Brian Burkheiser

Brian Burkheiser (born April 6, 1993) also known as Scatterbrain, is an American singer-songwriter. He is best known as the former co-founder and clean vocalist for the rock band I Prevail.

Brian Burkheiser is from the state of Michigan, United States.¹ He was born on April 6, 1993 in the Detroit suburb of Southfield.²

When Burkheiser was in college, he joined a band called Until The End and began working with a producer named BJ Perry. He eventually dropped out of college after deciding he wanted to pursue a career in music; and got a job as a delivery person at Domino's Pizza to support himself financially.³

In 2012, with Burkheiser as their lead singer, Until The End released an EP titled "A Hundred Lies". That same year, they also released a few singles: a cover of the Justin Bieber song Beauty and a Beat, a cover of the Goo Goo Dolls song Iris, and an original song titled State of Corruption.⁴

In late 2013, Burkheiser co-founded the metalcore band I Prevail. ⁵ The band released their first song on December 1, 2014, which was a cover of Taylor Swift's hit "Blank Space". It was featured on their debut EP Heart vs. Mind, which was released later that same month.⁶ I Prevail's "Blank Space" peaked at number 90 on Billboard's hot 100 chart and reached number 9 on Barometer's Hot Rock Songs Chart. In March of 2015 I Prevail signed with Fearless Records, and "Blank Space" was re-released the following November as part of Fearless Record's Punk Goes Pop Volume six.⁷ The song became certified gold that year and then certified platinum in August of 2019.⁸

I Prevail released their debut album Lifelines on October 21 2016. In March of 2019 I Prevail released their second album Trauma, which hit the number 14 on the U.S. album charts and number 9 in Australia.⁹ Trauma received a Grammy nomination for best rock album while "Bow Down", which was one of the singles featured on the album, was nominated for best metal performance.¹⁰ On August 19, 2022, I Prevail released their third album True Power.¹¹

On May 15, 2025, I Prevail announced Burkheiser's departure from the band through a statement on social media saying that they were mutually parting ways with Burkheiser and that going forward co-lead vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe and rhythm guitarist Dylan Bowman would be handling vocals.^{1 12}

Shortly after his departure from I Prevail, Burkheiser announced his new solo project called Scatterbrain and subsequently began teasing his new single "Phases". He originally planned to release the song in August of 2025, however a legal dispute with I Prevail's record label barred him from releasing it.¹³ He opted instead to release a cover of the Taylor Swift song "Look What You Made Me Do" in December, as his first official release as Scatterbrain.¹⁴ After eventually resolving the legal dispute he finally released "Phases", on February 13, 2026.¹⁵ On March 26, 2026, he released his third single, "Fast Lane.¹⁶ On July 17, 2026, he released his fourth single, "Bitter" which also became a theme song for AEW Redemption.

Burkheiser describes himself as in introvert and said that his mental health was negatively affected while he was on Warped Tour 2017 with I Prevail, due to him not getting sufficient alone time.¹⁷

In the fall of 2017, Burkheiser suffered a vocal injury while touring with I Prevail. Upon being examined by a doctor it was discovered that Burkheiser had a polyp on one of his vocal cords. Due to the polyp not responding to treatment or healing on its own, it had to be surgically removed.¹⁸ Unfortunately, the following year he began to feel like "something was wrong".¹⁹ Years later he was diagnosed with Eagle Syndrome, a rare medical condition that causes pain or discomfort in the face and neck area due to an elongated styloid process or a calcified stylohyoid ligament. ²⁰ In February of 2024, Burkheiser had two surgeries to remove calcification from both sides of his neck.²¹

He has also received help for his depression.¹⁷²²

On June 19, 2021, Burkheiser married his wife, Caylin Burkheiser (née Scott), after nearly 8 years of dating.²³ The two had a son in January 2025.²⁴

In 2025, following his split with I Prevail, Burkheiser's mental health began to deteriorate. He took a trip to Beverly Hills to be away from home for a while and work on new music, however during the trip he ended up going into a manic episode.¹³ Eventually his family decided to intervene, and they took him to a psychiatric facility, where he was admitted for a week.²⁵ In an interview with Rock Feed, Burkheiser said that he believes the manic episode lasted for months, and that even after leaving the psychiatric facility he was still a little bit manic.³

• Heart vs. Mind (EP) (2014)
• Lifelines (Album) (2016)
• Trauma (Album) (2019)
• True Power (Album) (2022)