Get To Know... Greg Freeman • Neu • DIY Magazine

Hello and welcome back to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… which aims to get you a little bit closer to the buzziest acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.

Channelling the ’90s slacker sensibilities of Pavement via an astute, eclectic lyrical lens, Greg Freeman is the slow burn breakout sensation who’s gone from cult indie name to critical favourite, almost without meaning to. Where his 2022 debut album ‘I Looked Out’ made waves across the pond post-release, imminent second outing ‘Burnover’ finds him navigating uncertainty, personal history, and increasing attention with unpretentious immediacy. Ahead of its release, we caught up with Greg to talk White Stripes, breaking guitar strings, and “professional music shit”.

Describe your music to us in non-musical terms.
Electric soundwaves, sometimes loud, sometimes quiet.

What was the first song or album you bought with your own money, and why?
Probably a White Stripes album or something; I was obsessed with them.

Your second LP, ‘Burnover’, takes inspiration from the perhaps unlikely place of 19th Century US history. Can you tell us a bit more about what drew you to this period, and why its happenings/settings/characters spoke to what you wanted to explore on ‘Burnover’?
I was just trying to incorporate names that I would see on signs near where I lived. I wanted there to be a sense of place to the album; it didn’t really matter to me whether it was real or accurate, or whether it meant something or not.

“I wanted there to be a sense of place to the album; it didn’t really matter to me whether it was real or accurate, or whether it meant something or not.”

In contrast to ‘I Looked Out’, which was something of a sleeper hit, there’s a real sense of anticipation or appetite for ‘Burnover’. How have you found the experience of writing, recording, and releasing this time around? Was it a challenge to juggle this side of things with increasing exposure and touring commitments?
It was difficult. I feel like I’ve only just got my bearings for how to balance writing, touring, and living my life. There was definitely a learning curve for me in terms of all this “professional” music shit, a lot of which is boring and stupid. But it’s a privilege to have people excited and exposed to my music.

Much of ‘Burnover’ seems to consider the complex relationship between identity and place. Has its creation helped you understand any aspects of yourself any better? If so, in what way(s)?
I think it helped me externalize a lot of feelings I had at the time. Maybe that, in a way, helped me work through my sense of place and self. But I didn’t (and wasn’t trying) to make any grand realisations about people or culture; most of these songs are about myself or a feeling I had.

What’s your worst musical habit?
Breaking guitar strings every single show, ever since my first gig when I was 12.

Finally, DIY is coming round for dinner - what are you making?
Pollo Guisado ;)

‘Burnover’ is out tomorrow (22nd August) via Transgressive/Canvasback.

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