Review Fix chats with Greye’s Hannah Summer, who discusses the band’s new single, ‘Over My Head.’
About Greye’s Over My Head:
Spring is in the air, music venues are starting to open up and slowly but surely, it seems our collective angst is lightening, and we can all see the light at the end of a long, anxiety ridden tunnel. Working tirelessly toward dropping their new full-lengthalbum So Far So Good mid-year, the five hard-gigging rockers of Daytona Beach powerhouse Greye are feeling that vibe of freedom and optimism full on.
From January through mid-April, they were back, to the tone of 35 live gigs, and as they drop “Over My Head†– yet another fiery, in your face unstoppable lead single from the upcoming collection – they’re riding high with three consecutive #1s (“So Far So Good,†“Growing Pains,†“I Don’t Mindâ€) on the Euro Indie Music Chart and World Indie Music Chart. Previously, their first 2020 track “Lucky†hit #1 on the World Indie chart and #2 on the Euro chart while racking up over 1.2 million views for its video. “I Don’t Mind†also landed quickly at #2 on Spotify’s Global Radio Chart Toppers playlist.
Things were a little less sunny around a year ago when guitarist Jett Wolfe first handed lead vocalist and band poet laureate Hannah Summer his original track “Over My Head,†which featured his trademark hard driving riffs and a few pockets of slower, soulful groove interludes. It was in one of the first groups of songs she received from the guys – Wolfe, bassist Josh Reid, drummer Ray Grimard and keyboardist Kenn-e Williams. Considering that many of Greye’s recent music had somedecidedly darker edges, she immediately connected with the upbeat energy.
The track called for a hopeful lyrical narrative, but Hannah – like her bandmates, like probably every other working musician in the world – was just coming out of that scary and depressed “OMG, what’s going to happen to all of us?†mode and didn’t feel like writing something overly rosy. Fortunately, Greye had quickly vowed to turn their down time into full steam ahead on the album – and her always compelling, gloriously offbeat lyrics reflect this dual sense of fear, doubt and self-questioning along with the determination to forge ahead and not let anything, even a global pandemic, stop their creative momentum.
Review Fix: What inspired this song?
Hannah Summer: Over My Head is about the importance of not letting fear of the unknown stop you from pursuing your dreams. It is so easy to get bogged down by the length of a journey when the work is hard and the hours are long, but the journey to a goal is oftentimes better than actually achieving the goal itself. The song is about taking that feeling of uncertainty and using it as motivation to be great.
Review Fix: How is it different from your other tracks?
Summer: The chord progression of this song is relatively upbeat compared to some of the other tracks on the album, and I think that mixed with the drive of the guitar tones and the grit of the vocals really sets it apart from the rest of the record in a good way.
Review Fix: What lyrics of it are you most proud of?
Summer: Some of my favorite lines in the song are “you say that you know best, well what about the rest? I want a renaissance, would you know the difference?” No one living in the renaissance knew that it was a golden age until historians examined the time period decades later. This line is asking the “antagonist” of the song whether or not they are observant enough to look around and see that they are in what could potentially be the best time of their life. It’s a reference to the importance of living in the moment, and every time I sing the song it’s a nice reminder for myself to do just that.
Review Fix: How do you want it to affect people?
Summer: I hope that people are inspired by this song, especially considering the wild year we’ve all just had. Now more than ever it is so important to appreciate being alive and well enough to work and do great things, and I hope that listeners will cling to that message and use it to motivate themselves to work toward their goals.
Review Fix: If any other band in the world could perform it better than you guys, who would it be and why?
Summer: I think it would be interesting to hear someone like John Mayer do a version of this song. I could totally see him putting a really different bluesy spin on it, and with his pristine vocals, it would probably be a really groovy rendition of the song.
Review Fix: What’s next?
Summer: Now that the world is opening back up again, we hope to be doing a lot more travelling in the coming months, as well as shifting our focus back to writing to begin work on our seventh record!
Review Fix: Anything else you want to add?
Summer: Thank you so much for reaching out! We really hope you enjoy the new song and the record that accompanies it!
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