What inspired you to create The Meeck as your artist name?
Well so the word “meek” is usually associated with describing something/someone as being small, weak, powerless, kind of unassuming. I chose my artist name to be “The Meeck” because a lot of my song writing focuses on my own personal experiences (and sometimes others) of vulnerability and how I attempt to over come/process these aspects of my life. I wanted to kind of flip the meaning of “meek” and associate it with strength and having the power to push through these sometimes challenging obstacles you come across in life.
Can you tell us about the journey that led to the creation of “Giving Up the Fight”?
Yeah definitely! So kind of referring back to the themes of the previous question, “Giving up the fight” was basically a musical emotional response to me being in a very dangerously low mental state, a lot of aspects of my life had come crashing down all at one time and I didn’t have a clue where to start to work through everything that was going on. I luckily had (still have) an incredible support team around me through my close family and friends, but in this instance I got to the point where I knew even with all this support, I was the only one that could start the process of breaking the mental state I was in. So after not leaving my house for a bit over a week, I’m laying on my bed one day and I don’t really know what it was that sparked this strength/thought process but it was like my brain just all of a sudden was like “No!! We are not going to keep living like this, this is bloody ridiculous!” And I started singing “Oh I know I know I can’t lay here and watch the light in me die, I’ve become accustom to the feeling, but I’m never going go to give up the fight” the chorus to what became “Giving up the fight”. Then I just started coming up with the rest of the song and within about 30/40 minutes the general structure of the song was done, which was a very unexpected process.
As a side note, writing “Giving up the fight” is what started and influenced the direction/theme of my upcoming album.
How does “Giving Up the Fight” reflect your personal artistic evolution?
I think the main way “Giving up the fight” reflects my artistic evolutions is the lyrical angle I wrote it from. For example I released an album a few years ago, “Dormant voices”, this album heavily focussed on my struggles with depression from the perspective of I’m trapped in this dark place with no way out, but fast forward to “Giving the fight” and the perspective has changed to I might be trapped in a dark place, but now how am I going to find a way to escape it.
Can you walk us through the creative process behind “Giving Up the Fight”?
I started by using my guitar to set up the chord progression and tempo that fitted around the vocal melody I had made. I wanted to keep the sound of “Giving up the fight” quite simple, not to many musical layers that would distract from the lyrics/message, so I thought of the idea of starting just with vocals and a single clean electric guitar and then as its needed as the the song progresses start to add the drums, bass, lead guitar, ect, slowly building up the energy and feel I was looking for. I kind of wanted the progression/feel of “Giving up the fight” to be like as if someone is step by step taking control of their life again and gradually fighting back, gaining more strength against their mental illness.
Trying to find a balance between having an energetic/motivating sound while having this undertone of a haunting feel was something I wanted and experimented with alot, I created this top layer musical arrangement which was using your ‘traditional’ instruments (drums, guitar piano), then had this bottom undercurrent eerie sound that was made up mostly of synths, sound scapes and samples.
How do you feel “Giving Up the Fight” fits into the broader music landscape today?
I think there’s definitely aspects of “Giving up the fight” that fits really well in the broader music landscape, I mean lyrically it focuses on mental health/illness which is a theme that has become a much larger topic in songs over the last few years.
It’s sound is pretty conventional, using electric guitars and drums as the driving force, so I think it’s a fairly accessible track to a variety of musical tastes, nothing to abstract.
Are there any particular artists or genres that inspired the sound of “Giving Up the Fight”?
Yeah I was listening to a lot of Wolf Alice, Middle kids and Julia Jacklin around the time of writing “Giving up the fight” which I think was a real inspiration for a lot of the sound and structure.
What sets “Giving Up the Fight” apart from your previous releases?
The big thing that I think sets it apart is the high energy and pace of “Giving up the fight”, many of my past releases are quite intimate and melancholy. I mean my recent single “Frequency” was a really energetic synth pop track, I guess that would be the closest in relation to “Giving up the fight” but the time its less synths and more guitars.
Also just as some extra info, “Giving up the fight” was the first song I had ever created tempo changes in, which was fun to add a different dynamic to my songwriting and producing.
Can you discuss any memorable moments from the recording or production of “Giving Up the Fight”?
Haha yeah the first thing that comes to mind is how hard it was recording the acoustic guitar tracks. I had to sit in the sound booth trapped in this entanglement of microphones. I had to attempt to play the guitar without actually moving, because if I did the mics would pick it up.
My legs and/or feet started tapping and moving to the rhythm so we had to start all over again with a new take, I eventually managed to keep my movements to a minimum, most of the time.
Were there any specific musical influences that shaped the sound of “Giving Up the Fight”?
When it came to the sound of “Giving up the fight” I was really influenced by late 90s/early 2000’s Pop-rock such as bands like Jimmy eat world, Fuel, Semi-Sonic, Everclear. I was wanting that basic whole band sound with minimal overdubs.
What’s next for The Meeck following the release of “Giving Up the Fight”?
Well “Giving up the fight” is the 3rd single from an album I’ll be releasing later in the year, which I can not wait to have out in the world, so I’m busy getting everything ready for the launch and promotions.
But I also have one more single from the album to share, which I’ll be announcing very soon.
