Greer Says 6 Years, a Hiatus and a pair of Days in a Field Led to Debut Album (Unique)

“Seth is making a sizzling canine, and he’s anxious about it being offensive. Do you discover that offensive?”

That is the inquiry — delivered deadpan by Greer guitarist Corbin Jacques — that kicks off ipromiseyoumedia’s video chat with the California-based indie rockers, who not too long ago reconciled after a yearlong hiatus to make their debut album, Huge Smile.

As a sizzling canine fanatic myself, I’m not offended within the slightest, and as somebody aware of the band, I’m additionally unsurprised. Like a lot of their listeners, Greer’s offbeat humor (and unwavering dedication to a bit) is definitely what drew me into their world. The music stored me there.

After bassist Seth Thomson hops on the decision — becoming a member of Corbin, drummer Lucas Ovalle and lead vocalist Josiah — Huge Smile rapidly replaces processed meat as the subject of dialog. Launched in March, Greer’s very first LP comes a bit later than anticipated: over six years after they introduced their debut single.

Two EPs adopted. The newest of which, 2021’s Comfortable Individuals, was well-received, however left the band “weirded out” by their very own sound, Seth tells ipromiseyoumedia. By that point, the “little child boys” that first joined forces again in 2018 had been lengthy gone, and Greer was experiencing some rising pains.

The foursome wanted some house and, they later realized, to go “via puberty as a band,” Seth says.

After Comfortable Individuals, Josiah remembers, “It was such a complicated time, and we had been within the observe house, and it felt like a void. It was like a black gap.” So, following a quick tour in 2022, Greer went on a protracted break. Via that point aside — which the group describes as tough however needed — Huge Smile was born. 

From otherworldly opener “Omnibus” to soothing send-off “audio_77,” the file is sandwiched by previous songs made new. It’s a patchwork of Greer’s previous and current — a bit paradoxical for a debut LP, nevertheless it simply is smart: Very like its creators, Huge Smile is cohesive, however retains listeners completely on their toes.

Forward of their North American tour, Greer chatted with ipromiseyoumedia about taking a yearlong break, making Huge Smile and kicking off their new period by spending 48 hours locked behind glass, Severance-style.

ipromiseyoumedia: What was it like reuniting to work on Huge Smile after a hiatus?

Josiah: We simply ended up going again to the place we had been initially making music in 2018, which is Lucas’s dad and mom’ storage.

Seth: It was sluggish, warming again up to one another, ‘trigger we had been separated for therefore lengthy, actually, bodily, but in addition emotionally. There was a interval of attending to know one another extra and re-meeting one another. It is kinda what we wrote: what we had been all feeling.

Josiah: It is loopy as a result of there have been so many songs from the entire 12 months that we had been writing within the storage which can be simply into the abyss. Even earlier than that, earlier than we went on tour in ‘22, we principally wrote sufficient songs to fill an entire album, and so they’re gone too.

ipromiseyoumedia: Was that intentional?

Josiah: Yeah, it was on function. After Comfortable Individuals, we had been, creatively, like, “What the f— is happening? Like, what the f— are we gonna do?” I feel out of all of our initiatives, that one we felt most dissatisfied with.

Seth: I really feel like we went via puberty as a band. We began out as little child boys, and all the pieces was actually recent and clear. As soon as we began actually being attentive to what we had been doing, it was like, “Wait, that is actually bizarre.” I clearly do not wanna speak dangerous about Comfortable Individuals, nevertheless it undoubtedly made us wish to take a break in some unspecified time in the future, ‘trigger we had been so weirded out by it.

Corbin: It was arduous. There was lots of virtually incidental no-contact. It felt prefer it was a time the place everybody wanted to cocoon and again away from one another.

Seth: All of us self-isolated. It was a harsh time for certain, nevertheless it was actually formative. That is the place many of the songs got here from — that void and nice confusion popping out of Comfortable Individuals, popping out of tour. Sooner or later, you are touring and you feel nice about it, the following day, all the pieces you do feels so awkward and fallacious. After which you do not have your band anymore. That is what impressed lots of the primary half of the file. “Omnibus” is about screaming out right into a void of confusion, determined for a solution, determined for one thing. We had been all type of feeling like a void and greedy at straws, looking for ourselves once more. As soon as we did that individually, I really feel like we got here again collectively stronger.

ipromiseyoumedia: Was it tough coming again collectively after rising and altering a lot as people?

