Ahead of their Perth show at The Aardvark on Friday 8 July, we chatted with Quin Grunden and Jordan Lewis from The Grogans to discuss their latest single, “Inside My Mind”, the group's creative direction and excitement in heading back to our state for the first time in 4 years.

You recently put out a new song, ‘Inside My Mind’. It’s fairly diverse within its sonic direction and I was wondering what were some key influences in the creative process for this release?

QG - This track was written a few years ago and has slowly evolved into what it is today through multiple demos and inputs from us as a collective. Genre diversity is something we try to let happen organically, we aren’t trying to sound like anything specific. Being a three-piece with two guitars and drums I think a key source of influence behind this track was to explore space and how large we can make our sound in a psych-ish way. 

Given the state of the world over the past few years, like most bands, you obviously haven’t been able to tour to Perth recently. Obviously, you're excited to be coming back next month but, do you have a favourite past memory of touring to Perth that you’d like to share? 

JL - None of us had ever been to Perth or Scarborough before our first shows there in 2018,  we’re so keen to come back! We didn’t really know what to expect from the show, having not played there before, but it ended up being a really fun show with a great crowd, which was surprising considering the amount of Emu Exports that were involved. 

Aside from the Perth date, is there a show on this tour you're particularly excited about?

QG- It’s tough because every tour is different and each time we play somewhere it’s exciting to see how it Pans out. Since we were in school though, the Corner Hotel in Melbourne has always been a venue we wanted to play - so that would have to be another one we’re pretty excited about.

Being that we still are technically in a pandemic, how has your perspective and the general vibe of touring changed for you?  

QG- Surprisingly we have kind of snapped back into normality with touring especially since capacities are now full. It’s so good getting back to all these places, like WA, that we haven’t been to for years. It feels like the crowds have been just as excited too. 

What do you feel were some key achievements over the past few years, as a band and personally? 

QG- For us, achievements are more focused around our own personal growth as a band and as people. Recording and releasing our own music alongside Cousin Will Records is definitely something we are happy about. There’s never a point where we aren’t already onto the next album or project which for us is a massive achievement. As well as playing national tours and embarking on our first international tour this year.

There's a succinct creative direction for the band’s visuals that compliment your latest single as well as many previous releases. Who drives and inspires the group's creative direction. 

QG- On this release, we were stoked to team up with our good mate Nathaniel Stewart

We came to him with a few ideas and let him take control of the installation and visual side of things in the live setting. For the video clip, it was much the same, we all helped decide on different aspects of his designs and even helped set up the installation which was such a cool thing for us to see unfold. He is amazing and always blows us away with his creativity. In general, we are all trying to come up with different ways to engage our audience through visual connection as well as collaborate with other like-minded artists!

What are some of your hopes, goals and dreams for the band over the next 12 months?

QG- Just to keep pushing our records out and continue evolving as a band. Also super keen to start touring other countries following our first international shows in August.

More information on the Grogans show at The Aardvark on Friday 8 July can be found here