Griffin House

When I first heard Griffin House play live, I was an immediate fan of the tunes.  With an acoustic guitar and thoughtful lyrics, House makes listeners examine their own lives and think about some heavy topics, including religion, relationships, and family.  Way Cool Music had the chance to sit down with House before and after a recent show and discuss songwriting, his future, and pop music.  After that conversation, I am now a fan of him as well as his songs.

Way Cool: 

Tell me a little bit about your background: how you got to be where you are now, when you started playing.

WC:

You moved to Nashville.  Can you describe the music scene there?  It seems like a lot of great musicians are from the area, including Josh Rouse.  How has Nashville influenced you?

GH:

I don't know.  I think I've been very uninfluenced by Nashville just because I didn't move down there and jump into the music scene.  I moved down there to work a job and stayed at home and wrote songs that were very detached from what was going on in the environment around me at the at time.  Plus, those singer/songwriters, that circle of people were already established when I got there.  I couldn't jump into that circle even if I wanted to.  I was doing my own thing.

The only way that it's impacted me is that somebody gave me some Ryan Adams records a couple of years ago.  That was probably my first introduction to Nashville.  Not that he's a complete Nashville artist, but I think he has some roots there.  If he can write a song that's called 'Tennessee Sucks,' I think I'm allowed to say that he's been in Nashville at least a little while.

WC:

Did you grow up in Ohio?

GH:

Yeah.  In Springfield, between Columbus and Dayton, but I always tell people that I'm from Cincinnati.  It's easier and I lived there for three summers.  It feels more like home than Springfield does anyway.

WC:

Do you do music full-time?

GH:

Yeah.  I've only been doing that·  I haven't had a job for a while because I knew ahead of time what was going to happen when I started talking to people.  As soon as I got the management deal at Nettwerk that I have and I knew what their plans were with me, then I stopped working.  I was actually a bartender for a while, but I got fired because I refused to drink on the job.  It was a pretty weird way to get fired.

WC:

How many songs did you record for 'Upland' originally (first independent CD)?

GH:

I recorded a demo right when I moved down to Nashville.  I wanted to have some recordings, but it wasn't really for demo purposes.  I just got lucky with these guys who asked if I wanted to record some songs.  So, I did.  They helped me record them.  There were six of those.  We call them the 'Never Sessions.'  Then, I was writing songs in the summer and just kept going.  I put that CD out and did another record in the summer.  I was on tour with a group called Over the Rhine and I was opening up for them.  Their tour got canceled and we had to come home.  So, I made the record with the drummer and guitarist that were playing with them.  It was kind of interesting how that worked out.

WC:

How did you decide which songs to put on the CD?

GH:

From 'Upland?'  That was difficult because there are a lot of songs on there that I hope people get to hear. I look back on it and think, "Man, that should almost be on a debut CD instead of some of the other stuff."  But, I think what it came down to was that we took the songs that we knew should absolutely be on there; that people have to hear them.  They describe the artist that I was at the time.  So, we took those four songs and put it together with a band record.  We initially had nine band songs, but we needed to make the record shorter, so I did.  So, it was 13 songs and over an hour. I cut two songs.

WC:

Were you happy with the end product?

GH:

I was so excited about it because I think it's been a long time coming to have a compilation of stuff.  I really feel like it was the best stuff I had done.  The fact that it's out there for people to hear is great; especially when you can do it in a round about way, without signing your life away get it out there.  And the fact that no one was telling us what to do.  We recorded everything exactly how we wanted to.  I was spending my money from bartending to make it and the guys worked for free and it got picked up, so it's a good deal.  It's a really good feeling.

WC:

There are a lot of male singer/songwriters on the horizon and in the scene today.  In a sense, it's really good because it shows that people are willing to accept that genre again because for years they wouldn't.  On the other hand, there are a lot of comparisons.  How do you feel you're different from the John Mayer's of the world?

GH:

that's great question.  For whatever reason, I don't feel a part of that movement.  I don't feel a part of the acoustic guitar, upper middle class white kid out there writing songs.  It's funny because that's pretty much, at face value, what people think.  I would like to think that what I'm doing has a little more to do with the words on the paper and meaning, a little more rock and roll and a little more edgy.  I've considered, at times, just stopping playing the acoustic guitar and taking an amp and electric with me on the road.  I want to force an obvious separation between them or have my band out there with me.  I think what will happen naturally is that if you're out there making your music and you are unique, then you won't have to do things on purpose to explain that your different.  I hope that's what happens naturally when people hear the record or come to a show.  I'm not trying to sing pop songs.  Not to slight John Mayer at all, but I just don't think that's what I do, for better or worse.

WC:

Who would you consider to be some of your influences in your songwriting and playing styles?

GH:

I think people like Tom Waits and even people like Tom Petty.  If I left off Jeff Buckley, I'd feel weird.  I guess just people like that.  I respect artists like Beck and Springstein.  I feel funny making those kind of comparisons because everyone is always ultra successful and famous and that's not why I'm naming them.  But, if I name someone underground, you're not going to know who it is and the comparison is lost.  I find that I identify with guys who are in bands just as much as I do...  Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) would be someone that I would definitely name.  He's someone who's influenced me just as much as the next guy.  Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan... no one who really plays pop music unless U2 plays pop music.

WC:

They do.

GH:

They do, but it's still so rock and roll.

WC:

Yeah, but pop music is just whatever is popular.  It doesn't have to be Britney Spears to be pop music.

GH:

It's almost like people use that term "pop" hoping that the person sitting across from you understands what you mean because it isn't always a negative thing.

WC:

Right.  But it has such a horrible connotation to it.  Now, you played 7 songs tonight.  Of the songs you generally play, what are your favorites to play live?

