CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS: THE GOOD LOVE
Words by Patrick Staveley
Listening to Central Coast band The Good Love is like time-travelling back to the 1960’s. The band inspires memories and feelings of nostalgia reminiscent of sounds that can be compared to groups of that era such as The Beach Boys or The Beatles. That’s not who the band is trying to be but they do a damn good job in making you feel something that you feels oddly familiar. I chatted with them about their new release - the gorgeous track ‘Too Much to Dream.’
FMM: Congrats on the new release! I absolutely love the new track. What’s the meaning behind this song?
TGL: ‘Too Much To Dream’ is a look into our minds and a love story through psychedelic, dreamy guitar tones and meaningful lyrics. It’s about the uncertainty of love. Not knowing whether it will stick around or leave like the wind. We tried to capture the feeling of falling in love and butterflies in your stomach when we wrote this one. The lead guitar itself, throughout the song, does a great job of expressing that feeling, the drums and vocals all aligning perfectly together in seemingly dreamy crescendos. Which, in our opinion, makes the song what it is, and we hope everyone gets the same feeling out of it as we do.
FMM: The first thing I thought when I heard the start of Too Much to Dream is that I felt like I was listening to The Beach Boys. It just sounds so 60s with almost psych-induced melodies. What’s the inspiration for how this song sounds?
TGL: Most of the band have grown up around 60’s inspired music, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, David Bowie, the kinks, etc. But we also love bands from today, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Babe Rainbow, the Murlocs, etc. And when we all got together on a Dreamy Sunday afternoon at Manning’s shed for band practice, Leroy had a vocal melody that we thought was so sweet. The song gelled together as we began to jam, leaving us with ‘The Good Love’ sound, a love for all great music.
FMM: It’s your third release of the year. What’s the process like for the band when it comes to releasing music but also to be able to release it consistently in such a competitive market?
TGL: This year has been a big year of writing music. We have a bag full of great songs we have been putting our hearts into. We are focusing on keeping consistent with releasing our music monthly to keep people listening and feeling the love. Following up with an e.p, and soon releasing an album.
FMM: A song like this is one that shouldn’t be slept on, yet for bands with smaller followings it can be hard for your music to blow up no matter how good it may be. Is it easy to get disheartened by the lack of attention your work can receive? Especially when it’s something you’re proud of and that you know is a good production?
TGL: It definitely can get tough at times when we put everything into our music, and we get so much feeling from our songs that we want to share this feeling with everyone. But we are doing what we love and are driven to make more beautiful tunes for everyone’s ears, no matter what.
FMM: With the sound you’ve experimented with beautifully on this single, it’s a direction you can definitely continue to explore in future releases. What do you think it is that draws you as musicians to nostalgic eras when it comes to making music and developing a style or a sound?
TGL: We are all driven by the same style of music, 60’s rock, 60’s pop rock, but we are all individually driven by all sorts of different bands, from the sounds of jazz music, psychedelic and much more. So when we get together, ‘The Good Love’ sound forms naturally from these inspirations.
FMM: For all of us that want to catch you live, have you got shows in the works at all coming up?
TGL: Yes, we are currently on tour for our latest song, ‘Too Much To Dream’. We are playing Central Coast ‘Lucky Surf’ on the 9th of September. ‘Byron Bay Surf Festival After Party’ on the 11th of September and ‘The Northern’ in Byron Bay on October 1st. We hope to see you there!