Photo by Rebecca Burns
Hi everyone! Melody here, I got the incredible opportunity to interview the frontman of The Gloomies, Andy Craig! Their newest single "Moonlight" is out now. You can listen to it here! Make sure to watch out for their next single "Sick Like You" Out on 18 October!
What got you guys involved with music in the first place? I started playing in punk bands in middle school and from there it never really stopped. I was always writing music or playing in bands after that. But after touring in bands for a while in the US and Europe, I knew that I wanted to play for myself and have my own project.
Who inspires you musically? I love old soul records and I’ve gotten into a lot of jazz through Chris. But I’m always listening to new music, my taste is constantly changing.
Is there a backstory behind your guy’s name? I've always been into how different words and designs aesthetically reach me. “The Gloomies” just stuck out as visually looking really cool.
What made you guys want to start The Gloomies? My previous band had just kind of ended but I still had all these songs that I had started working on at my apartment out in Bushwick. This was during the time that I was getting ready to move back to California. Out of those songs we ended up with LSD and Groves which were the first two songs we ever released.
I know that The Gloomies started in a surf town in Southern California, but now being based in New York is there different inspirations towards music now considering the differences between the two places? Not really. I had been living here and we recorded a lot of tracks for LSD and Groves (our two original singles) in New York before I moved back to California. I just didn’t know what the project was going to be yet. I would say both cities have always had an influence.
In 2015 you guys had posted LSD on soundcloud for only your friends to listen too, what was it like seeing it gain so much recognition? Honestly it was wild. We didn’t even have a final version of the song done at the time and were already being hit up by NME. I remember looking at our soundcloud and it went from like ten plays to all the sudden in the tens of thousands.
Do you think where you are from has an effect on the type of music you play? It’s got to a little bit, mainly because you end up surrounded by certain genres wherever you are from. I think that it’s having less of an effect though with new bands and how easy it is to stream music from any place in the world.
Have you guys always had this distinct sound, or has there been a lot of growth and change in your sound? Just like my taste is always changing I think we always want to try something new. I don’t ever want the music to repeat itself.
What was the writing and recording process like for Romance and your newest single "Moonlight"? Pretty different. Romance was more of a collaboration. We recorded most of that in NY with a buddy of mine who co-produced the record. A lot of Moonlight and the new record was written in Costa Mesa with just Chris and I at my old place. I wanted to bring back the original process like when I started the band, which is just recording and tinkering on songs at my house. Then we both moved back to New York and finished recording out here. There’s been a lot of back and forth.
What song was the most fun to write and record on Romance? I think my favorite on Romance was "Space". It was the first time during that recording process that I had gone back to a more experimental way of doing things. Just me in my apartment digging through loops of old demos from months before we even started on Romance. I ended up slowing down one of Chris’ old beats to almost half-time. The verse melody was something I had been working on for a while and once I tried it on that half-time beat everything fell into place pretty quickly.
"Moonlight" was recently released what’s the inspiration behind it, and how did the process of creating "Moonlight" start? "Moonlight" is about being unable to give up the hope of what someone used to be or what you thought someone could be. You tell yourself that they are good for you or that it’s worth it, but telling yourself that is like believing in the siren song. You go to your death willingly even though part of you might know it’s not going to work. You follow the song and you take yourself to the bottom of the ocean.
While recording do you have any bands or artists you listen to for inspiration? Not really. But I never really stop listening to music and the stuff on heavy rotation is always changing. I’m constantly recording music, so inspiration usually comes from changes whether that’s in my life, the seasons, where I am, or whatever.
You guys are currently on tour with Local Natives, what’s been your favorite venue/place you’ve been in so far? We played two dates with Local Natives, in Nashville and Asheville. Both cities were great! It was actually the first time The Gloomies had played in either city. They are both such great music towns, we had a wonderful time and can’t wait to get back.
Final question, with the releases of your guy’s debut album Romance and now "Moonlight" where do you guys see yourselves going from here? Where would you guys like to see yourselves go?
We are releasing a new record at the beginning of 2020 and we have another single “Sick Like You” out on October 18. I’d like to see us on tour next year and to keep putting out new music. I just want to get on the road and show people what we’ve been working on, I’m really proud of the new stuff.
Keep an eye on The Gloomies :
