From Miley Cyrus to Leonard Cohen, Mattiel Brown finds inspiration for her music in all genres. She’s the lead vocalist of the alternative indie Atlanta band Mattiel, and their third full-length album, “Georgia Gothic,” will release on March 18. The album highlights the bandmates’ admiration for Georgia while also sharing how it shaped them. Mattiel Brown and guitarist/backup singer Jonah Swilley joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes via Zoom to talk about “Georgia Gothic” and how its planet-wide range of influences pay homage to their home state.
Interview highlights:
What Georgia means to Mattiel:
“We wanted to create our own world, and really bring you into that place, which is Georgia — which is a place we’re inherently connected with, because we were born here, we were raised here — and the tracklisting and the feelings that are encapsulated in each of the songs can bring you through that experience, kind of like a film, of sorts. The back cover, it was meant to resemble ‘70s film credits,” said Brown. “We want to really embrace where we’re from even though our influences span out across the world.”
She added, “Georgia is a place where talent can be easily overlooked sometimes, and the world hasn’t seen a lot of what Georgia has to offer at the moment. And we wanted to make something really good that we both believe in and have Georgia’s name clearly emblazoned on the cover.”
Mattiel’s hit love anthem “Jeff Goldblum:”
“It’s just about my crush on Jeff Goldblum. I don’t usually, typically, choose that subject matter to write about, but I’ll make an exception for Jeff … I think he’s just a lovable character, and he’s tall and lanky and funny and weird,” said Brown.
Swilley chimed in, “Uniquely charming.”
Writing and recording in adventurous Georgia locations:
“We went up to North Georgia and rented a cabin and just sat and wrote music together, Jonah and I, for a week. It was this isolated place in the woods where we didn’t have any distractions. I don’t think we were going there to try to write an album, but we left with a lot of songs,” said Brown. “So the album kind of encapsulates that sort of environment, I suppose, because that’s where we were. We were really out in the middle of nowhere, and it was great.”
“There was a shopping center down [on Moreland Ave. near the Starlight Drive-In] that the developers had for sale, and during the intermittent time that they were actually selling the property, they allowed artists to facilitate the property. So we had an opportunity to be in this specific building that happened to be an old dialysis center. It was such a weird initial feeling going in there, and then we made it cozy and fun, and it turned out to be a little hub while COVID was happening for us to work safely,” said Swilley.
Listeners can pre-order Mattiel’s new album “Georgia Gothic” here and stream “Jeff Goldblum,” and other sneak peek tracks before the official release date of March 18.
