Greta van den Brink opens up on creativity ahead of her upcoming album This Wasn’t Planned

Greta van den Brink's journey from the film industry to fully fledged musician has been nothing short of curious. She continues to play a distinct and active role in music video production, while threading a unique combination of influences into her sound. Greta's profile is growing and traction is building. With an upcoming album ahead, we caught up with Greta to get the inside word.

You've shown such creative ambition across your music videos. In your opinion, what role does video play in elevating a song?

Thank you, I love making them. I think it allows listeners deeper into the song. There are so many iconic songs that stay in my brain because of how I felt watching the music video. Growing up, my favourite artists were always the ones that had epic music videos.

For my own music, sometimes it’s in the dissonance as I don’t always want the video to match the track but rather compliment it. It’s an exploration into what else the lyrics could mean or where else the sound might take you. I’m a very visual writer and lyrics come first. Sometimes it’s bringing the audience deeper into the song although in saying that the image that gets me to the song is not always what I then use in the video.

As someone who has worked in the film industry, at what point did you decide that you wanted to pursue music? Was this always the plan or did it just work out this way...

I can’t say there was a pivot to music. It was never an active choice and for me it’s not one or the other. I was given a guitar while working as a stunt performer by another stunt performer on an Apple show in Wellington. An actor was the reason my first song got on a  Netflix show in Australia and the day my single Chill Cool Girl came out I was acting on the set of a horror movie. I think making this album was when I realised I could do this for real but I love both industries for different reasons so it’s really just the way it all worked out. 

What makes a music video effective, and is the song more or less important than the visuals?

For me the success lies in the collaboration. I’ve been lucky enough to work with Luke Penney who has directed 5 out of my last 6 videos. James Moore has been my cinematographer, Aaron Wakely my gaffer and Jordan Tarplett-Lee as my art director. Not only are these guys legends and having a short hand on set is the best but I also trust they all completely get the vision of each video. I’ve also had the privilege of working with Alex Farley and her team at Far Out Productions who are phenomenal. I most certainly don’t do this alone and there is no greater feeling than good collaboration.

If the song is not great I don’t really think putting lipstick on a pig is the way forward. You need to start with a great base and have something that inspires you to move forward. I don’t believe in making something because you “have to” or because everyone else is doing it. It’s artist dependent and based on whatever you feel your song wants.

Your music borrows from multiple genres and styles. How would you describe your sound?

American/indie pop/soft rock. If Fleetwood Mac, Miley Cyrus, Lana Del Rey and Shania Twain made sweet sweet love, I would hope to be their musical baby.

Is this sound something you've intentionally pursued, or is it a natural expression of your influences and experiences?

I would say the latter, I didn’t want to impersonate or mimic anyone. As cheesy as it sounds, this album would be the most authentic expression of where I am right now.

You've released multiple singles in recent months and have an album on the way. During such an active period, how do you define success as an artist?

What a question. It does change every day and sometimes I’m hard on myself for not achieving more. But for the majority of the time, loving what I’m creating and being present within that feels like “great success”. I am incredibly lucky that I get to follow this path and that’s not lost on me. I think the best barometer is asking if my younger self would think I’m groovy and at the moment that answer is yes.

How has moving between film sets and music studios shaped the way you think about storytelling? Do you approach a song like a scene, or do they live in completely different spaces for you?

Being surrounded by seriously talented creatives is the best gift I could have been given. I don’t know if my visual side is how I am naturally or if it has been influenced by being on set or perhaps a mix of both. 

Every song feels like a scene. There’s not always a clear narrative but I find feeling grounded in a location is a helpful tool when writing. I’ve also done so many acting classes and workshops and had wonderful teachers like Elena Stejko whose method focus’s so specifically on your imagination and making that tangible. I didn’t realise at the time but that was excellent training for songwriting.

With This Wasn’t Planned arriving soon, what ties these singles together? Is there a bigger idea or feeling that only really comes into focus once you hear the full record?

Honestly I’m not entirely sure. At one point I was going to call it “tripping over yesterday” because it felt like here are all the things I need to acknowledge in order to move forward otherwise I’ll continue to make the same mistakes. Obviously they all have shards of me within them with a microscope above each one. The track list is in order of how everything was written and listening from top to bottom feels like a journey of a girl in her twenties. Which is so crazy given that’s exactly what I am. It’s the self discovery, realisation, introspection and rejection of what my early twenties has been like. And most of it was not planned.