After listening to album, ‘Soften, Continue (Another B-Sides)’, I just had to hook up with the mastermind behind the mammoth collection, COREY KILGANNON. I spoke to the singer/songwriter from Florida about the public’s reception of the album since its release in May plus his plans for the rest of the year. Ready to find out more about Corey? Good, cos he’s a really cool guy…
NLM: Hey, thank you for taking part in an interview with NEW LEASE MUSIC. How’s life treating you?
CK: Hey thanks for having me. Life has been really great the last few weeks, I finished up touring in early May and have had ample time to hang out with family, travel for leisure, camp, and catch up on books. Been spending a lot more time in Seattle, and loving the PNW vibes.
NLM: You released your album ‘Soften, Continue (Another B-Sides)’ in May. What the story behind the release?
CK: It’s my second collection of B-Sides, really I wanted to revisit a lot of the tunes on The Hollow II that we attacked with so much production, and strip them back to the way I was actually playing them on tour. There was also little to no glimmers of hope in the lyrics of that album, so it was cathartic for me to put something together that offered more full circle approach to the grief I encountered in those tunes.
NLM: What was your inspiration for writing the album?
CK: I really didn’t write Soften, Continue as an “album” per se, but that whole collection of songs deals with a series of traumas and griefs that all seemed to stack up over a few years. Songs were my outlet to process a lot of those thoughts, and I think my need/ability to do that candidly and openly lead to some really beautiful music somehow. I suppose chaos was the inspiration.
NLM: What’s the public’s perception of the album so far?
CK: All in all I think the reception has been good, admittedly slower on a streams/”success” outlook but all my records and EPs have sort of taken their time to set in with people. It’s a huge album and I think (hope) folks are just taking their time to sift through and see if any of the live takes sit with them in any special way. I get a lot of emails on the emotional side of how the lyrics and songs are impacting people, and for me as long as those keep coming I’m content with whatever success or perception the general public seems to have.
NLM: What’s your favourite single from the album and why?
CK: I really love Rowen’s Lullaby (track 20). It was a simple melody I was playing on guitar to help Kyle and Gretta from Tow’rs (featured on Soft Gentle Brilliant II) baby asleep. I added some words later and find the whole song be deeply peaceful and the lyrics really keep hitting home for me even after its release.
NLM: So how would you describe your sound to someone who hasn’t heard your songs?
CK: I usually struggle to this, but I generally draw comparisons to classic “singer-songwriters” and add that we go after some modern indie instrumentation with anything from string quartets to light synths and such. It’s so hard to categorize music these days, which I think is delightful, so I try to just keep it brief and let the music speak for itself if anyone is ever inquiring.
NLM: If you had the chance to collaborate with ONE mainstream artist on your album, who would it be?
I don’t know if this would be considered mainstream or not but the Avett Brothers would be a dream come true collaboration. Even to just sit and jam a few of their tunes with them for a couple of minutes would just be insane.
NLM: Besides the release of your album, what are your plans for the rest of 2018?
CK: I’m taking it easy and just starting to think about what’s next. I’ll likely tour a little bit, but I’m trying to stay off the radar for a little while and work on a proper album again. I have 40 or so songs written so I want to slowly sift through and see which ones are the real keepers.
NLM: How can potential fans make contact with you?
I’m pretty good about emails, but I also keep a website called Patreon where fans can pay a small monthly subscription for unreleased content, and also I use fanbridge to send out monthly email updates.
NLM: Finally, if music didn’t exist, what profession would you do?
CK: I suspect if music didn’t exist we probably wouldn’t either, but if somehow we could on going I suppose I’d like to work on some kind of farm or something simple. Maybe I’d dive a little more into yoga/mental health studies and see if I could apply myself that way. Not sure, but I doubt I’ll do music full-time my whole life so I will find something to do with my days….Thanks for having me!
‘Soften, Continue (Another B-Sides)’ is also available on Google Play Music and Dezzer
