Juicy and nutritious. Greatfruit really is the best ingredient for your music diet. Read our interview with the artist below.
Describe your sound in three words please!
Retrofuturistic space pop
How was Gratefruit created?
It began as a though. Prior to Greatfruit, I was playing in a 70’s inspired psych rock band called 2nd Class People. The founding members, Me (Sondre Storli, vocals, guitar and synth) and Sigurd Kristoffersen (drums), started the band at the age of 15. After playing together for 10 years, a desire to start experimenting with other sounds and musical styles emerged. This caused some disputes with some of the other members in 2nd Class People, which eventually led us to split up, thus Greatfruit was conceived.
While 2nd class people was guitar driven and 70’s inspired. Greatfruit is much more 80’s inspired. The synths, and drums are pretty much dominating the sound. We also spend way more time in the Studio. The past year of pandemic has forced us to exclusively focus on studio work, but looking back on the past year, it’s been really productive. Apart from that, we’re just guys, who share a passion for music, songwriting jamming into oblivion.
You have described your music as 70’s and 80’s nostalgia. How did you decide on your sound, what are your influences?
Before starting Greatfruit I produced a song called Arcade Love, which became Greatfruit’s first single. It was originally intended to be a 2nd Class People song, but It was very different from what we had done earlier. The guitars had pretty much been replaced with synths, and the melodic content was much more 80’s inspired, merging funk, soul and synth pop into a refreshing mixture. When 2nd Class split it kind of determined the sound of the early days of Greatfruit. Although it determined the sound, It should be mentioned that we’re always experimenting with new sounds and styles. Greatfruit is pretty fluent constellation, we don’t feel as if we’re bound to a specific sound or genre. As long as a musical idea sounds and feels good, it’s worth exploring.
I’m a big fan of late 70’s and early 80’s soul, jazz fusion and synth pop. Patricia Rushen, The Blackbyrds and Herbie Hancock to name a few. Tame Impala has also been a huge source of inspiration. Kevin Parker proved to me that rock could be more than just Led Zeppelin rip offs.
You are working on your debut album and releasing a few singles too. Tell us a few things about these projects!
We have released two singles so far this year. We plan on releasing two more before putting out the album. We’ve got a bunch of songs, and we’re trying to create something conceptual out of it. The Idea is to create the Greatfruit universe. We’re also working with a painter, (the one behind the cover art) who is helping us visualise it.
If you were to write a soundtrack for a film/series, what kind would that be?
It would have to be a sci-fi sort of thing. I’m picturing a luxurious Island out in space called Lovepolis. Interstellar travel agency offers cheap tickets. It’s an absurd drama, with a retro futuristic aesthetic to it. Like an Italian movie from the 50’s á “La Dolce Vita” or “8 1/2” by Federico Fellini, but only in space.
What is your favourite album of the past year?
Although not released in 2020, but December 10th 2019, “The Great Abismo” by Family Time is probably the album that I spent most time listening to last year. I think it’s a really great and ambitious album. I love the fact that it’s a conceptual album, and they really nailed it without coming out as pretentious or making it unnecessarily complicated.
What is one thing you learnt from the pandemic?
The past year has been my most productive year ever. The focus has primarily been on songwriting and production. Not being able to play live, made us focus more on songwriting and production, which payed off in the end. I think what we learned as a band, is that you don’t always have to be in the same place to make great music. If I have a musical Idea, and I want say bass, drums etc, I can just send the project to the other members of the band, and they can mess around with it.
If social media stopped existing tomorrow, how would you promote your music in a fun and creative way to catch people’s attention?
I would make a Cartoon, with new editions for every release. In the cartoon you enter the world of the Greatfruit’s. Where you’re taken on an interstellar journey into sonic cosmos yet to be explored. For each new edition there will be a QR code that takes you to our latest releases.
Thanks Greatfruit!
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