Interview with The Goodstock Project
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
John Lennon and Brian May, although they didn't know it at the time. It was my mate’s mum’s "I Feel Fine" '45 – the voice, the sound, the label the everything.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
We have 2 keen Manchester City fans, I snowboard, and June can fly a glider. I'd love to a hear a song about all that lot. I'm hoping snowboarding doesn't influence my guitar playing – I should probably take more care with it.
How long has your band been around?
In this form, since late 2021, when June came on board singing. Everything except vocals started in the UK's first pandemic lockdown, March 2020 (but in fact you can trace 3 of us back in the same bands a little while before that!).
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
Manchester, UK. And how can it not influence the music - it's been a hotbed of indie and alt since the '80s. We've played the same venues, recorded in the same studios and argued with the same promoters as all of those Manchester names when they started out. We're lucky to be from where we are.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
It was actually named as the project of our record label – Good Stock Records (which existed as a home for our previous recordings under another name). We were originally just messing about with remote recordings during lockdown, but when June joined and added her vocals we knew immediately that we wanted to put these tunes out as a band, and so we called it ‘The Goodstock Project’.
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
Oooh a few gigs around the London West End or Camden / Islington area, another hotbed – Dublin Castle (the home of Madness) for example, was a great iconic venue to play!
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Night and Day Café, Manchester feels like a spiritual home, it's the start of things for a lot of local bands. Would love to play at the Whisky a Go Go, so if you can ensure this interview gets us an invite, that’d be great!
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
Jon (bassist) and Ben (drummer) happened to be born within a couple of days of each other and they decided to celebrate their birthday a few years back by putting on a gig consisting of musicians from all the bands we’d collectively been involved in over the years. So, it was a night celebrating with a load of mates. That was the ideal lineup. Other than that, a night on the same bill as Queen, The Beatles, The Doors, Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix would do the job.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
I'd say first and foremost take the pressure off yourself to be better than anyone else. Just get the band into a fun groove and enjoy making a racket.
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
If a record company is coming to see you, play your greatest hits, not anything new, or awkward or unfinished!
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
On the latest EP, the one that I enjoyed coming to life the most was ‘The Drop’, it was a tiny speck of a memory and a rough rehearsal room recording from YEARS ago, that was satisfying to get down properly.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
‘This Rain’ always gets a cheer, it starts with the vocal, so the first line is always sung to a bit of crowd response!
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
We've not really fallen into any pattern post-lockdown, we still do a lot remotely, so email each other riffs, or drum parts, or a melody. One of us will do a demo, and then see where it goes!
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Whatever’s on our minds at the time of writing. For example, ‘Be The One’ is about having true belief as a new band that you are worthy of being part of the current music scene. Or better still, standing apart from it and achieving success independently. And ‘This Rain’ is written from the perspective of a positive minded person constantly being faced with a negative response from another.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
We tend to joust a little bit when it comes to mixing stuff, usually 1 or 2 going "it's great, let's call it done" and another going "just 1 last tweak" – it's always worked out OK so far, we've never had a mix someone hates. We just hit "happy with it" at different times to each other.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
We’re incredibly proud of our recently released debut EP ‘Remote’ and are currently promoting songs from that. ‘Be The One’ is the latest single, so please check it out! As for the future, we’ve already started recording songs for the next album and we’ve also just put the finishing touches to a cover of Sam Cooke’s ‘Bring It On Home To Me’. This was meant to be a bit of fun between EPs but it turned out so good we’ve decided to release that too.
How can your fans best keep up to date with you, any socials you want people to check out?
Usual socials as below, but also bookmark www.goodstockrecords.co.uk - news and merch appears there first!
Listen to the full EP in all its 22 minute glory on Spotify…
And watch the videos here…