April 2015 “Band of the Month” – GOOD NIGHT ALIVE
Started in January of 2012, the “Band of the Month” feature has allowed The Blue Indian a unique opportunity to share some of our favorite bands with our readers. As we move into our fourth year of the feature, we’re eager to continue showcasing some of the best and brightest bands around. Thanks for the continued support!
Good Night Alive has rushed the music scene and kicked the door down. After playing only 3 hometown shows at the start of 2014, they gained national recognition when they were chosen from almost 3,000 artists by Republic Records and the voters to be the top 12 on VH1′s Make A Band Famous. Inspired by bands such as Grouplove and The Naked And Famous, this indie electronic rock band from Middle Georgia is creating music that delivers a blend of organic and electronic sounds that will both engage and startle your senses. A frontman with his brother on drums hailing from the coast of Mississippi, a guitarist rising from the sand dunes of Indiana’s lakeshore, and a bass player straight from the Peach State have come together from distinct and different musical backgrounds to create a unique sound. From the punk/metal garage bands of youth to theSunday morning stage, the guys of Good Night Alive have refined their sound and are looking forward to a future of sharing their jams with any and everyone.
The band is currently writing for their upcoming full length album. You can be sure that the melodies brought to you by these guys will strike a chord (literally and figuratively) that simultaneously evokes a need for inner reflection and ignites your desire to sing aloud for all to hear. When these tunes invade your mind and start playing relentlessly on repeat, don’t fight the feeling.
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How did Good Night Alive come together initially? I know you each have played in various bands over the years but what finally “clicked” to get this project moving?
Bobby: Well, Good Night Alive is only a year and a half old now, but the four of us have been playing together for 5 or 6 years in different projects and bands. It was the result of our music changing so drastically. It made more sense to just change our identity along with the music.
Zack: Ummm… *wipes sweat from forehead* i just want to start off by saying I’m camera shy….
Bobby: We’re not on camera…
Zack: Oh. Well then basically the way I began to write songs was changing – lyrically and musically. We felt like our new sound was targeting a different crowd, so we just changed everything and started over as a new band.
Bobby: Yeah, every January 1st I think it always comes up that it’s time to start a new band, but with the same people. We’re mostly joking…
The VH1 “Make A Band Famous” feature was something that came very early on in the timeline of things for the band, almost around the time you all had played your first show together, right? What was the experience like and how did it help shape things to come?
Bobby: Yeah, I think we played 2 shows at Grant’s Lounge and then that happened. It was really awesome for a lot of reasons. First of all, it was great to see we had that much support and that people were liking the music. We didn’t even really plan on doing it. It was kind of a casual thing. Once we got to the top 24 (out of about 3,000) and headed to NYC for the show, it was kind of nuts. It created an excitement in us to really push beyond playing in our living room. We were forced to “brand” ourselves quick. Actually, that was the most interesting part of the experience. Seeing that side of the industry. How it turns from fun to business real quick.
Zack: I think it helped us get a better idea of who we wanted to be as a band and that it was actually possible for us to go somewhere with this new music we were making. Overall it was a great experience and we’re still riding off of some of that momentum almost a year later.
Currently, the band has a self-titled EP out that was released last year but I understand you all are working on your debut album that will be released later this year? What has the writing and recording process been like and how do you feel things have evolved since the first demos as a band?
Zack: Writing for the new album has been a lot of fun. I think we’re progressing as far as our sound is concerned. We’ve been getting a great response at our live shows about our new stuff. It always makes me nervous to introduce new songs, but what we’ve been hearing over and over is people telling us they like our new stuff better than the EP.
Bobby: We wrote our first songs with Matt Spinks, our former keyboard player. So we immediately classified ourselves as “indie electronic rock” with the first EP. Now that we don’t have a keyboard player in the room with us it’s just… well… indie rock for now. It’ll be interesting once we start to record the full length with all the new songs because we plan on going in as-is, but we think we might come back out of this incorporating the electronic stuff again. We’d love to get Matt involved in the studio stuff with us, along with a couple of our producers who can bring that side of things to life.
The songs on the EP are anthemic – bold, emotional, and uplifting in both statement and sound, but the recently released “Dream Sessions” offer a stark contrast to the upbeat indie-pop fans fell for. Are you all planning continuing to showcase new material through stripped down versions?
Bobby: We did the stripped down stuff because it was easy and we could get it out fast. You would think we would have learned our lesson though…. dear Lord, the Ben Rector show with Mercer when we were forced to play acoustic and got blacklisted, lol. We might do some more “Dream Sessions” but recently we started recording full band “basement sessions” with Johnny Davis of Symmetry Studios. It obviously represents us better. You can check out the Dream Sessions on our YouTube or website, but we’ll leave our new Basement Session here on this page!
Now that the band is working with Hubbub in Atlanta for booking, how do you foresee things changing as far as plans for continuing to branch out in the Southeast? A Summer/Fall tour in the works, possibly?
Zack: We’re going to take it slow at first and work our way out. The hardest thing is finding time in all our schedules to play shows and still make sure we have money to pay the bills.
Bobby: Having a booking agent is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I no longer have to do what I’m not good at. Dustin from Hubbub has so much great insight, and we’ll be hitting the big cities in our backyard pretty hard. Like Zack said, we won’t be going all out on a tour just yet, but we’ll get there.
What have you all been listening to recently? Any new records you’d recommend we try out?
Zack: I’ve been listening to a lot of 90’s music. Weezer and The Cranberries. I recently purchased Phantogram’s latest album and it’s pretty good.
Bobby: I’ve actually lost my mind and went country. The Cadillac Three converted me. But I’ve really been listening to Purity Ring’s new album, mainly. Good ol’ fashioned Canadian electronic music.
Zack: I think Jesse’s been listening to Shakey Graves.
Bobby: Yeah and I think Nick’s been listening to Nothing. No for real, that’s the name of the band. Nothing.
Other than expanding your audience and releasing the full length record, what are you all most excited about for the rest of 2015?
Zack: I’m most excited about playing at BraggJam.
Bobby: I’m excited to see who we get to share a stage with.