“Blossom” feels both deeply personal and sonically expansive – can you talk us through what inspired the song and how it came together?
‘Blossom’ was born out of frustration and feeling disenfranchised or disconnected with the music industry. Liam sent me a short clip of the riff at the start and I immediately felt like I was ready to write a chorus. I got him to send over everything he’d done and I looped the riff and wrote the chorus on the spot. I felt like I’d been betrayed by the industry and I’d suddenly had the rug pulled out from underneath and finally seen it for exactly what it is.
You describe “Blossom” as a reflection on creative burnout and rediscovery – what helped you push through that phase and reconnect with your passion for making music?
To be honest, the thing that helped me personally push through it was redefining my role within the band. For the last album, Marcus wrote most of the music and I’d contribute here and there with leads and basslines, but for this one, Liam wrote 90% of it and I was able to accept that my strength this time around was in my role as as lyricist and vocalist and my strength laid in writing melodies and bringing the songs to life. In short, my best friends in Liam and Marcus helped me push through the burnout with their creative desires.
How did working with Callan Orr influence the final sound of “Blossom”? What did he bring to the table as a producer?
Working with Cal is absolutely incredible and we feel like we’ve made a new best friend or an unofficial member of the band. On ‘Blossom’ in particular, we sat there for probably 2 hours, just trying to rewrite a lead guitar for the chorus because none of us were happy with the one we had. Between the four of us, we bounced back and eventually landed on one I was writing and from there, Cal shaped it into the lead you hear in the track now. Cal is also a wizard at synths and building songs out to sound as gigantic as they do!
There’s a real dance-tinged energy to “Blossom” that still sits in your darker, alt-rock world – was that a conscious direction or something that came out naturally in the studio?
Definitely conscious! Liam set out to write some faster songs for this record and I guess this is the result of trying to do that within the constraints of what your band actually sounds like. We aren’t the heaviest band in the world, but we also don’t shy away from heavy songs, so I guess this is what happens when you put all of those things together and you get a poppy, dancy, heavy track with a lot of emotion!
You’ve just wrapped up a national tour with Chasing Ghosts – what were some standout moments or cities from that run?
Brisbane! Usually Melbourne is the highlight, if not just for the delicious vegan food we get to eat on the off days, but this time Brisbane shone through all of them. Maybe it was the fact that we weren’t expecting much from a Brisbane show, or the fact that by the time we got to the end of the tour, we loved the guys in Chasing Ghosts so much and had learnt so much from them that we were just ultra confident in what we could do to put on a good show. Either way, it wrapped up the tour perfectly and it was so nice to do that in our home town.
How did it feel debuting “Down” and “Blossom” live on tour? Did any particular crowd reactions surprise you?
It’s always interesting playing unreleased songs on tour, but ‘Blossom’ was definitely a personal highlight for me. It’s such a fun song to play and it just has an energy about it that really brings something to the set. ‘Down’ was also so much fun to play and it was very rewarding to hear people singing it back in a few of the cities.
You’re set to play Converge Festival in both Melbourne and Brisbane this September – what are you most looking forward to about the festival?
Our look for Converge Festival is changing slightly. For the first time ever, I’m not going to be playing bass. I’ll just be playing the role of front man! I’m super excited and it has so many unique challenges that I’m pumped to tackle. We’ve been rehearsing this last week and there’s been a few changes to our set that I feel really are going to make a big impact live. I’m really really excited!
With over 7.3 million streams and international recognition, how has your relationship with your audience evolved over the years?
Our relationship with our audience has always been a little bit strange! In the best way possible, I should add. Over the years, we have had fans fly across different cities to see us and even from the United States. Our fans are spread out all over the world, and while that makes it hard to have a base of fans that we can play to regularly, we have many many fans that we are so lucky to call good friends now. We ourselves are quite shy and introverted people, and that often seems to draw more shy and introverted people out as our fans. I love that. I love that we are giving people like us a space to feel seen, heard and loved.
You’ve shared the stage with huge acts like Thrice, Saosin, and Circa Survive – how have those experiences shaped your own performances or ambitions?
Sharing the stage with those three bands in particular have been the highlights of being in a band for me. They’re all bands that I wouldn’t be playing music without them. Meeting Anthony Green back stage more than once and have him watch my band and bang his head along is a memory I will never forget. I’m not sure how those experiences have shaped my ambitions as such, but they’ve certainly made all of the sacrafice worth it.
“Blossom” touches on letting go of expectations and creating from a place of love – what does success look like to you now, compared to when you first started The Comfort?
Great question! Success to me is being able to do these things I love with the people that I love. I’m so privileged to be able to make music with my best friends 12 years on and still have thousands of people listen to it and care. Even though The Comfort might not be as successful as they were 8/9 years ago, the fact that we still get to do this thing and tour the country a couple of times a year is kind of mind blowing. I think when we first started The Comfort, like any young kids we were so ambitious that all of the wins got taken for granted to some extent. Over time, I think I’ve learned to stop expecting things to happen, and just to appreciate every little thing that does all the more.
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