We had the pleasure of interviewing Ethan Gruska over the phone!
Please share while we are #togetherathome 🏠
"Ethan Gruska first stepped into the spotlight in the rock duo The Belle Brigade alongside his drummer sister, Barbara, releasing two albums to much acclaim. Since then, he has grown as a composer and a producer on lauded records by Phoebe Bridgers and Bad Books. His solo work has been compared to the ultra-creative, left-field piano and guitar songs of Brian Wilson, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, and Jon Brion. Now, with the uniquely poppy pastiche of beautiful songs, adventurous production, and revolving door of guest spots that is En Garde, Gruska is stepping into his own as a grand artist and orchestrator for our time.
With the guidance of his longtime mentor and production guru, the LA industry titan Tony Berg, Gruska slowly began reining in the vast soundscapes to hone in on the songs themselves—finding, as Berg said, the singer-songwriter in the record.
But where he was able to bring focus to his subject matter, his natural instincts as a multi-genre kaleidoscope and conduit with a whirring Rolodex also played a part. “I like so many kinds of music and I love working on other people’s music as much as on my own, so I wanted to just do it all on this one album,” he says. And that he did, with multiple guest spots and co-written songs on En Garde helping to power the album’s motor in a natural, symbiotic way. Whether family (sister Barbara), old friends (Blake Mills, Christian Lee Hutson, Phoebe Bridgers, Rob Moose, Gabe Noel, Amos Lee), newer acquaintances (Lianne La Havas, Moses Sumney, Josh Epstein, Jim Fairchild), or legendary session player (Matt Chamberlin, Larry Goldings),each collaborator was invited by Gruska with purpose, and each appearance lends seamlessly to the larger work.”
We want to hear from you! Please email YT@BringinitBackwards.com
#podcast #interview #bringinbackpod #foryou #foryoupage #stayhome #togetherathome #phoner #ethangruska
