An interview with Goldroom
By Yacht Week
Posted on 20th July 2018
Riding the tides and providing the musical vibes,
Goldroom has brought such sweet, salty symphonies to
Montenegro this summer.
Turn your sound on and transport yourself straight to summer, sailing and the simpler times. Join us in the Monty mindset.
Playlist:
LISTEN HERE
Instagram:
@goldroom
Facebook:
Goldroom
We managed to catch up with him to find out about his first floating festival experience last year in Croatia and to see what he was most looking forward to this time round before he set sail.
Last year you came on your first The Yacht Week in Croatia. What are your favourite memories from that week?
I spent a large portion of my childhood living on boats and cruising up and down the east coast of America. I remember looking at magazines and seeing circle rafts in tropical destinations and just dreaming about how amazing that would be. I have to say that DJing in the center of a circle raft was a life dream come true and something I'll never forget. Of course, with anything like this, its the people that you meet that you'll remember forever though.
Your tracks create a perfect vibe for the summer. What inspires your sound?
I think the time I've spent in/on/around the ocean has been a huge influence on how I listen to and create music. I always hear music cinematically, as the soundtrack to some imaginary scene in my life, and often my dreams float to summertime and everything that comes along with that!
What are the 3 essentials you can't sail without?
This could get nerdy quickly if I went down my racing rabbit hole, but I'll keep it simple. A big beach towel comes in handy 5 times a day. 30SPF sunscreen cause skincare is important. And of course some Gosling's rum for dark & stormies.
You're known for DJing, but also playing live instruments? Can you tell us more about this live setup?
We play as a 6 piece a lot of the time when we play festival shows. I'm playing guitar, keys, and singing. We have bass, keyboards, drums, hand percussion etc. A lot of my live members are quite versatile and so there's a lot of harmonies and rotating around. I love playing live so much because we can stretch our legs and really play Goldroom's full catalog. There's a lot of stuff I've written that's really just not for the dance floor, so playing fully live lets me explore everything I've written.
If you could collaborate with any artist (dead or alive), who would you pick?
Tom Petty has always been my songwriting hero, so it's probably him. Living... Ryan Adams.
What is your musical guilty pleasure? Be honest!
I love Post Malone. Can't help it.
If you could get your music into the ears of one person, who would it be and why?
I think to Ryan Adams actually, in the hopes that he might like it enough to work with me on something. I'm sure he hates most electronic music, but it would be amazing to hear what he thinks.
If you could be eternally stuck in one year of music, what would it be?
1977 was a pretty amazing year for music. I picture it all being a lot like Dazed and Confused. Plus Fleetwood Mac's Rumours came out that year.
From performing at boat parties to nightclubs around the world, how do you approach different crowds?
The environment that you're performing in has such an impact on the experience as a concertgoer, so of course, what I'm playing has to enhance that. A person at a nightclub at 2 am is going to be willing to experiment in certain ways that someone at a pool party won't really. By the same token, someone on a boat is going to be down for certain things that could never fly on a boat. I'm always true to myself, and there is a musical center that I'm always operating around, but I can take very different risks depending on the crowd and situation, its all about reading the room.
You're coming off a huge release of your album, 'West of the West', in 2016. Are there any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
I can't say a lot about it, but I've made a huge amount of music over the last 12 months and I'm happy to say that it's all coming out this year. I'm really proud of all of these songs and I'm really stoked to share them all with everyone! The upcoming High Seas Tour is also going to be great because it's a party for people who love dance music but maybe don't love going to clubs so much.
See you at sea.