Junior songwriter Cade Ortego and sophomore audio producer Toby Bradner met through connections at Middle Tennessee State University, and their friendship soon flowered into a business opportunity and partnership.

The first time Bradner met Ortego was during a campus studio session, where both students had strong first impressions.

Ortego is the lead singer of The Mood Swings, a soul-funk band that grew from a group of six friends at MTSU. When Bradner met him, the band was recording a cover of “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson.

“I could tell from the ‘Banana Pancakes’ recording that Toby was holding back on giving ideas,” Ortego said. 

Bradner did eventually offer a small suggestion about trading off the band’s solos. Ortego remembered being caught off guard.

“Wow, that was a good idea,” Ortego said. He wondered if Bradner had more ideas he wasn’t yet sharing.

Bradner left that studio session wanting more.

“I was like, these guys are like big dogs,” Bradner said. “I hope one day I get to be in the room with them.”

Unbeknownst to Bradner, he would later become the producer for The Mood Swings — and close friends with the guy who leads them.

After meeting again at Match Records’ Are You A Match? showcase, Ortego explored Bradner’s music and was shocked by it. He reached out to Bradner afterwards.

“And I got this text: ‘not to boost your hubris but I listened to your music and I think you’re a genius,’” Bradner said. Bradner felt the same about Ortego’s work.

After recognizing each other’s talent, the two wanted to begin working together.

Collaboration didn’t start immediately. School got busy, winter break hit and life got hectic. When the spring semester began, Bradner and Ortego walked into the same geology class.

They started swapping songs and unfinished ideas during class, which led to the idea of writing together.

When they finally did, they stayed for hours even after the writing was done. Bradner said that was when the friendship really grew.

“Toby’s one of those people… truly just like a good heart,” Ortego said.

Bradner felt the same: “There were not many like-hearted or like-minded people I had met. So

when I met Cade, I was just excited.”

They built a foundation of honesty — both were direct when discussing each other’s music. Bradner began expressing things Ortego’s mixing engineer could have done differently and Ortego respected the advice immediately.

“The goal was not to slide in,” Bradner said. “I really thought, I’m just trying to give him some words.”

But Ortego heard something else in Bradner’s feedback: potential.

When The Mood Swings were planning future releases, Ortego created a PowerPoint outlining their next steps. One slide read “our producer,” and when he clicked, Bradner appeared on the screen.

“The whole band erupted,” Ortego recalled. “It was a full, unanimous ‘awesome.’”

MTSU played a role not only in connecting Ortego and Bradner but also in forming The Mood Swings. Ortego built the entire band from campus connections.

“I had a list on my phone… bass, drums, guitar, keys, horns, and I was slowly putting it together,” Ortego said.

Bradner feels similarly about how MTSU facilitates these connections.

“I do really thank MTSU for that,” Bradner said. “It was so poetic. I’m in audio production, you’re in songwriting, so it was like the story that you love to hear.”

In the studio, Bradner’s instincts further proved the band was right to bring him on. He offered unique perspectives, and since the band had already grown to like him, they trusted him.

“Producing, to me, is like taking a picture,” Bradner said. “They already look good.”

Bradner then pitched to Ortego that he mix the band’s upcoming record. Ortego said no one understood their sound like Bradner, who’d been there through hangouts and brainstorming sessions, and agreed.

Together, Bradner, Ortego and The Mood Swings have evolved not just because of effort, but also due to the foundation of friendship.

The opportunity started as a connection strengthened by campus spaces and chance encounters. 

Bradner described The Mood Swings’ sound as “timeless,” both unchanging and ageless. 

The Mood Swings’ discography is a mix of soul and funk, utilizing unique instrumentation with jazzy vocals.

“Sometimes when we think about it, it’s really cool,” Ortego said. “The thing keeping us all together is a love for music and that word ‘timeless.’”

The Mood Swings’ newest project recently released “Christmas Bummer,” an original Christmas song that encapsulates their sound as a band.

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