Greer Castle talks instinct, intimacy, and finding her voice

Fresh out of Pōneke, Greer Castle is moving into a new chapter with a clear sense of self and a growing reputation to match. From early recognition on national stages to her move to study jazz in Sydney, her path is already gaining momentum.

In this interview, she reflects on the making of Colour Fades, the instinct behind her writing, and how vulnerability, jazz influence, and lived experience are shaping what comes next.

Colour Fades feels deeply intimate, especially with the piano and vocal recorded live in one take. What drew you to capture the song that way?

The rest of my EP became all very fleshed out with the addition of the band in the studio. But I think that with a full band arrangement the intimacy of Colour Fades would have gotten lost. It was really important to me that it stayed intimate because I think the lyrics and the vocals really needed to be the centre of everything to convey the story as I imagined it.

The lyrics depict powerful images of a relationship ending. When you sit down to write, where do those details usually come from?

The lyrics for Colour Fades were originally a poem and they stayed in the format for almost two years until I did this poetry course where I thought about how I could match up those two worlds (poetry and music).  I tried some of my poems as songs, but Colour Fades was the only one that really stuck. I do a lot of my writing on public transport or while sitting in front of the piano at home so I think I wrote the first idea for this on the bus. I find that being on the bus is a space where I can let my mind wander and as a result it is where a lot of good ideas are had.

I was in a relationship at the time, but when I first wrote the song it was supposed to be more of a generalised take on love through using imagery that I found really interesting. But as the song progressed, I realised that subconsciously unresolved feelings from a past relationship were definitely driving the direction of the song. 

The song uses the image of a house to mirror the state of a relationship. How did that idea unfold while you were writing?

For the first verse the words just kind of flew out and I was focusing on interesting rhyming patterns and playing with close rhymes like “In the comforter on your side of the arctic - We've lost our logic”. Then, as I went back to try and write the rest of the song, I drew on the extended metaphor of a relationship being like a house to expand on the story I was telling with the poem/song. 

You have spoken about how vulnerable it felt to record a song with nothing but your voice and piano. What did that experience teach you about trusting your instincts as a songwriter?

In the studio, and for about a week after I recorded the song, I thought that it was terrible and that it definitely wasn’t going on the EP. But then I was up in Auckland playing on fancy new band on 95bfm. I got to play the track live there and everyone in the studio said that it made them cry. I think the sometimes the songs that feel a little bit too real are the best ones because they seem to really connect with people. I predict that my relationship with vulnerability in my music will be an ongoing one for the rest of my career.  

You recorded the track at Armoury Studios with producer Troy Kelly. What did that studio environment bring to the performance?

 I have been working with Troy for the past three years through Play It Strange, so I felt quite comfortable at the Armoury. I don’t think I would have been able to produce as good of a performance - especially for a song like Colour Fades - if I didn’t feel like we were on the same wavelength. It was also quite a different session to some of the other songs we recorded as none of the band was there. I pretty much came in laid down the track and then Troy and I sat and mastered the whole EP. It really felt like it was only me in the room when I recorded the song, and I could just get everything off my chest in a way.  

Your writing carries strong jazz and soul influences. Which artists first made you fall in love with that style of music?

 I was first exposed to jazz when I inherited a bunch of my Grandad’s Frank Sinatra records when I was about 12 years old, but I really fell in love with Jazz when I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing. In terms of more contemporary influences, I listened to a lot of Esperanza Spalding, Leon Bridges, and Amy Winehouse when making this EP along with a heap of indie music, which I think is where Colour Fades comes into the mix.

You recently finished school and are about to study jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. What are you hoping to explore or develop during that time?

I have been in Sydney for just over a month now and I’m just trying to soak up all the information and opportunities. I am really looking forward to spending the next four years playing, performing, and writing with like minded people. I am hoping to meet lots of new people to collaborate and gig with. Having the opportunity to get this kind of education is wild but also being in much a bigger scene than Pōneke is really exciting as well. 

Jazz study often dives deep into harmony, improvisation, and tradition. How do you think that training might shape the songs you write in the future?

I would really love to incorporate more of an improvisational quality to my next body of work. I think this EP sits in a fairly pop place which I do really like but I think my songwriting skills will really develop as I learn more about the jazz tradition and incorporate those learnings into my music. 

You have already performed at events like the Wellington Jazz Festival while still in school. What have those early stage experiences taught you about performing your own music?

I have been performing from a very young age through singing competitions which I think gave me the opportunity to get comfortable on stage. I think something I’ve gotten better at as I’ve gotten older is trying to actively bring the audience into my world by having a chat about the music before I play it. Especially when it is something you’ve written, telling the story of the music and connecting people to the emotion behind it is such a valuable thing to do.  

Winning Best Vocalist at Smokefree Rockquest brought national attention quite early. How has that recognition influenced your confidence as an artist?

 It was lovely to have the opportunity to compete nationally at Rockquest. It definitely gave me more confidence in my song writing and performing as a solo artist as I usually perform with a band. I learnt so much through the whole experience. It was just so amazing to be in a room with so many like minded musicians. 

As you release more music and step into this next chapter of study and performance, what kind of artist do you hope to grow into over the next few years?

 I would really like to start working on a larger body of work at some point soon. I want to grab hold of opportunities to do more projects in a diverse range of genres and just have a blast making music with people. I am hoping to do more collaborative work in the next few years. This project (the upcoming EP, which Colour Fades is on) was mainly written on my own, but I love the energy you get from writing with other people.