We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Harrison Gragg a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Harrison thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
The band is just on the cusp of reaching the finish line on our first album. At this point we have completely finished recording all 11 songs for the project. The album is being mixed as I write these words! This isn’t our first time putting out music, but it is the hardest we have ever worked on realizing the sounds that are stuck in our heads and it is the first time we feel confident that we have put everything on the table creatively. Some songs date back to being written around the time the band first started 2 years ago, while the latest song was finished two days before we went into the studio for the last recording session in January. Given that span of time, the band has experienced so much change. Some of us have moved to different cities, some gotten married, and I have found out that I am expecting a baby in August. Unintentionally these songs have captured the essence of what it means to be a young adult and experience so much change in so many ways. While the band has been busy figuring out how who we are as individuals, we have stumbled upon our musical identity through the songs we have written during these diverse seasons.
Collectively we have never been more excited to share our music! We have put everything we have into making this album and in turn the songs represent all that we are.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I accidentally started The Echolocations. When I attended Tweed Recording, an audio production school in the heart of Athens Ga, I found myself practicing recording techniques with my close friend Gavin Boone. When the studio wasn’t booked, we would record drums, guitars, pianos, and anything we could get our hands on. The songs we made in our spare time became our EP “Going Steady With The Echolocations”. We put out the songs just for fun without too much intention. Pretty soon after we were asked to play a show at a respected club nearby and Gavin and I scrambled to put together a full band to make these songs come to life. With the help of some close friends, we played that first show, and since then we never stopped writing songs and playing shows. What started as a good laugh turned into something meaningful to us as we continued to play together. I believe our unique retro infused alternative rock sets us apart by paring throwback songwriting with modern production techniques and tricks. I also strongly believe that the amount of effort we put into making our music shows through. In a world full of polished pop songs, I like to think that the heart of our tunes shine through.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As a band, I believe that we have found the mission that drives us over the past year. We started the band because it was an exciting and fun and new to us, but as we continued play shows and meet people we found ourselves wanting to create with others in mind. We write our music for ourselves. To heal and process and to connect. At the same time we are aware that we have the unique opportunity to provide something that allows people to not feel alone or to feel heard or even to provide an escape. In some moments that can feel like a weight to bear, but we try to embrace the opportunity we have and we try to let it fuel us.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
I believe that to be a creative person you have to constantly show resilience. Specifically being in a band in any given night there’s a chance of meeting rejection. Plenty of shows can go awry. Many times songs don’t stream the way you hope they will. In today’s age, you can see every number and enjoy every success but the other side of that coin is that you can see all the low moments and there is no guard rail when it comes to seeing when your art isn’t trending. Resilience is getting up the next day and committing to the routine of creating in the face of rejection or failure. Plenty of times our band has experienced our best performance the night after a show that bombed. Many times we have found a golden melody after a week of only writing bad tunes. Thats the story of being an artist. Constantly writing, creating, producing, preforming without the fear of being met with failure.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_echolocations/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theecholocations/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@theecholocations8661
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7aYpW1duXqLPF8U8VIsOez?si=6tQ4L3uMS2eRQsa1qyj7Gw Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/the-echolocations/1614837796
Image Credits
Karmen Smith Ivey Clarke Brelynn Millwood