Corbin: It was undoubtedly awkward at first.

Josiah: Yeah, nevertheless it was virtually, like, distance makes the center develop fonder. It was like, “Oh my God, I miss you guys. I missed this.” It type of reignited issues.

Seth: Yeah, it was a candy reunion for certain. I feel it was awkward, although. It was a extremely overwhelming and scary factor to do.

Corbin: The primary few weeks within the storage had been truly very nice, after which as issues progressed, I feel we hit just a few useless ends, and we had been banging our heads in opposition to the wall once more. That was a bit scary. As our deadline acquired nearer, we had just a few moments the place we had been caught on songs, like, “Ought to we see this via? Ought to we simply throw it away? What are we gonna do?” Weirdly, in that final minute, I feel 4 of the tracks on the file got here to fruition. All of that was, for higher or worse, a part of the method of getting this factor out after not being a band for therefore lengthy. Ultimately, it was good for us as a result of I feel if we stored going, we most likely would have made one thing much more sinister. It simply feels proper.

Josiah: And a few of these songs that we added last-minute are my favourite songs on the file. Low-key, we work nicely beneath strain generally. That is type of how we shaped, truly, is Seth signed us up for the homecoming dance. We did not have any songs.

Seth: We wrote “Track for Me,” “Bittersweet,” “Aeroplane” and “Paper Birds” all in that week. Oh, and “All That is Left Behind.” It was like six songs, dude.

ipromiseyoumedia: Which tracks had been the late additions to Huge Smile?

All: “Mugwump” and “Franken.” 

Josiah: “Had Sufficient” was inside the final month. That one and “audio_77” had been Frankensteins of older s—. “audio_77” was an previous tune that I randomly present in my audio recordings that Corbin wrote years and years in the past. I used to be like, “This tune is attractive. It is lovely.” So I introduced it to Corbin, and I used to be like, “So, is there any curiosity in bringing this again or…?”

Corbin: I used to be actually reluctant at first.

Josiah: He was, however I used to be like, “That’s my favourite f—— tune.” I really like that tune.

ipromiseyoumedia: Do you guys have a favourite reminiscence from engaged on the album?

Corbin: Wine Wednesday.

Lucas: I used to be going to say that.

Josiah: Oh, no. Wine Wednesday was a darkish day.

Corbin: Truly, please don’t. We should always by no means discuss Wine Wednesday.

Seth: That was the worst day of our whole album-editing course of.

Corbin: If something’s gonna show us to have an absence of media coaching, it could be speaking about Wine Wednesday. There was a favourite second I had within the studio, although. Considered one of these moments that made us really feel like a band once more. We had been all feeling actually enthusiastic about “Mugwump” entering into, however we genuinely had nothing when it comes to preparations. Something we tried to demo out with that tune was form of banal. It simply wasn’t working. Then, I remembered I’ve this cat keyboard. It is referred to as the Meowsic, and so they’re well-known for his or her lo-fi meow sounds. They’re actually cool. I modded it out some time in the past, so you are able to do some pitch-bending, and I feel we had been form of decided to make use of that on the file. It modified all the pieces. We actually put down a billion cat keyboard tracks.

Josiah: So many tracks.

Corbin: There is a half within the bridge of the tune the place I used to be simply taking part in the cat keyboard. It has inventory songs, and I used to be rushing them up and slowing them down. It ended up sounding actually cool on the file, like some bizarre, dumb, Beatles-y factor.

ipromiseyoumedia: Which tune was most sentimental to every of you?

Seth: I feel “Omnibus” was most likely essentially the most sentimental tune to me as a result of it was the primary tune I had written exterior of our hiatus and outdoors of Greer. I put all the pieces I had into that tune. I held it so, so treasured to me. It was like my favourite little secret. I might present it to love actually shut buddies once in a while, nevertheless it was so totally different from something I might ever made. I by no means thought it may very well be a Greer tune. I by no means thought it may very well be a tune generally. After we first acquired again collectively, I actually tried to consider placing “Omnibus” on the roster and it did not click on as a lot on the time. Nevertheless it actually grew, and it grew on us. I keep in mind the primary time we performed it within the observe house, my thoughts was completely blown. That was most likely my favourite day within the album-making course of. I used to be additionally type of a bitch within the studio about it. I used to be fairly insane about making it actually explicit. So I really feel actually dangerous about it, however I am actually proud of it. That was like my son.

