After recently returning with their brilliant comeback single 'Come Shine' earlier this year, Dublin-based outfit Guud Grief return to the fold once again with their soaring new single 'These Kids Just Wanna Be Famous'.
Adopting more of that warm and inviting indie-rock aesthetic they are garnering for themselves, 'These Kids Just Wanna Be Famous' makes for a beautifully rich and shimmering listen. With its spellbinding textures set to some wondrous vocals throughout, they continue to shine as one of the more exciting names on the rise right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with frontman Mark Logan to find out more about his origins and what has been inspiring him lately.
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What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
The Harp, such an ancient and enchanting creation. I also love that Ireland is the only country in the world whose national symbol is a musical instrument, go on the harp!
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
I was into whatever my Ma was listening to when I was very young, i didn’t really have a choice, and thankfully to this day I’ve grown my own love and relationship with these heavyweights; Van Morrison, Tracy Chapman, Gladys Knight and The Pips to name a few. Anything with soul and depth my mam was into it. She later came around to my own early teenage obsession with Eminem.
What was the first album you remember owning?
The Marshall Mathers LP, on cassette tape, literally played it until my walkman broke, I think i was 9.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Leonard Cohen, You Want it Darker, he really says it all there. I love how he also wrote it right before the end. He still produced his best. Or Faithless Mass Destruction, I feel because this tune is so sonically awesome people may not always hear all of Maxi’s words, which if you took in isolation would be a masterpiece all on their own.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
I go into the Peruvian Amazon and post up in a hut alone for a few months, eat simple, drink and wash from the river and let the music come to me.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I discovered this Australian singer songwriter on Spotify last year called Danika. She’s relatively undiscovered in terms of numbers on the streamers. I think she maybe has like 30K monthly listeners but her storytelling, tone, voice, writing and musicality has me hook, line and sinker, she was by far my most played artist of the last year. Definitely check her out.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
Nick Cave.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
Having a living breathing vehicle for my life to pour myself into a crystalised time capsule and then share it with others in a sound form and in that to be created with a group of men I love and adore, it literally doesn’t get any better than that!
And what is the most frustrating part?
Promoting the work. By the time the songs are done, music videos and artwork as well it takes so much that it feels like we have given everything. So we are always grateful to those who share, capture or write about our music because I really don't think the artist is best placed for that, it’s a dark art in and of itself.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
Let the songs sing you.
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Guud Grief's new single 'These Kids Just Wanna Be Famous' is out now. Listen to it in the player below.