Goody Grace - May 2018 - Beyond The Stage Magazine

Goody Grace for Beyond The Stage Magazine

Photo by Gina Scarpino

Goody Grace

Words by Samantha Aneed | Photos by Gina Scarpino

When an artist releases their first major project, it usually has a deeper meaning behind it. It is what the artist stands for, how the artist feels and it most likely shows how they want to be branded as an artist. From the moment any artist decides to make an album, they have to make decisions about the recording process, how many songs to write and what exactly they want their sound to sound like. From there, they decide which songs to add to their tour setlist, and in the end, they really have to decide what they want to convey with their music.

When Goody Grace released his debut record Infinite, he knew it was going to mean something. “The word ‘infinite’ means a lot to me. It kind of means there are endless possibilities in life and what we can do is infinite. I was really happy to just kinda have my introduction to music as my first project named after just everything I stand for,” he said.

As for what he wants fans to feel when they listen or the message he wants to send, it’s simple—he just wants them to feel the same or different emotions he felt while writing the songs. Behind every great song is an even greater story and behind that great story is an emotion that was felt during that time. Whether it’s anger, sadness or happiness, it was there and sometimes, we don’t even realize it until we hear a song that makes that turns on the light bulb. Goody Grace wants people to feel something when they hear his music.

“I just really hope to convey the emotions that I kinda had put into it as I created it. You know, I love how when I hear a song and how it makes me feel. All the music I like, I like because of how it makes me feel; not even just how it sounds or the lyrics or whatever, it all comes down to the feeling it gives,” he said. “I really hope people just feel something when they listen, be it maybe the exact feeling i had when I was working on it or they could just take it in a different way and feel something else that I didn’t intend but that’s what they take from it. I just really hope to convey the feelings that I had while making it.”

Infinite is full of very unique songs and lyrics that are full of emotion. The sound on the album is eccentric. Finding inspiration for songs is demeaning and difficult. When asked where he finds inspiration for his songs, Goody Grace explained it comes from what he listens to. “I find inspiration with anything that I really listen to. I am a big fan of many different types of music, so I think all my inspirations and influences are blended together in my sound.”

That sound is like something you’ve never heard—it’s one-of-a-kind. If you have never listened to a Goody Grace song, you are in for a treat. His project is a whole experience to listen to from front to back. “I would describe my music as very cinematic and catatonically very versatile and emotional lyrics and you know, it’s not really one genre,” he explained. “It’s kind of all over the place but there is still cohesion in the sound.” He also describes his sound as “cinematic” and “nostalgic.”

As an artist who has been known as the opening act for the last three years, Goody Grace recently branched out and headlined his own tour. As an artist prepares for their own tour, there are many things to look forward to—the best being an entire room of people singing your lyrics back to you. “It’s really crazy for my first time to just be, like, in a room with everyone singing these lyrics,” he said. Imagine being in that venue hearing your favorite song live; it’s a special feeling. The artist feels the same, performing and hearing fans singing back the lyrics that means so much to them. He notes, “I feel like I got really comfortable performing, though. When you’re opening, you’re just trying to win people over if they don’t know you. Now when I perform live and I walk out on stage, I’m like ‘Damn, you guys already know the words.’”

When you’re in that moment, it is magical for you and the artist. Being on the road for a long period of time can be exhausting, and that’s why getting proper rest is important.

For Goody Grace, some of his favorite parts of touring include the different hotels he gets to sleep in and trying new food from each city he visits. When it comes down to it though, he says the best part about touring is playing the shows. “My favorite part about touring is the shows, honestly. Playing shows is the absolute best part,” he said. “When I was out on stage and hear just from the first song people singing is, just like, the best part of touring. It truly is the time where you just forget you’re in a new city. It is very great.”

We asked Goody about a song he wrote titled “Pretend.” It really came down to the first word of the song and it spiraled from there.

“‘Pretend’ was actually written very, very fast. I was sitting down playing guitar with my friend and I wrote it with him. What happened was, I was just playing the chords and he was like ‘it would be funny if the worst word you started with was fuck.’ and I was like ‘damn, that would be really funny.’ So that night I was sitting there and it was more like strummy, but I started picking it more like a folky version and I wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it the next day. It was kind of like a freestyle and it like kinda wrote itself and it is one of my favorite songs of mine. It sounds the most like an old Bob Dylan song or something and I guess I was pretty emotional when I wrote it. I think it’s kinda funny that it sounds so pretty but the first words are ‘fuck you.’”

So when an artist writes a song, they’re most likely coming from an emotional place but can still have a laugh at the same time. At the same time though, not every song comes from an emotional place, as some just come when they find a great beat.

“For my song ‘In The Light of The Moon,’ I was alone on my friends couch and no one was there yet, but I was sitting there on my laptop just playing around with Logic. I was playing around with a key on my laptop and I found the intro. I wanted it to sound creepy, like some vampire Transylvaniatype sound. I made just the baseline and added some electric guitars and there were no drums at the time,” he said. “Then, I just started free styling lyrics and the first thing I wrote was the hook. I added a verse, made the beat and kept an open verse, then sent it to Lil Aaron and went to his house and he did it. That’s one of my favorite songs as well and I love it. That shit goes off live.”

Now the hard work comes into play when it is time to record and produce the songs they have worked hard to write. For Goody Grace, he says his recording process is usually just him alone. “I made a lot of the project alone. I work a lot alone on my laptop. I was writing the songs and working on it for quite some time so, you know, I made so many songs that kind of went in and got scraped. It was a long process of just finding the right track list and songs I felt comfortable with and felt like it should be the first look at me as an artist. A lot of songs went through different versions and what not and I have been working on them for a long time. I produced a few just myself and worked with some friends. The process was really fun and I am excited to just keep making more”

After releasing his stellar record, headlining his first tour and getting a taste of life as a headlining artist, Goody Grace just hopes to continue making music and continue touring even if he is an opening act again. “Hopefully after this I can do a summer tour. I want to release as much music and tour as much as possible.”

Understanding the emotion that goes into each song and being able to connect to it is something that gives you that butterfly feeling in the pit of your stomach, but hearing those songs come to life on stage—that’s magical. Goody Grace is an artist, a creator and someone who puts his all into each project and song he does.