Coyle Girelli Interview

NYC-based English troubadour Coyle Girelli is back with a breathtaking new single Here Comes My Baby, a song filled with sweet longing amidst a strange and confusing world. Here Comes My Baby is accompanied by a stunning visualiser, perfectly tailored to suit the yearning at the heart of the song. The new single precedes Coyle Girelli's new album Funland, written in isolation and set for release on February 25 – the album is available for pre-order now. Australian fans will be familiar with Coyle's one-of-a-kind vocals as his collaboration with Peking Duk member Keli Holiday, Song Goes On, has been on high rotation on triple j throughout the year.

Here Comes My Baby is one for the shoegaze fans - evocative of masters of the genre Mazzy Star, ingénue Hatchie and rockers The War On Drugs, this song would feel at home nestled amongst the tracks on the Big Little Lies original soundtrack; gentle guitars sway, Coyle's unique, dreamy vocals lead confidently, like magic, amongst whirling reverb. There's even a little Lana Del Rey influence amongst the bed of sound – in other words, every fan of alternative pop, guitar-led slow dancing, and genuine, classic songwriting will find something to love here. Reflecting on the meaning behind the song, and the influences behind its conception, Coyle says, "Here Comes My Baby has a dreamy indie vibe that I loved living in as I created it. Lyrically, it's pretty simple… it's about craving the body of a lover in an uncertain moment of strangeness. I had a running playlist that I listened to pretty much every day while I was writing and I think a lot of them influenced this track, and the album. Some of the main ones on there were Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Hamilton Leithauser, Cigarettes After Sex, The War on Drugs, Big Thief and Bruce Springsteen."

Here Comes My Baby is just a taste of what is to come upon the release of Funland. Years of experience within the music industry – upon performing on David Letterman, Letterman himself said, "If I had a voice like that I'd run for President!" – have helped Coyle hone his craft to perfection, and he is in brilliant form on this new record, as Coyle says, "I'm so proud of Funland as a follow-up to my debut solo album Love Kills. It takes you on a ride of hope, debauchery, lust and love. I hope Aussies can turn it up and escape into Funland for 45 mins whenever they need it."

A prolific, in-demand artist, Coyle Girelli has also written with global K-pop sensation BTS (their collaboration Heartbeat has a cool 97 million streams on Spotify), Macklemore and Robin Schulz, not to mention Australia's own Keli Holiday, as he enthuses, "I've known and worked with Adam and Rueben of Peking Duk for a few years now. I've written a bunch of songs with them both and even toured with them as guest vocalist in the US and in Europe shortly before COVID lockdown. Song Goes On came out of one of those writing sessions and Adam and I continued to work on it for his Keli Holiday project. I love how it came out and am thrilled that it's getting love in Australia and from triple j. Adam and I have been busy writing a lot more for Keli Holiday in the last few months. Some right tunes to come!"

Interview with Coyle Girelli

Question: How would you describe your music?

Coyle Girelli: This new album "FUNLAND" is a magic collection of songs full of interesting characters, sounds, smells and moments. It's a night out on the town. It's a love at first sight and it's a teenage heartbreak. It's getting lost in your city and finding the best secret bar you've ever been to.


Question: What inspired Here Comes My Baby?

Coyle Girelli: Like all of Funland it was written during the early days of the pandemic lockdown. I had left New York and was holed up in the woods of Vermont. I just threw myself into creating there. 'Here Comes My Baby' was a daydream here. A turquoise-sea-green-colored-washed-out-shoegazer feeling ode to a lover. Celebrating being able to get lost in her and how she anchors you, even in the midst of the craziness all around to make it alright.


Question: Can you tell us about your upcoming album?

Coyle Girelli: The album all came together pretty quickly. It was instinctive for me to just throw myself into writing at the start of the pandemic and before I knew it I had the skeleton of a whole bunch of songs. 'Funland' was a word and a concept I had been kicking around for a month or so before I started writing but took on a whole new meaning and life once I was out of the city in this moment of strangeness and uncertainty. Daydreaming and creating in relative solitude. 'Funland' became a nighttime place of escape, debauchery, vice and pleasure. I was missing New York, my city. The New York City in my head that I was missing mixed with this mythical place that I had created in my mind became 'Funland.'

Once back in the city I took it into the studio and before I knew it I had a finished album.


Question: Is there a particular message you hope listeners take from your music?

Coyle Girelli: There's not really any one message. I think it's just to feel and connect with the music.


Question: How has New York influenced your music?

Coyle Girelli: New York influences and inspires me every day. I love living here. There's so much going on at any one time. It never stops. It's always changing. Always pushing forward. It's a mixture of cultures, languages, arts, businesses and people that, living here you can't help but be inspired by. On Funland the most obvious NY influence is in "From 7th Street with Love" which is my love song to New York.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Coyle Girelli: I've been recording a lot more than I've been touring in recent years. They're such different beasts. Performing live you can feel so alive and euphoric. That connection with the audience. It's special. There's nothing like it. But recording and creating is like some kind of magic. You pull it out of thin air. It didn't exist and then "abracadabra" - a song! And I'm pretty much addicted to it at this point. I'd go crazy if I couldn't write and record.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Coyle Girelli: To create. To make art. To pull these songs out of the sky and make stories. And to keep learning and striving to be better.

Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Coyle Girelli: It tends to be whatever is on my running playlist - I think at the moment it's Clara Luciani, Fishbach, Big Thief, IDLES, Hamilton Leithauser and Arcade Fire.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Coyle Girelli: I think Oasis' album Definitely Maybe was the game changer. When I first heard that album I was like "I wanna do that!!"


Question: How does it feel to hear your song played all over the airwaves?

Coyle Girelli: Amazing. Surreal. Pride. It always blows my mind. I'm from a pretty little town in North England. Just goes to show you can do anything if you put your mind to it.


Question: What moment in your career stands out the most?

Coyle Girelli: I think playing at Wembley was pretty special with my band The Chevin. My US network television debut on Letterman was amazing as well. It was just us and Michelle Obama on that show. And to play on that stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater. Pretty damn cool.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?
Coyle Girelli: I have written a lot of music for other people so I do get to collaborate from time to time. Working with BTS was fun. Their fans are incredible. And I always love working with Adam and Rueban (Peking Duk.) I actually have a single with Adam (Keli Holiday) on the Aussie airwaves at the moment called "Song Goes On."

Dream alive collab would be Springsteen though. The Boss. Dream dead or alive collab would be Bowie. The GOAT.


Question: What has been your favourite part of becoming a music artist?

Coyle Girelli: Being able to do this every day. It's a real treat. To be able to create. It feels like a life hack and I'm extremely grateful every single day that I've been fortunate enough to have been able to do this my whole adult life. Long may it continue. I have a lot more albums, musicals and who knows what else to write!!


Question: What's a typical day like?

Coyle Girelli: Get up early-ish, coffee, hit the gym first thing for an hour, shower, coffee, meditate, then go to the studio to work. Try to get a run in somewhere. Usually finish music stuff around 6ish then do some emails and biz, then chill. See a play or a show or just go dinner somewhere.


Question: What's next, for you?

Coyle Girelli: A LOT more music to come. I want to release a bunch more later in the year. I also have a bunch of musicals in the works at the moment here in NYC. Would be good to get one or two of them on stage before 2022 is out.


Question: Can you share your socials? (links please)

Coyle Girelli: Instagram 
Facebook 
Twitter 


Interview by Gwen van Montfort