Byron blues and roots musician Ash Grunwald says his new song Second Guess is all about “trusting yourself”.
He means that in more ways than one. The song was the end result of “old school” jamming in the studio, he says. “No cutting and pasting on computers. I think we’re in need of a bit of an antidote to all that these days.”
Grunwald is rediscovering a love of analogue sounds and “tactile things” (although he admits he still froths a little at digital technology). He says he finds it easier to still his mind when he grabs a guitar, rather than making beats on a computer and getting tripped up on plug-ins and the “ding” of every new email.
Grunwald, currently in the midst of a 28-stop national tour including Melbourne’s Corner Hotel on Friday, says the new song is written from the perspective of a city person who goes hiking in the bush and taps into something elemental.
“In the absence of busy thoughts, the person starts to think outside the box. The thought comes: don’t second guess yourself, follow your intuition.”
Grunwald’s upcoming ninth studio album Now introduces modern psychedelic and swamp rock to his bread and butter blues, and was produced by Nick DiDia (Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine).
The video for Second Guess, premiering on Guardian Australia, was filmed in Grunwald’s neighbourhood, 20 minutes drive north of Byron Bay. “We wanted to make nature the star of this show. There’s a wonderland all around us if we can just get out of our heads enough to see it,” he says.
- Now is out on Shock on 25 September. Ash Grunwald is currently touring Australia
