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We always joke that Danny has family everywhere, he’ s got like three-to-four trillion cousins, uncles, aunts, random family in random places. He also has a younger sister, Josie.
Song River: Of those family members what are some of the different creative processes going on? Sam Kiszka: Veronica in Hawaii is learning to dive. Our entire family is adventurous, we’ re always going out doing things, we strive for bigger success, no settling. We’ re not the kind of people who would be satisfied working normal job hours, we like to make our own rules.
Our Uncle Dave on our mom’ s side is always playing guitar, plays easy-going music like The Eagles, Gordon Lightfoot. My dad plays harmonica, he’ s the best harmonica player I’ ve ever heard in my entire life, he plays‘ dirty.’
Song River: Coming from a town just shy of 5,000 folks( according to the 201 0 census) the best thing Frankenmuth is known for is chicken dinners and Christmas, as Bronners is the tourist trap! First, what was it like growing up in the middle of America in a state known formerly for Detroit autos and many other things? Sam Kiszka: Frankenmuth was a great place to grow up in every way. There are so many places in Michigan that are rich with history, especially Frankenmuth. I think that Detroit is in an upward spiral, maybe the next Nashville in a couple of years. If you go north of Frankenmuth, there are so much untouched forests and land, our souls run wild up there, the depth of the forests, the log cabins. And the acts that have come out of Detroit and Motown- MC5, Stevie Wonder, Grand Funk, Bob Seger, so many.
Song River: Second, is it time for Frankenmuth to add to their list of ' known for ' the creative soul kick ace rocking and rolling band- Greta Van Fleet? And just how is that notoriety sitting so far? Sam Kiszka: I’ m not sure about adding us to what Frankenmuth is known for! It’ s weird, we know lots of great musicians living in Frankenmuth, and we love to have them come over and jam. Maybe it’ s something in the water! I’ m on the inside so I don’ t know what GVF means to other people. We put out a song and you never really know what that song will mean to someone.
Song River: Are any of you surprised at how quickly this all became fan-driven and took off like a rocket? Sam Kiszka: Absolutely. We can’ t even fathom how much has happened in the past could of months. We signed with Lava Records,‘ Highway Tune’ started to explode on the radio, people are coming to concerts, people who want to see us. We never expected this. I believe in our music, our initial goal is to make music we want to listen to.
Song River: What took place in order of succession? Band, wrote music, found manager, label heard, PR came, tour set? How did this all unfold? Sam Kiszka: That is the correct order, and we’ ve been writing music all the time. We found Mike [ the band’ s first manager, now tour manager ] before Danny got in the band. Kyle left the band, Danny joined, then we got to the point where we took new management, we signed with Lava. We’ re very blessed to have all of these people on our side, people pushing for us. Touring is going so great, it’ s fantastic seeing new places, meeting new people, and the best part is playing our set every night.
Song River: Sure any rock n roll history nut can hear a multitude of those who came before in a band- what sets Greta Van Fleet apart in your own words?( I have my opinion but I want you all to describe how you hear and feel it be your own). Sam Kiszka: I think what really sets us apart is the time our music is coming, right now, it’ s coming at a time when your stereo is not receiving signals of authentic music. And it’ s time for that to change. Greta Van Fleet has a chance to bring authentic blues / rock back into the popular scene. We are three brothers and a best friend, we really love each other, we write all of our songs together and we put power behind our music in this modern scene.
Song River: Talk about the four songs chosen first to be released: " Highway Tune " " Flower Power " " Black Smoke " " Safari Song " as each seems to tell their own story and stand on their own. Where did the stories come from and how did these four get chosen to be your debut? Sam Kiszka: We chose these four songs for our debut as they show our rock side.“ Highway Tune” is the first song we ever wrote and“ Black Smoke Rising” was written fairly recently.
“ Highway Tune” is a shock of energy, power, adrenaline, the definition of a rock song.“ Flower Power” shows a different side of us, it’ s more folky, airy, light, and has a theme of energy and power, inspiration.“ Safari Song” is very bluesy, percussion-driven, and Josh’ s vocals shine on‘ Safari Song,’ gives me goosebumps.“ Black Smoke Rising” presents a different direction for the band, it has a higher meaning than the other songs, it’ s more serious, like an omen.
We’ ve written a bunch of new songs since, and we’ re excited to show people other sides of us, we’ re not just rock’ n’ roll.
Song River: A debut of four tracks, music video, tons of radio opportunities, a tour- is there even downtime right now, if so when you catch it- what are some of your favorite books to read, movies to watch and other outside music things to do? Sam Kiszka: No, we don’ t have much downtime. Our van is comfortable for a couple of hours, but that’ s about it. We keep ourselves entertained, we have acoustic guitars in van, we jam, we write, we listen to music, talk about music, it’ s never boring. It’ s nice to be able to read in the van. I love to read and I read lots of biographies on musicians. Right now I’ m reading a book of Ernest Hemingway’ s short stories. He was a Michigan guy, he spent time in his cabin, so I can relate to places he wrote about.
Song River: Ultimately what is it you want to contribute while here on your journey and what is it you would like to take in exchange? Sam Kiszka: We would like to take everyone with us on our journey. We want to give back to the universe, pump the energy back out, see everyone go wild when we play live, and have the audience take the energy back out into the world. We want people to get inspired when they hear music, to give back to the world, give to charity, make a soundtrack that people can relate to, put happiness back into the world which I think it needs right now.
Personally, for me, I feel so lucky to be put in this place, this time, with these people, to make beautiful music.