Golding Boxing Underwater Interview

Indie electronic stunners Golding have announced their neoteric new single Boxing Underwater, a meandering, expressive track that ponders - will the magnetic force that drew two people together still exist when those people are sober?  Co-written with beloved pop songwriter Jarryd James and featuring the breathtakingly understated vocals of Cailin Russo, Boxing Underwater is out now.  
 
Boxing Underwater is evocative of indie-electro-pop influences such as RÜFÜS DU SOL, Running Touch, and Chet Faker, yet Golding continues to carve a unique path for themselves through their intricate, hooky vocal melodies, modern, sharp production, and clever lyrical turns that keep the listener guessing.  Boxing Underwater is particularly special, co-written alongside global superstar and master melodist Jarryd James, as lead singer Jay from Golding explains, "Jarryd has always been a huge inspiration and someone I've looked up to as an artist.  He's always encouraged me to explore my musical freedoms and demonstrated the idea of 'you can do anything', there's no rules in songwriting.  To finally be creating in a room with him was a special moment for me."
 
Working alongside LA artist Cailin Russo was another snappy opportunity for Golding – and she is a perfect choice for this track, as her voice floats delicately amongst the hypnotic electronic bed of instruments.  Reflecting on their time working together, Jay remarks, "We didn't realise that the song could grow even more until Cailin came on to feature.  I've been a fan of Cailin's music for years and have always had her in the back of my mind as someone I'd like to work with.  Her vocals really helped set the tone and the mood of the song, all the pieces fell into place."
 

The mood of the track is wistful, even a little melancholy, but undeniably beautiful.  There's room for the listener's interpretation, yet another alluring charm – the audience will interpret each word and each textural movement differently, as Jay explains, "I love how creatively vague the lyrics are.  I really want people to find their own meaning within the track and hope the lyrics can speak to people in their own way.  Boxing Underwater is a melodic expression that evokes emotion through the sonics of the track, allowing listeners to create their own sub-narrative and imagery in their minds."
 
Filmed and directed by Nicholas Stevens (Havana Brown, Manu Crooks, Onefour) at Fastback Studios, the video for Boxing Underwater is engaging and beautifully shot, taking on a life of its own, as Matt explains, "It was really important to us to show varying sides of relationships, not just the good but the bad too. We wanted to capture the emotion of a real relationship so we were lucky enough to have real-life couple Mikalah and Zohar star in the clip, you can truly feel the love and chemistry between them as you watch the video unfold."
 
After the success of their recent collaboration with Boo Seeka on Don't Waste Your Love and previous single Alone. Together now on its way to notching up 2 million streams on Spotify alone (and spawning that ultracool Touch Sensitive remix), it's a thrill to see this electrifying duo back again so soon, and with such a strong offering.  This really is just a taste of what is to come from Golding.

Interview with Golding, Matt & Jay

Question: How would you describe your music?

Jay: Smooth, cool and something you can groove to. We always aim to make music that you could chuck on at a party and everyone would enjoy it whether you're dancing, sitting down having a chat with friends or mixing cocktails in the kitchen.


Question: Can you tell us about Boxing Underwater?

Jay: Boxing Underwater follows the ups and downs that everyone experiences in long-term relationships. For some people, when you're in a relationship that begins in your youth you're doing a lot of partying and experimenting with substances. Always having fun and trying new things. The lyrics in Boxing Underwater question whether things will still be great once that's all over and you go back to being sober.


Question: What inspired the music video?

Matt: We wanted to show all sides of a relationship, the good and the bad. We really wanted everything to feel real because relationships are never perfect! Our videographer Nick (Fastback Studios) came to us with ideas for shooting all around the Gold Coast and we all decided the video would be amazing if we could find a real-life couple. We met Mikalah and Zohar who were the perfect fit for the clip and they did an incredible job. You can feel all the emotion and love from their relationship through the screen which we knew was critical to execute the video well. Once we added the performance pieces of Jay and Cailin throughout the whole thing came together and we couldn't be happier with the end product!


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

Matt: Honestly every track we do is unique, content-wise. Overall though, Jay and I always want to make music that helps either lift the vibe or help you escape / be transported to a different place emotionally.


Question: Tell us about working with Jarryd James and Cailin Russo?

Matt: Both of these artists are so talented and humble, so it's been a real pleasure to work with them both. We've been mates with Jarryd for ages, so working on this track was just really fun and effortless. Jarryd is one of the best hook and lyric writers / singers / producers out there, so we feel super lucky to have him as a mate and helping us with our music. Cailin is a total pro too! The session with her to cut her vocals was super easy and fun, and we would definitely love the opportunity to work with her again in the future.


Question: What is the story behind Golding?
Matt: Jay and I started this thing as a bit of an escape really. We were both working on different projects, but were always hanging out in the same circles and in the studio together. It all started when I (Matt) had written and produced a track and was thinking about who's vocal would sound good on the track. I sent it to Jay (who was over in the states at the time) and Jay wrote a killer hook and vocal pretty much straight away.

Jay: After that we started to do a few sessions together and everything just clicked. Every time we got into the studio awesome shit just happened and so, very organically, Golding was formed.


Question: How did the band come together?

Matt: I actually met Jay when he was performing at a battle of the bands with another group. I was actually one of the judges of the night. Him and his band killed it and ended up taking out the first prize, which included a session with me at my old studio. We just kept hanging out from there and became best mates. We eventually started working together and writing our own music!


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Jay: The thought of people having a great time to our music live. That's always in the front of our minds when we're in the studio making tunes. If we can't see ourselves playing one of our new tracks in front of a sea full of people at a summer festival, or a small club gig in front of 50 mates, it's a no go.


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

Matt & Jay: Fred Again, Noname, PawPaw Rod, Rufus DU SOL and Jungle.


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

Jay: Honestly, we're doing what we do because we love making music together. There's no real ulterior motives other than wanting to make music that we're proud of. If we could get to the point where all we have to do is make music 24/7 then that'd be a dream.


Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Matt: Ohhh that's a hard one. There are so many artists that we'd love to work with, but I'd have to say Benny Blanco. He's an actual musical genius, and he has the same sense of humour as Jay and I. Side note, go and watch the New show called "Dave" that him and little Dicky made. It's 11/10.


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

Matt: The friendships and community we've built along the way. Throughout the last 18 months, while the music and arts industry has been going to shit (thanks covid) the mates we've made along the way have been everything. We're so grateful to have such a solid crew.


Question: What's next, for you?

Jay: We have plans for another couple singles before the end of the year and are going on our first Australian tour supporting Boo Seeka- we can't wait! We also have plans for an EP next year.


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

Instagram 
Facebook 
Spotify 


Interview by Gwen van Montfort