CARISSA MARSH
A&E Assistant
Touring the country playing high-energy shows to crowds of excited fans with close college buddies may seem like the fictional stuff of movies and television, but this is exactly what Michael Brandon Birtwistle did for a year after graduating from Pepperdine.
Birtwistle, a 2004 graduate, joined the rock band Aria Decline at the end of his senior year. He was playing acoustic guitar at Coffee House on campus when Aaron Burch, a 2002 graduate, of Aria Decline heard him. The band needed a new bassist before the group set out on tour.
“It was like inviting a friend to come join the band,” Burch said.
Shortly after joining the band, Birtwistle went with Aria Decline on a month-long tour of the southwest in June 2004. Birtwistle enjoyed his time with the band but found that joining a band is hard work, he said.
The group stayed in Los Angeles for the rest of the summer and then left for a three-month tour at the end of September, in which they toured the United States, especially the East Coast. While touring, Birtwistle played bass and sang background vocals. The band returned home to Los Angeles after the U.S. tour but soon decided to leave again.
“We wanted to get away from Los Angeles to focus on writing the new album,” Birtwistle said. The band went to Colorado to work on the album.
It was at this time that Birtwistle said he felt like something wasn’t working.
“I was trying to fit myself into being a back-up guy when I’ve always been kind of a lead guy,” Birtwistle said.
The band agreed.
“Brandon had a tremendous talent in acting,” Burch said. “He knew it. We knew it.”
Birtwistle majored in theater as a Pepperdine student. During his time at Seaver College, he was president of the Pepperdine Improv Troupe and helped produce “Of Mice and Men” in Alumni Park.
Though Birtwistle received his degree in theater, he had to put it on the back burner after graduation.
“I had given it up to pursue the band, but I realized (music) wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Birtwistle said.
He stayed in Colorado for four months before finally returning to Los Angeles in April of this year.
“I’ve been homeless since I graduated,” Birtwistle said. “When you are on tour, the road becomes your home.”
“I had some incredible friends who let me sleep on their couch while I figured out what I wanted to do with my life,” Birtwistle added.
Now, Birtwistle said he has figured out what he wants to do — acting.
“I’m pursuing the dream,” Birtwistle said.
Since returning to Los Angeles, Birtwistle has been taking acting class and going out on auditions. He is also part of an improv troupe that performs hour-long shows.
Birtwistle’s efforts helped him land a small role as Aaron, the brother of Moses, in what he described as a “Bible documentary” that will have national distribution on KCAL. Birtwistle compared it to something you would see on the History Channel with elaborate costumes and re-enactments.
Birtwistle is also focusing on getting an agent.
“I’ve realized it’s time to get somebody working with me to do this,” he said.
Birtwistle does not get discouraged when he does not get cast, he said.
“My audition (for a Fox TV show) was awful, for lots of reasons, but it’s OK because you will always have more auditions,” Birtwistle said.
As far as his future career goes, Birtwistle is taking it one day at a time, he said.
“My focus is on what’s next and the most awesome work is what’s next,” Birtwistle said. “I don’t want there to be a pinnacle of the career. I want to keep getting better.”
10-06-2005
