Black Grapefruit Releases New Sound "Inside"
Listening to Black Grapefruit sends me on a musical trip. Black Grapefruit is a Portland experimental pop duo that's making noise on your favorite playlists. If it's one thing I know is a band that can musically shift the industry. I was curious to hear more so our conversation went like this:
Nia Rice: Tell us about Black Grapefruit? How did you come together?
Black Grapefruit: Black Grapefruit came to life after we left the city and spent a year writing music in the middle of nowhere. This was before COVID. At the time we had been performing under a different moniker.
The solitude of the forest led us to deeper creative energy, and in 2018 we decided to lay all other projects to rest to bring Black Grapefruit into the world.
NR: "Waist" was so creative. We love how you incorporated your fans and their visuals. How does your fan influence the music you create today?
BG: The influence that our fans have on our music is profound, but not when it comes to making creative decisions. We try to keep that part an honest relationship between us and the music.
Surviving as experimental, independent artists is an emotional minefield. There have been many times when it’s felt too daunting to continue, but our supporters always come through like magic.
The DMs, the shares, the retweets, and emails, they mean so much to us and have been the difference we’ve needed to keep pushing. Time and again we’ve been shown that Black Grapefruit deserves to exist outside of our little studio and we’re grateful for the support.
NR: "Inside" is definitely a different flow. Explain the emotion when writing and during the production process.
BG: Regardless of how individualized we may think we are, Earth in its entirety is experiencing a collective trauma. Finishing this song was an emotional challenge because we’re hurting alongside everything else on this planet.
That said, completing this record made us feel beautiful and, regardless of how many ever hear it, we recognize how extremely fortunate we are that its energy decided to move through us.
NR: After all, is said and done, what's the legacy that Black Grapefruit wants to leave?
BG: We often remind ourselves not to get too concerned with legacy because Black Grapefruit is alive right now. We have no idea how or if it will persist once we’re gone.
Nothing is constant, everything changes and is eventually forgotten or distorted. When it comes to Black Grapefruit, the only thing that we can control is how much energy and intention we put into our creations.
We strive to be as authentic and connected to this work as we possibly can be, and because of that, we’ve encountered a lot of conflicting opinions over the years.
If our work represents anything at all, we hope it’s the freedom to accept your ever-wandering light and to love it unconditionally.
Check out the audio single:
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