an interview with Driveaway

Driveaway is a pop indie band from Gainesville. They recently released their newest single "Is This Letting Go?" , you can listen to it here Before the year ended, I got to have a chat with Driveaway about their newest single, creative/writing process and how they started.

Hey Guys! Thanks so much for taking the time out to answer my questions, how are you?

Great, thank you! Hope you’re doing well.

What made you guys want to be in a band? How did you guys come together?

Trenton and Tanner are brothers that have been making music together since they were really little. When the time came when they needed a new guitarist they asked me (Kyle) to join and having played with Tanner in some earlier projects and being friends with Trenton in high school I was really excited to become a part of Driveaway.

How did you come up with naming the band Driveaway?

Our name came from us realizing that every time we practiced together as a band early on, we were driving away from toxic relationship or lives that we weren’t happy with. I don’t remember who it was, but someone said “I just like driving away from everything and coming to be with this band” and that’s how it happened!

Here at Underground we’re all about DIY bands, and the music scene. Who are some of your favorite DIY bands from Gainesville?

The Forum, Casey Jones II and Faith and Majesty

You have a new single coming out on December 4th called “Is This Letting Go?”, what was the inspiration behind it?

“Is This Letting Go?” is inspired by being in a situation that you don’t feel is healthy for you anymore. A lot of times, we see people who feel like they can’t leave an unhealthy situation because they can’t seem to put their reason into words. Sometimes it’s okay to just let go.

When creating a new song which do you start first? Music or lyrics?

Music.

What was the creative and writing process like?

We’re constantly messing around with different musical ideas, and when we find one that we’re all inspired by we add lyrics and build on it. We all write a little bit of everything.

Which band or artists influence your music? Have any of them influenced your songwriting?

I think when we references influences, it’s a lot about trying to get the emotional feeling that an artist’s songs give us. As a result, our influences range a lot of genre’s: SZA, Phoebe Bridgers, John Mayer, Thirdstory, and Leon Bridges are the main ones right now.

Has being from Gainesville inspired the music you create in anyway?

Being in the Gainesville scene has inspired our motivation and live performance energy, especially from Gainesville-based bands like Faith and Majesty, The Forum, and Flipturn.

Is there a formula you follow when creating music and writing lyrics?

Absolutely not. It’s different every time.

When writing lyrics do you have a certain audience you want to reach?

We try to reach people who feel like they can’t connect with the things that are spoken about in the mainstream radio. Not everyone needs a love song.

During the creative process do you listen to any bands or artists? If so, who?

Not while writing and recording. When we mix and master our music, we use artists we like as references for different sounds or tones.

Do you listen to certain music when writing new songs, or do you get more inspired from personal experiences?

Neither. We’ll take small personal experiences and the experiences of the people around us to try and create a general narrative or feeling that people can connect to.

Does your creative and writing process change depending on the song that’s being developed?

Yes, sometimes we put everything down immediately and it’s more of a one and done process. Other times we slowly add pieces until we’re happy with what we’ve created.

What’s your favorite thing about the DIY scene?

The people we’ve met.

Have you gotten to a point when you know a song is done, and you don’t need to revise it anymore?

 In songwriting and production for us, the song really isn’t done until it’s finished being mastered. If we didn’t have self-imposed deadlines I think songs would end up sitting in a laptop for years—but that has caused some songs to turn out well, so I guess we go both ways with this question!

We’re all about discovering new music here at Underground, who are you currently listening too right now that we should check out?!

Purely Fictional, Faith and Majesty, The Night Game, and Fat Night

Keep up with Driveaway

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Website

Spotify

Words by Melody