5 Q&A With goodcry
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your "Operate" and the story it tells?
I was in the ER one night for something minor and ended up spending 5 hours in the waiting room. My phone had died and all I had was a sketchbook so I wrote and drew what I saw. Operate slowly took shape over those long, delirious hours of observing the doctors, nurses, porters, and the harshness of the sounds and lights.
The song tells the story of someone trapped inside a medical environment that prioritizes pharmacological intervention over all else, and that feels out of place. In most cases, a hospital is an assault on the senses, and I wanted that to translate into the music.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for this "Operate?"
I had written the verse and choruses but was stuck on the last section and felt like it really needed to be special. I asked a friend of mine, Cameron Main, to come work on it with me, and we spent a few hours totally destroying and rearranging the build section after the second chorus.
After a few more sessions it became my favorite part of the song, and I had to go back and edit the first bits to get them to stand up alongside it.
How does this "Operate" fit into your overall artistic vision?
Telling honest stories is the main reason I make music, and Operate to me is a really honest look at a system we all have to interact with but that doesn’t work very well for most of us. I hope people who listen can relate to some of the experiences and feel like at the very least they’re not alone in noticing things could be better.
It was also a chance to work with other amazing artists and collaborating with Rosalie H. Mahuex for the video was exactly the type of work that makes being an artist so rewarding.
Was there a pivotal moment in your life when you decided to follow your path as a musician?
I’ve been playing music since my early teens, but about a year and a half ago I decided it was time to dedicate myself fully to seeing where it could take me. Since then I’ve been making music constantly and am loving the connections and creations that have come from it.
Who are some of your biggest musical influences, and how have they impacted your own sound?
I grew up listening to everything I could get my hands on, so these days I’m really influenced by artists who can really bridge genres or who can push the boundaries of their own. I love polyrhythms and harmonies so bands like Local Natives and Little Comets were huge for me on the straight indie side of things. Frank Ocean, Gorillaz, and Tyler the Creator have also really blown my mind with their ability to widen genres and float effortlessly across them.
Artists like that have given me confidence to express myself without the boundaries of genre and I hope that my music eventually comes across as a cohesive vision as it does for them.