JOEL GRIFFITH OF MID CITY
Hi Joel and thanks for taking the time out to speak with us at Musicology. Congratulations on the upcoming EP Wishing For The Best. In terms of the writing and lyrical content, was there an overarching narrative tying the EP together or an assortment of topics and inspirations that zig zag throughout the record?
I usually write about the pangs of whatever is going in my life at that time or overtime. For this EP that was a lot of relational stuff. Girl stuff for sure but also broader interactions with me and the world. This year in particular there’s been a tonne to write about on that front!
Were there times during the song writing period where you already had some music semi fleshed out but what it is missing was the life event / scenario to occur for it to then meld perfectly with music?
The opening track Liar Liar was one just like that. It was the tune we’d warm up with as an instrumental. I had nothing for the lyrics or melody until the Bushfires (2019) hit and I started looking at how all sorts of different people in our community were responding to it. Particularly those in power.
What were some of the challenges in putting this EP together and conversely what were some of the greatest surprises you experienced through the writing / recording process for Wishing For The Best?
The challenge for us is always picking which songs don’t make it. EP’s are succinct little suckers and you want to cover a lot of stuff in a handful of tracks. I guess the greatest surprise was we found a bunch that we all like but also we think created a tiny journey within itself. At least we feel they do.
Working with producer Oscar Dawson of Holy Holy, Ali Barter, Alex Lahey & San Mei fame, what did Oscar bring to the table that you think really shines through on this EP?
Synth bass! Nah, I think what Oscar is better at than anyone I know at is taking our four-piece sound and filling it out in a way that makes it way more compelling but without sounding like an Imagine Dragons stadium fest. He’s tasty as that bro.
Your single Liar Liar is a blistering track and one with an intriguing video clip. Was concept one that was premeditated with a clear storyboard or one that organically evolved into what we see as the final edit?
COVID made me do it! We obviously had some serious restrictions for any kind of filming and I happened to be lucky enough to be interstate when the borders closed. I was staying next to a cane farm and would walk through it at dusk. It was both beautiful and kinda like I was about to be killed at any moment. So I took out my phone and reanimated what was going on inside a lesser version of my otherwise incredibly heroic and unflappable self.
2019 saw you take in an international tour and perform at some pretty amazing places. Can you share some of your highlights with us and what made them particularly memorable?
Our first ever European show in Munich we had no idea what to expect. Probably an empty room we thought. But by show time it was sold out and jam packed with crazy Germans. Them singing our songs back to us from note one is probably the single greatest thing to date that’s happened to us as a band.
Having meet and performed with so any different musicians and artists over the course of your tour, during that time, were there any words of wisdom spoken to you that really resonated with you and in turn altered the way you approach your craft?
I watched You Am I prep for a show we were both on in Hamburg. It wasn’t so much what they said because I didn’t even speak to any of them but more how they took their time to focus on how they were going to slay it once on stage. That real showman type thing you feel rather than hear from a band. That and Olympia gave me a sick vocal warm-up app.
Do you find touring to be inspirational whereby it helps you write and create more material or are you so focused on the task at hand that writing and creating new material takes a back seat?
Touring is inspirational in the way that it bonds you to the people you play with more intensely than casual jams or hanging out can. You come back from three weeks and feel like you’ve grown by three years together. That could also be the aging from all the beers. New material comes once we’re all back in front of our favourite DAWs.
On a personal level what does music give you that nothing else does?
Music has been something I’ve done since I was forced to play piano at five. So it’s a constant and it has some unspeakable quality of emotional nourishment that nothing else has. Think of your favourite tune coming on really loud and all the vibes you feel that just don’t go into any other bucket of human experience. I also heard somewhere that you don’t reach your musical peak until your 70’s or something and that’s really exciting because maybe it means those kinds of feelings can go even deeper with time.
