Having already established his place on the scene with a breadth of immersive offerings throughout the last few months, LA-based artist Gorus is now looking to cement his vibrant legacy to date with the release of his captivating debut album 'Future Soul'.
Featuring the previously shared efforts '(giant vacuum)', 'The Killer Duke', and 'Never Was, Never Will', this new eleven-track collection makes for an incredibly rich and tantalising listen. Filled with broad and soaring soundscapes, a shimmering atmosphere, and his own compelling vocals at the helm, 'Future Soul' sees him arrive as one of the more fascinating names on the rise right now.
So with the new album available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him most lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
I remember discovering an upright piano at my parents' friends’ house when I was just four or five. I would spend hours sitting there and making all sorts of strange sounds. I remember being particularly captivated by the really low notes because of all the crazy harmonics going on. Once I discovered that piano my young mind was completely hooked on making sounds.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
I was definitely a rock and roll kid…my parents were both 70s rockers and were always playing the music they grew up with around the house and in the car. I remember putting on this Eagles song on in the car everyday for a year straight when my mom would pick my friend and I up from kindergarten. My friend and I would go completely bonkers rocking out the whole ride home. I have other memories too, like my dad teaching me to drum with spoons or sticks or something like that. His good friend (the same one with the piano) was also an old rocker and was always playing guitar at bonfires and things like that. Looking back I guess I was doomed to be a rock and roll musician all along.
What was the first album you remember owning?
I remember being given an old Goo Goo Dolls cassette when I was about 5. It was before they got popular and were still a decently respectable garage rock band (not sure why I need to defend my five-year old self’s musical tastes). I had one of those toy cassette players with the colored buttons and I would just rock out to that in my room over and over again. A lot of that early garage rock stuff isn’t that great, but I remember really clearly how it felt like it really meant something to be in a band back then. It’s kind of always been sad to me how we all grew up with these rock band dreams, but by the time we got old enough to make it happen the world had already changed. I still believe in it, but it seems to me that the world at large doesn’t really believe in rock music anymore. Thankfully there are still people out there who care.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
One song I wish I could have written is “Little Church” by Miles Davis. It sounds like the most other-worldly piece of music I’ve ever heard, like it’s coming straight from some other plane of reality. But at the same time, there’s this incredibly sad and human lonesomeness to it. The organ and bass are moving through all these strange psychedelic chord progressions, and somehow Miles’ trumpet manages to find the most beautiful and moving melody over top of the strangeness. Someone is also whistling along with Miles’ trumpet melody, and the combination of these two just sounds like nothing else I’ve ever heard.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
Most of the time I have to spend a long time working myself into a trance state before I can be capable of writing anything I think is of value. It’s a very physical and energetic process in the way I understand it. Playing an instrument and singing starts moving this energy around inside your body. When you do that long enough, the energy builds up and sort of takes over your body and mind. This is when the good stuff comes out, when this energy has taken over and you’re not really thinking or trying to control anything anymore. Usually it takes me several hours to work myself into this state, but sometimes you can get lucky and something just comes out of nowhere.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I’ve been obsessed for a while with an album by this New York hip-hop duo named Cibo Matto. The album is called Viva! La Woman and all the songs are about food. It’s both really funny and super cool. There’s just nothing like it in the world. Those tend to be the types of albums I get into - the ones where you find yourself asking “What the hell is this?” There are just certain pieces of music that are so out there on there own that nothing sounds remotely like them.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I’d love to open for Arctic Monkeys just so I could have a conversation with Alex Turner. I think he’s a funny guy. But I’d also love to open for this Argentinian musician named Juana Molina. I love her music, it’s got all these mystical qualities to it, but I’d also just really love to meet and talk with her. She seems like a very special human to me. That or I might have to say somebody like Portishead just because I’d want to see them play and I’m not sure they’re ever actually going to play again. Most of my formative musical heroes are getting to be old farts by this point.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
That would definitely be hearing that someone else got something from my music. It’s a really beautiful thing to have someone tell you that something you created means a lot to them or was a companion to them throughout a certain time of their life. I know how much certain music has meant to me at points of my life…that feeling of knowing that someone out there understands and has felt these same complex feelings that you have. Music especially has the strange ability to touch at all the more abstract feelings we have that we really don’t have any other way to understand. That’s why I’m still drawn to it after all these years. It’s still such a mystery to me how it works.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Well I think I probably would give the same answer that most musicians would these days and say the worst part is trying to make a living. It sure would be nice to get paid decently for the work we do! At least we’re lucky enough to live in a time where there are many alternative ways of living that can give you enough resources to survive but still enough time to feel like you’re living as an artist. If you’re clever, you can still make it work.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
If I’m being honest I would say that I really haven’t gotten much helpful advice from anyone. I think the path of a true artist is a very solitary one, or mine is at the very least. But if you want to do something that hasn’t been done before, you have to go down a path that no one else has. And this is perhaps why no one can really offer much advice to me. That or I’m just stubborn and don’t want to listen to anyone. But really, I’ve always had a strong sense of knowing what I have to do in life, so I look more towards others for support than guidance. As far as having a career as a musician, I don’t think anyone can really give you advice on that anymore either. It was maybe different in the past, but these days there isn’t really a straightforward path you can go down to find success. It’s really just a strange and cryptic labyrinth to crawl through anymore. I’m just praying there’s an end to it somewhere.
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Gorus' debut album 'Future Soul' is available to stream now. Check it out in the player below.