Josiah: Mine is “audio_77.” I did not even write that tune, nevertheless it has introduced me to tears. I really like that tune. I am obsessive about that tune. Attending to sing it’s like… 

Seth: That tune made me consider in love once more.

Lucas: I might say “She Is aware of.” I actually like that tune. It is a tacky tune, however I actually like that tune. It was cool to see Corbin and Josie in there collectively. Weren’t you guys each in there recording it on the similar time?

Josiah: No. We tried. We tried quite a bit. It was too arduous to sing in full, ‘trigger when you get to that bridge … that is a tough f—— bridge to sing.

Lucas: Nevertheless it was actually cool seeing Josie do these takes, seeing him belt and get it proper, particularly on the bridge. That melody is absolutely, actually fairly.

ipromiseyoumedia: You all have humorous on-line presences exterior of Greer. (See: the Billie & Jean podcast, Josiah’s first-of-its-kind colonoscopy fan meet-up, and so on.) How do you stability your comedic personas with the extra severe elements of what you do as a band?

Josiah: I do not know. When it is simply the 4 of us or once we’re recording the album, it is tough to reel it in, to cease f—— round and making jokes. Any time that we’re not truly taking part in is simply f—— round. In order that’s how we stability it in personal, however so far as how we current, I do not know. We are able to by no means determine on, like, “Ought to we truly do that interview or factor severely, or simply f—— joke about it?” It will depend on the day.

ipromiseyoumedia: To kick off Huge Smile, you guys locked your self in a glass storefront for 48 hours straight. How did that come to be?

Josiah: As soon as we wrapped the file, we had been simply attempting to think about methods to advertise, and I used to be like, “We should always actually do a free present, however we must be enclosed in one thing.” So initially, a giant fish bowl, however I used to be wanting into getting one made, and I used to be like, “It is not doable.” So I used to be like, “Okay, a Plexiglas field.” I introduced it to the boys. Corbin was fairly supportive, nevertheless it wasn’t a success. Then [musician] Lexa Gates did it.

Seth: Then Severance did it. Everybody’s stealing our cool concepts.

Josiah: Then we had been about to place the file out and … gentle bulb. I keep in mind it was like 2:00 a.m. and I used to be like, “We do it in a storefront, a retailer show.” I used to be like, “Why not?” Then the week after that, we had been caught within the f—— field [for 48 hours]. And we performed like three or 4 songs as soon as the album was out.

Seth: We couldn’t hear ourselves. It was actually dangerous.

Josiah: We couldn’t hear the viewers both.

Seth: We might play a tune after which… simply silence.

Josiah: It was so small, and the drums had been piercing in that small house. We knew initially, we had been like, “If we play in there, it is most likely gonna sound like s—.” Nevertheless it was a cool strategy to usher in our album. And likewise torture ourselves for nearly 48 hours.

Seth: It was like bizarre psychological torture, and popping out of it was loopy. The night time after the field, I actually awoke taped to the wall. It was additionally smelly. We like to inform folks we had buckets within the field. Everyone would say, “How do you go to the lavatory?” And we’d inform them that we had three buckets.

ipromiseyoumedia: Was that the reality?

Corbin: It’s what you wish to consider, actually.

ipromiseyoumedia: Is there something you need followers to know as you head out on tour?

Josiah: We wish them to put on leather-based and are available as you might be…

Seth: What’s that? Like, why did you say that?

Corbin: Why “put on leather-based?”

Josiah: …put on a cape, put on glitter pants.

Seth: Ooh, put on capes! Put on capes, please. And jumpsuits. Appear like you are from The Mighty Boosh.

Josiah: It is a actually scary time the place folks really feel like they can not be themselves. Come to our reveals and we are going to settle for you — so long as you do not odor.

Corbin: We’ll nonetheless settle for you.

Huge Smile is out now, and Greer is at the moment on a North American tour.