Producer, songwriter, and DJ Dan Griffith makes wide-eyed, emotional dance pop under the nom de plume Gryffin. His songs blend organic and electronic instrumentation, incorporating pianos and guitars into melodic house and future bass tracks. A classically trained pianist, Gryffin started making waves with remixes of songs by pop stars Tove Lo and Maroon 5 before releasing original material in 2016 and working alongside artists Carly Rae Jepsen, Aloe Blacc, and AlunaGeorge. Many of these hits were included in his 2019 full-length debut, ‘Gravity’. Now gearing up for the release of his 2nd album, we had the pleasure of speaking with Gryffin about it among other topics.
Let’s kick things off with your brand new single, ‘Colors’. How happy are you with the finished product and its overwhelmingly positive response from your fans?
I’m so happy to finally have this song out. I had a great time working with Blanke & Eyelar. It was a long process as I originally received Eyelar’s demo back in the thick of the pandemic, and I created a few versions, but it was really when I linked with Blanke that we were able to find its final form. I’m incredibly grateful for the fans and how excited they have been about the song.
This single has been released as part of your upcoming album, how excited are you for this album to almost be released to the public?
I’m really excited to get a second album out to my fans. It’s different from Gravity but still stays true to my Gryffin sound. I’ve been working with some amazing artists I would have never dreamed of working with and think its what I hoped for in my second album.
How long has this album been in the works?
I started working on this album pretty much right after Gravity during lockdown. I took the first part of the pandemic to really try new production ideas and push myself as a creator. A number of the songs on this album have been on my hard drive since early 2020 so I’m excited they will finally see the light of day with the album.
Can you give me a little insight into this album? Where did the idea for an album come from and what were your directions when beginning to create the album?
I always want to push myself as an artist and elevate what the Gryffin project sounds like, and I feel like with ‘Alive’ I really went outside of my normal wheelhouse with some records while, with others that have that true Gryffin sound, I tried to give them new wrinkles that feel new and exciting. I always try to channel uplifting and emotional tones in my music, and this album will be rooted in that. Outside of the sonics, there will be a number of more well-known features and artists that I’ve been fans of for a long time so I’m excited to share those collaborations.
Did you face any difficulties in the process of making this album?
Too many to count haha. But in all seriousness, I definitely did go through a creative patch where I wasn’t sure what the identity of the album was because I had a number of new records I loved but I didn’t feel like they were a body of work. It was really at the end of last year that I had a breakthrough and was able to dig deep to discover what ‘Alive’ was and meant to me.
Other than the upcoming album, do you have anything else special coming over the coming months?
I just kicked off my Alive tour last month at the Brooklyn Mirage which was my first live show in almost 3 years. From now until December, I’ll be hitting some awesome venues & festivals like LA Historic Park, Red Rocks, and Firefly Music Festival. We poured a lot of time into this show so I’m very excited to show the fans.
Thanks for taking the time to speak with us, do you have anything else you’d like to reveal with our readers?
Thanks for having me! I just want to say thank you to everyone who is reading this and supports my music. Love you all.