GH:

'Waterfalls' is my favorite new song to play since it's from the new record.  I like that song.  I like playing 'The Way I Was Made' when my voice feels good.  I really like playing songs with the harmonica, like 'Judas.'  I feel that if the crowd is up to it, then I'll play those songs since (the crowd) is listening and paying attention.

WC:

When you've written a new song, at what point do you feel confident enough in it to play it live?

GH:

Some songs, I've written and played on the same day.  That takes a little bit of extra effort for that to happen, so it doesn't happen all the time, but I've definitely done that.  It's very rare because it's not like you're writing a new song every day.  Well, sometimes you are, but sometimes you're not writing at all.   Sometimes you're writing a lot.

GH:

They either come at the same time or I'll get a guitar and just get a groove going and get a basic progression going and write from there.  It's pretty rare when the words come first.

WC:

What are the types of things that inspire the lyrics?

GH:

I think my songs tend to be about relationships and relationships vary.  Whether it's a spiritual relationship with God, which I think I've been talking about a lot, sometimes it's disguised as other things, but I've been talking about that a lot.  Or a relationship with alcohol, which I talk about in songs.  Or a relationship with women, obviously that happens.  I say, "women" because I seem to always date older women instead of dating girls my age.  So, instead of saying "girls," I say, "women."

WC:

Who are some of the people you have worked with, maybe co-written (with) that you are proud of?

GH:

I haven't co-written any songs up to this point.  I've written them all.  It's been a very personal thing for me so far.  I think I'm just starting to get comfortable.  I'm kind of co-writing a song with one of my friends now.  I'm enjoying that.  I guess I don't venture into that area very often.  I'm more comfortable in my own world, but it will be good to get out of that comfort zone.  I think it's nice to write alone and get the job done that way.

WC:

You have a new CD called 'Lost and Found.'  Where did the title come from?

GH:

I think it comes from John Milton.  I wanted to do it because I read 'Paradise Lost' in college and I wrote a song for that class instead of writing a term paper.  The teacher let me do that.  But, Milton has the book 'Paradise Lost' and 'Paradise Regained.'  It's always been a big theme for me, so I guess I just named the CD after that idea.

WC:

What music are you currently listening to?

GH:

I'm listening to... I've got an iPod now, so I have all this great music.  I'm listening to some Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Emmy Lou Harris... some of the stuff is really weird, like I'm listening to some hip-hop, like DJ Danger Mouse.  that's all I can think of right now.

WC:

Where do you see yourself in five years?

GH:

I don't know.  I have no idea what's going to happen.  I could not even be here in five years and I think that would be OK.  But, I feel like I have a lot of work to do.  I feel like I have a lot to accomplish.  I hope I'm playing for really, really big crowds with lots of people and able to have my band there.  I really want to experience that and move people in an emotional way.  To me, it's the more people the better.  I'm not the type of person to be like, "Once a club gets so big, I don't want to play anything bigger than that."  I'd rather be open to whatever.

WC:

What do you consider to be your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?

GH:

I think they kind of fall into the same category sometimes.  For instance, sometimes I feel like if a crowd is iffy on what they're hearing, sometimes I use my voice to draw them in.  It's like a power play in hockey.  I'll sing an octave above where I was singing and get their attention that way.  But also, if I happen to have a night where I'm not feeling as healthy or my voice doesn't feel capable of going where it goes sometimes, then that can be a weakness because it's not there.  But, I think my voice is a strength.  And the basic structure of the words and songwriting is a strength.  I try to write so even if I don't perform a song very well, it will still be good because the song is good.  I try to write that way where it's not based totally on my performance, but it's based on the song and whatever life it's taken on.

WC:

What's your favorite part of your job?

GH:

Just doing what my job is.  Recording songs, coming out and playing for people.  When I'm doing that, I feel like I'm doing something that's 100% right.  It doesn't ever feel hypocritical like many other, or all other, aspects of life feel to me sometimes, because I'm unsure of things, or I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing, or how I'm behaving.  I'm always having questions about that.  But, when I'm playing, I feel that it's really what I'm supposed to be doing.

WC:

At what point will you consider yourself a success?  Or do you already?

GH:

I think it's both.  The fact that I'm doing what I'm meaning to do and that I'm surviving is already a success.  I think I'll consider myself a success when what I'm doing helps other people more than it helps me.  I want to get to a place where what I'm doing is giving something to other people rather than being like, "I want to make sure I can take this to a certain level so I can feel satisfied with myself."  that's not really what it's about.  Well, it's also about that, but I want it to be about other people as well.  I don't want to sound cliche, but it's true.  If I search deep down myself, it's not about me.

WC:

So, if you weren't a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

GH:

that's a good question.  I don't know.  I'm not sure.  I feel like I could do lots of things and there are many jobs I could have.  And, I could even feel partially satisfied in them, but because I'm doing what I think I'm supposed to be doing, I don't really think about it.  I don't really consider other options.

WC:

What song do you wish you had written?

GH:

All the stuff I love and listen to.  But, it doesn't matter if I wrote it or not because it's out there and that's all that really matters.  But, there's stuff that I completely admire and even if I don't wish I had written the song, I wish that I could write something that meaningful.  There's a song on Bob Dylan's 'Wrecking Ball' called 'Every Grain of Sand,' and I think it's above and beyond what I've heard anyone write.  Ever.  I think it's incredible.  The imagery and the way it's put together·it's just one of the most amazing songs ever.

WC:

We have come to my favorite part of the interview, 7 questions:

WC: 

Great!  Thanks a lot, Griffin.

GH: 

Thank you!  That was great!

To find out more information about Griffin House, visit his website at www.griffinhousemusic.com.