With the release of their very exciting second album, I spoke to The Gravity Drive about their work, their influences and the sounds that shaped their new album.
What were the biggest inspirations for the new album?
The album is our exploration into awakening into higher consciousness. It is inspired by our journey into exploring our perceptions and conditioning. We we’re interested in finding a true meaning and deeper connection with each other and divinity.
As unsigned artists, do you find that there’s more of a challenge to be taken seriously? Or do you feel as though the times have changed?
We’ve never felt that we’ve not been taken seriously but we have wondered at time’s whether the industry doors would have opened more easily with the weight of an established label behind us. It’s definitely easier now for an independent act to be noticed. In the end we feel it’s down to the quality of your creativity we’ve given everything we can to create an exceptional album.
Favourite moment on the album?
Ava: I love it all. It’s so diverse I can’t choose they’re like our children.
Elijah: I agree with Ava.
The album contained a lot of lyrics about soul searching. Do you both feel as though you went through an element of soul searching in the writing process?
Yes we did. Each song lyrically is a deep dive into ourselves in an attempt to understand ourselves and our reality.
Does making music whilst being in a relationship present challenges for both of you?
It’s a gift. We have a strong sense of combined destiny. Any time two people come together there will be challenges because we are all flawed humans trying to work it out. As a couple we value the importance of clear communication and it’s crucial to be emotionally intelligent when you’re living and working together.
What inspired the choice to take a lot of risks and experiment with multiple different genres on this new album?
We don’t feel it’s a risk. It’s our authentic response to create a world for each song which supports the lyric and soul of the song so the sound of each song feeds the message. Inevitably our eclectic taste in music influences our creativity.
What influences went into the recording of the new album?
We knew we wanted to record in a professional studio. We’d recorded our debut album ‘Testament’ in our cottage which worked well because it was predominantly more electronic. We knew we wanted to use live drums for ‘The Wildlight’ so it was really important to get the best sound we could. Whilst we were in the studio, Middle Farm, we got to play with a collection of great guitar amps and vintage kit which expanded the vision. Ava moved forward to take more vocal leads. Our first album ‘Testament’ was more harmony led and on this album we wanted more differentiation from track to track whilst retaining the harmony side of our sound. Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’ was an early template.
Has coronavirus affected your work? Have you been continuing to work through it?
Ironically the pandemic has given us the space and time to keep kicking on those industry doors and introduce them to our work. We’ve found that a lot of people were in lockdown and at home and had some time on their hands to listen.
What has been the biggest challenge in recording this new album? Or has it not really presented many challenges?
The pursuit of excellence can be exhausting and also being a small team, there’s nobody outside of ourselves like a label or management to advise guide or comment so we’re left to our own instincts which actually is the beauty of being independent and having total freedom of your work.
What is your usual writing process?
The songs we’re predominantly written by Elijah on guitar or piano and then Ava will have a vision on how those songs turn into the record.
What music do you find yourself drawn to during quarantine?
We’ve got a book called 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. We take it in turns to randomly pick an album to play as we prepare and eat dinner. It’s been great to discover and rediscover albums some of which we loved and love and some of which left us wondering.
What plans does the future hold for The Gravity Drive?
We are already working on our third album.
The Gravity Drive’s The Wildlight is out now.
