of the 800, he won his second national title.

 

When I interviewed him in the Saplin Room – that’s the media area – I knew he was someone I’d want to follow up with for a DyeStat feature in the spring. I wanted to know what was going on with this guy and where he came from. When he told me in his interview that he was a poet I figured there was a story there that needed unearthing.

 

A few weeks later I called Brian Bell and began a weeks-long process of getting to know him. He was a foster kid most of his life, skirting the edges of stable home life, but always believing that somehow he was special. Thanks to Charles Haddix, his former school counselor, he had a safe place to live and no more worries surviving. He was determined to be a track star. And he was determined to write poetry and music.

 

So I told him I wanted to write a story about him and I wanted to make this project a joint venture. It would be multi-media. I’ll write the story. You (Brian) write a poem, or a rap song, or whatever you want.

 

Brian Bell said he would.

 

Some weeks went by. He said he was working on it. I kept my expectations low but I sensed that there was something clever going on in his mind and that he might produce something fun.

 

On the evening of May 21 I get a text from Brian. “I’m finished with the song. It’s a masterpiece.”

 

He’d just come out of a studio session and completed “God Speed.”

 

Brian had delivered on his end of the bargain. I listened to the song and loved its message. It was his story put to music, wrapped in the bombast and swagger of his alter-ego (or companion ego) Brizzy B.

 

The next step was to put it with a video and roll it out onto DyeStat. Maybe we’d have everything together to release at once before the Ohio state championships.

 

But the process didn’t work out that way. Brian was trying to get through with his senior year of school, train for his state meet, and figure out how and when he could shoot a video for his song. He went on to win his state title in the 800 but then spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia. It killed his chances of going to New Balance Nationals Outdoor. 

 

It took a while, but it’s here.

 

I caught up with Brian, who was taking a two-week class at Barton Community College in Kansas, the day after he uploaded the finished product onto Youtube.

 

Here is the gist of our conversation.

 

Q: So I don’t want to take too much credit for urging you to write this song, because you created it, but would you have written this without our discussion after New York?

 

Brian: “I would say that you as a journalist motivated me to write it for real but that I already had some of the ideas in my head.”

 

Q: How did you start out writing it?

 

Brian: “I’ve got some close friends that I would say I rap with, and we bounced ideas around from each other. We decided to incorporate my life struggles as a student-athlete, try and make it motivational, and go with a theme that everyone in (high school) track wants to get a scholarship and go to college. Also, I wanted to give a shout out to my city (Dayton, Ohio). Edwin Moses is the greatest hurdler of all-time and his mother is a family friend. She would cut stories about me out of the newspaper and send them to me.”

 

Q: Explain the line about “the birth of aviation.”

 

Brian: “Dayton has a rich history for real and I think it’s not really recognized. Our city is kind of a dying city but we have (produced) a lot of great, known, people. Like Orville and Wilbur Wright (inventors of the airplane).”

 

Q: How much of this song comes from your life experience?

 

Brian: “I feel like every single line, for real, is basically a metaphor for what’s happened to me. Every line represents an overcoming of the odds type of thing. I really did live in a house where we couldn’t pay the bills. I’m talking about running as a message, for motivation, to let me try to go to school and make something of myself and get this scholarship. I think people (all over) can relate to that.”

 

 

Q: How long did it take to write this song?

 

Brian: “As an artist, personally, when the beat comes on and I have my headphones on, I get into a type of zone. Words come to my head. In the piano (tune) I heard motivation and struggle. I chose the beat and maybe I could have gone with a slower beat. It’s a piano sample throughout the whole song. It felt heartfelt to me. It probably took like two days. I wrote the lyrics out, made some adjustments, and talked to my buddies.”

 

Q: How was it going in that studio the night you recorded it?

 

Brian: “I had my friend Chauncey in the studio. I love people like him. He gives me positive and constructive criticism. He told me I have to yell and get more emotional. I just knew I couldn’t make any mistakes. I tried to listen to it from all perspectives. I won’t lie, it took some hours for that song to be fully developed. Then (Chauncey) would say to re-take it and I was like ‘Dang!’ I’m a perfectionist but I rush my art sometimes and need to slow it down.”

 

Q: What was your reaction to it when it was all done?

 

Brian: “I listened to it, I went home and kept listening to it. I’ll be honest, my friends sometimes make fun of me and say I’m obsessed with myself. I’ll repost my own race videos on Facebook. It just gives me motivation for life. But personally I started crying when I listened to it sometimes. Every lyric was from my heart for real.”

 

Q: What did you learn about making songs in this process?

 

Brian: “Even when it comes to running I critique my form and my appearance, everything. Am I being too cocky? I try looking at it from all perspectives. What would someone who listens to thug music think of it, or someone who listens to rock music. I think the flow is great and I like to have dynamic metaphors and I think it came together nice. I have (previously) done some professional spoken word videos in talent shows in my city. I want to do things professionally and it was a professional process I had to endure even when I was impatient. I learned that making videos like this one takes time.”

 

Q: Who made the video?

 

Brian: “His artistic name is Yellopain. We’re blood cousins. He went to a career technology school in Dayton. He’s been rapping for years and I knew he would be able to put it together. He shot the video and he’s the editor.”

 

Q: When did you first see the finished product?

 

Brian: “Sunday. He sent me a 30-second sample of the video. He was still looking for the (DyeStat) video that goes at the end. He lost a memory card and it took a little while to finish it off.”

 

Q: What’s your favorite moment in the video?

 

Brian: “My favorite moment, I’d say there are two. The first is when I fell climbing to the top of the mountain with my friends up at the top laughing at me. For me, that shows overcoming the odds. I got up and kept going. The other part is when … well, I think the Ramen noodles has to be (the funniest) part.”

 

 

Q: Did someone really snatch your backpack?

 

Brian: “Yeah, that really happened. It was like sophomore year and I was still going through financial problems. I was living in the roughest neighborhood in Dayton, called Hilltop. It was summertime and I was walking home. This guy walks up to me and says ‘Hey little brother’ and then it was a group of guys and they just took it from me.”

 

Q: What’s your plan now?

 

Brian: “I’m at Butler Community College (in Kansas) for a summer class that can be used for college credit. And then I’ll go home. I’ll have to take fall school. It’s an online program. Hopefully I can re-graduate high school and enroll at the University of Houston in January. My grades from freshman and sophomore year messed me up. I was getting Ds and failed a few classes. Back then I was embarrassed to go to school. I didn’t even have clean clothes to wear. This year I made the high honor roll but I have some things to make up first.”

 

Q: Any final thoughts?

 

 

Brian: “Shout out to Houston. They’ve got the No. 1 recruiting class and I’m excited (to join it).”