By Grayson Converse is all for feeling good. That bleeds into the output of the Bay Area band that he helms, Spooky Mansion, responsible for incredibly groovy, sunny, and uplifting indie rock tunes. The band has been together for several years, with a couple albums already under their belt, and their latest, WHAT ABOUT YOU?, offers more of those carefree melodies that one would find difficult not to sway to. It’s no wonder why Converse and his collaborators have endured—many love worry-free jams, and the group is wonderful at that! Over email, I caught up with Converse to get some insight about Spooky Mansion’s new record, discussing its lyrics, positive energy, and how some of the songs feel like the band’s most fully realized.
I’d love to know about the Spooky Mansion writing and recording process. From my understanding, you seem to be the principal songwriter and share your ideas with the rest of the band. Do the others then chip in with ideas based on what you’ve initially written? How does it work?
Grayson Converse: I write all my songs in whatever home studio I have at the time. Over the last 10 years it has taken on many forms. I didn’t come up playing in bands that much, so when I started my first group at 21 years old, I didn’t have a real idea of how you do it. I got my degree in jazz piano so I approached it like that: I wrote a chord progression, then guitar melodies, basslines, drum parts, and finally lyrics. It never really occurred to me that that could be a collaborative process. But I started that way and never really did it any other way since then. The band is full of great musicians who take my parts and play them better than I ever could. They like the parts, I love their playing and interpretations, and in the end the parts all serve their purpose for the song.
WHAT ABOUT YOU? happens to contain the most songs on a single Spooky Mansion record—12 compared to the 10 on previous releases. Was that a conscious decision? What pushed you all to squeeze out that little bit extra?
GC: No, I haven’t counted until now I guess. I think as the years go on, my hard drives fill up with more and more songs. I try not to be precious with the songs I write, so they just keep coming. I guess I finally just got enough good ones that fit together! If things keep going this way, the next record might have 15 songs!
Compositionally, many of the songs sound quite triumphant compared to those on your past albums: the single “Saturdays” and album tracks “The River” and “Give Me a Sign” particularly stood out to me. They’re all adorned by a glistening timbre and enthusiastic atmosphere. What was the catalyst for this positive energy?
GC: I think at the time of putting this record together I had found quite a bit of peace and contentedness. My love life had finally figured itself out, I was almost 30 and the feeling of being lost in a search for meaning was dwindling. I started writing upbeat music, and upbeat music was more fun to play, so I kept writing more of it!
Continuing from the last question—whatever that uplifting energy was, how did it inform the nature and identity of the new record?
GC: It caught me at a time of settling down in life. Calm, peaceful energy. Bright, nice mornings. There are emotional peaks and valleys in the record but I think it’s all jacketed in a general feeling of goodness.
Do the lyrics on WHAT ABOUT YOU? come from a personal or real place? They’re almost like you’re recounting true events. For instance, on “Saturdays,” I like the subtle mention of listening to Tame Impala amidst all the other actions you’re mentioning—that had put a smile on my face! Those things like that, where does your writing hand take you?
GC: The imagery and stories in the songs come from memories of places and times. I remember flying through the jungle of Vietnam on a little vespa blasting CURRENTS by Tame Impala. It’s a memory ripe with emotion.
I’m especially drawn to the closer, “The Thought,” with its swaying, carefree groove and almost “end credits” feeling neatly tying up all of the joyous songs before it. What can you say about that track?
GC: I’m glad you like that song. Final songs often get forgotten or overlooked. That’s a song that’s been around since maybe 2016. We used to play it live in various iterations. I always liked how it worked compositionally, and I always had fun singing the chorus, and there’s a big scream at the end. It has a wistfulness to it. It almost didn’t make it on the record, but I figured throw it at the end and see if anyone ends up getting to it. Glad you did!
Finally, you’ve got some supporting dates lined up with the South Carolina four-piece Stop Light Observations. What’s the connection between your band and theirs? Did they seem up your alley musically? Are you also looking forward to how your new songs will translate in the live setting?
GC: Some of these songs we’ve already been playing live for years. I’m glad that audiences will now start to know them. We like playing these songs, they feel like the most fully realized and put-together songs. They sound the most like that live band of any of our records. So it’s comforting to be able to play them well. Looking forward to playing with Stop Light Observations, they sound like a great band and hopefully we’ll become good friends!
You can check out WHAT ABOUT YOU? on Bandcamp and follow Foreign Fields for updates over on Instagram
Comments