Glasgow based two-piece Canary Gold are preparing to release their dynamic new single, Hummingbird, out on now via Master Closet Records.
Consisting of brothers Spencer and JP O’Grady, Canary Gold were formed in Aberdeen in 2016 after the duo began writing songs together. Formulating a strong idea of what their sound should be, the brothers utilised piano as a driving force in all of their songs with the aim of setting themselves apart from the customary indie rock band set-up.
Hummingbird characterises the duos soaring sound. Combining simple piano with an earthy, rich lead vocal, Canary Gold produce an eclectic offbeat sound complimented by layered chanting, hand claps and tribal-like beats, creating a spellbinding, complex piece of music.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Canary Gold about the new music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s dive a little deeper into You, the artist and your music. What attracted you to this genre(s) or style(s)?
We didn’t really think about it all that much while we were discovering our sound, but I guess we just began to utilise JP’s skill as a piano player more and more prominently in our music. As we listened to more music within the indie rock genre we felt as though the piano was underrepresented as a core instrument and so we decided to use it as one of the main driving forces in our music!
What led you into this journey with music? And further, what drives you to push it out to the public?
I think it just started as a shared interest in good music, which transformed into a shared interest in writing and performing music. We’d both been playing our respective instruments from a fairly young age so when it came time to start trying to write we were fairly well equipped as musicians – less so as songwriters! The drive to put the music out there comes from a desire to share what we’ve created with others in the hope that it they’ll be able to enjoy and relate to it in some form – whether it’s from a casual listener or someone who knows every single word!
Who or what influences your creativity? Have your tastes in music changed over time?
I think creativity is affected by day to day life, whether it be from the people you surround yourself with or the hobbies that you enjoy. I try to be open to as many different experiences as possible as I believe that, with the more you do, the more areas of inspiration you’ll have from which to draw your creativity.
My taste has definitely changed over time in the way that I’m now more open than ever before to different varieties of music. I don’t really care what genre something has been put in, if I enjoy it, I’ll listen to it!
Were you trying to accomplish anything specific on this new project? Creatively or otherwise?
With each new project we try to differentiate them as much as possible from other things we’ve done to keep things fresh creatively. As for Hummingbird, there isn’t really anything specific that we were trying to do from the get go, we kind of just ride the creative wave and see where it takes us without trying to analyse it too much!
What was the last song you listened to?
Why We Build The Wall from the Hadestown Original Broadway Production
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I think it has to be MP3s. CD’s can be great to sell at gigs or hand out to people, and Vinyl is beautiful in its own way, but it’s also expensive to make. MP3s made music so much more accessible and provided a platform for so many more bands.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
We personally both use Spotify to consume music. Music streaming in general is quite controversial because of the royalty side of things, but in our experience, Spotify recommends the best music, has the best playlists and best algorithms. Bands can now literally become famous from Spotify playlisting.
Other than the digital era overwhelming us with access to an abundance of music, what is the biggest challenge you face when trying to connect with or find new fans?
It can be hard to get the balance right between being professional but also having a personable, relatable quality, if that makes sense. Social media definitely makes it easier to get to know people and communicate with fans, so we’re grateful for that.
Where is the best place to connect with you online? Discover more music?
We’re active on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, so engaging with us on there is a great way to connect. We also have a website where we post all our shows, and if you follow us on Spotify, you’ll be alerted every time new music comes out.
Anything else you’d like to add before signing off?
We’d just like to emphasize how much following us on these various platforms can actually help out. A lot of people don’t realise how helpful small things like that can be for upcoming bands. Thanks!
