Interview & Photos by Jamary Bobe
Your new EP “Afraid of the dark” comes out in a couple of days, how do you feel about that? CG: I’m really excited! I’ve been working on it for quite a bit of time and it’s my first project. It’s the first time I’m putting out a body of works, so I’m very excited!
You recently released a music video for your song “Turn the light off”, what was the inspiration behind it? CG: Basically the whole concept for the EP was worked out of me thinking about developing film and how in order to bring a photo into the light it has to be fully developed, and film is developed in the darkroom, and I kind of started thinking it’s kind of like a person, in order to fully be the best version of yourself you have to deal with all the stuff that you don’t want to - All of your shit, your baggage, everything, and often time we keep that in our darkroom, and so this EP was kind of about me embracing those things that I really didn’t want to talk about or maybe was insecure about, and in order to not give them power anymore, and you know just talk about it, it’s out there in the open. So “Turn the light off” was the first song off it so it was me expressing my initial fear to open up, and so visually the loft that we shot it in was supposed to represent the darkroom in the inside of my brain. So it starts off with me outside and everything is fine, but then I go in, and it's kind of what I feel: anxiety from opening up, fear, everything, and there’s a lot of things of self-reflection in it as the video progresses.
What’s your message to people who listen to your music? CG: I mean obviously every song is different, every song carries a different message, but a common theme throughout all of my songs is being vulnerable and genuine, and that’s what I want people to take away. My writing is very straight up and often it can be very truthful, and that’s what I want people to get, you shouldn’t be afraid of being your genuine self.
Any artists you’d like to work with? Or go on tour with?
CG: Oh my Gosh so many! Countless amounts! I don’t even know where to start, like Chelsea Cutler, I mean I’ve been opening up for people that I can’t even believe I’ve been opening up for.
What’s your favorite song to perform live? CG: I love a lot of different songs for different reasons but I’d have to say performing “High” recently has been really cool because it’s more stripped down and I performed it in a arena with 11,000 people last weekend, which is crazy, and it was cool because all the phones were lit up and it was a very vulnerable moment in a very big space, so that was very special.
From what I’ve seen you have some great dedicated fans, do you have any encounters that stand out to you? CG: What’s been standing out to me is the fan engagement after meeting them, like having people respond to my stuff online and in person. I have had a couple of cool moments, like the first time being stopped the other day, I’ve never had that happen to me in my life, and somebody stopped me, and that was weird! So obviously that’s a stand out moment because I was like what? How do you know who I am? Honestly anytime a fan even recognizes your work and loves it, they all stand out to me
Do you have any other hobbies besides music? CG: Yeah, of course! I mean I went to school for writing and it involved a lot of studying in film, screenwriting, play writing, fiction and nonfiction, so all form of writing I love. I live in LA so I surf, I ski, I dive, I love travelling, I dirt-bike. I’m very outdoorsy like for what my branding is, you probably wouldn't think decipher that. I’m from Laguna Beach, so the beach is my favorite place in the world.
What’s your favorite song at the moment? CG: Honestly I can’t get out of my head for the past three months “I’m so tired” by Troye Sivan and Lauv! Like right now I’m so tired because this EP release has been killing me and it's been crazy, starting Friday night I get to sleep for a week and that song will be my anthem.
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