Thammarat (pronounced TAH-mah-raht), aka Brennan Connell, is a Maryland/DC–based indie pop songwriter and vocal powerhouse creating story-driven anthems and ballads. Shaped by childhood influences ranging from early-2000s Barbie movie soundtracks and Broadway musicals to LGBTQ+ romance novels, their confessional lyricism, cinematic world-building, and majestic vocals come together in what they call “gaysian theater pop”—music where love, humanity, and queerness take center stage.
A lifelong hopeless romantic with a complicated relationship to love, Thammarat writes from the margins of queer desire and emotional limbo. Their songs explore longing, self-worth, and the tension between teenage wonder and adult cynicism, often building toward moments of vulnerability and catharsis that feel both intimate and expansive, idealistic yet self-aware.
Thammarat brings to their music over seven years of vocal cross-training and ensemble performance experience. Through a combination of private voice lessons and group coursework at institutions like Interlochen Center for the Arts, Berklee College of Music, and the Mannes School of Music/College of Performing Arts at The New School, they have developed a truly genre-fluid sound that blends opera, pop, musical theater, and R&B flavors into one unified vocal recipe.
From 2015-2021, they leveraged their voice in service of social justice causes as a member of the GenOUT Youth Chorus—Washington, DC’s first and only vocal ensemble for LGBTQ+ and allied youth. A defining moment came in 2019, when Thammarat spoke and sang at the plaque dedication ceremony honoring LGBTQ+ icon Matthew Shepard. Their rendition of Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” received a standing ovation, and gave Thammarat the clarity they needed to officially pursue a career in music.
While studying contemporary music at The New School, Thammarat wrote extensively about their identity as a gender-expansive, gay Asian musician. These explorations eventually culminated in “Normal,” an LGBTQ+ anthem celebrating the beauty of non-conformity and the life-altering power of self-expression. After witnessing people’s reactions to the song, Thammarat decided to continue songwriting and start performing publicly at open mics and showcases.
In May 2025, Thammarat graduated with departmental honors. They are now pursuing a Master of Arts in Songwriting at Berklee Online.