Photo by Jason Siegel

GRiZ stayed pretty busy throughout 2018, but you wouldn’t know it if you were following him on social media. After seven-plus years in the music business, the 28-year-old producer/saxophonist initiated an eight-month-long, conscious uncoupling from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and anything else that created an endless loop of white noise.

“You could call it noise, but it was more like the feedback that I was getting,” the Colorado-based multi-hyphenate counters. “Positive or negative, it was this opinion of my life that I needed to get away from. I needed to create an internal space. ‘How am I feeling about me?’ Instead of ‘How is everybody feeling about the things that I’m presenting them?’”

That space allowed the musician to focus on Ride Waves, his sixth full-length album, and most ambitious to date, which was released in April.

And while GRiZ has since returned to the world of Facebook shares and Instagram Likes, his new stage show has kept him quite distracted. He is prepared to showcase “100 percent new music” on his summer tour, and even snagged a coveted role as the host of Bonnaroo’s annual SuperJam.

“The new live show is gonna seem, at one point, like a vocal performance, at one point, like a solo instrumentalist performance, at one point, like a DJ performance and, at one point, like a jamband performance,” he says. “It’s a multifaceted thing, and I’m always interested in expanding my horizons. As long as it’s cool and honest, then I’m there.”

GRiZ’s passion and ambition are similarly reflected on Ride Waves, which features multiple high-profile guests and plenty of funk-filled, saxophone-laced production. It also includes GRiZ’s first go at singing his own music. The thumping, hype-up jam “Can’t Get Enough” is one of the LP’s catchiest tunes, but don’t let its electronic bounce fool you. Beneath his beats, the producer laments the state of the world, offering dire thoughts like, “The world’s on fire, and I can’t chill” and “We lost our love and pray to God, like, ‘Can you save me still?’”

According to GRiZ (real name: Grant Kwiecinski), it quickly became apparent that the track was too personal to shop to another singer.

“It felt like my story to tell,” he recalls of the late-night recording session. “And it definitely created a new space of vulnerability for myself. It was like, ‘You’re speaking your truth personally now. And from your throat.’ If you’re into that hippie shit, it’s from your throat chakra. It’s a whole new energy.”

The musician bounced between Denver, New Orleans, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles to conceive and record Ride Waves, simultaneously pitching some of hip-hop’s biggest stars. There were several pinch-me moments during that time, from receiving Snoop Dogg’s vocal track via email (“I need to smoke 13 blunts in this moment, because it only seems right”) to Wiz Khalifa’s surprisingly deep take on “Find My Own Way.” (“I was a little nervous. That song felt so emotionally important to me, but Wiz has been there.”) Yet, the most inspiring interaction came from legendary Parliament Funkadelic bassist Bootsy Collins. “I felt like I was talking to God,” GRiZ explains, describing their backstage chat. “The kind of insight, sincerity, honesty and real-life advice that he had was everything I needed to hear and more. He told me he’s always had everything he’s needed in life: just himself and his power to be creative. All he ever needed was everything he’s always had.”

Another seismic shift in the Ride Waves process was GRiZ’s friendship with beatboxer/singer Matisyahu. And while the two musicians have been in the same musical orbit for some time, and even have some overlap in their management teams, it took a chance meeting to initiate their newfound musical cohesion.

“We actually met randomly in Denver at a coffee shop because he was out there for a Phish show,” GRiZ remembers. “We ended up getting in the studio somewhere in Brooklyn and had a focused writing session. We are both conscious dudes, and we wanted to talk about something that matters to us.”

“Both GRiZ and I make music that transcends boundaries and genres,” adds Matisyahu, who is featured on “A New Day.”

“I went into the studio without any particular expectations, and I think that’s when the best music is allowed to shine through.” Matisyahu continues: “GRiZ had the basics of the track down and we agreed that we wanted to make something meaningful. As we started digging deeper and getting into that introspective mindset, this is what rose to the top.”

The hope-filled track is Ride Waves’ most political moment: an anti-violence, cry for peace that was recorded just days after the deadly Parkland shooting.

GRiZ remembers trading philosophical ideas with Matisyahu, about peace and the need for hopeful inspiration. “For me, I feel like music is my ability to have a conversation with people, whether it’s ‘Shut up, let’s dance,’ or ‘Open up your ears and create awareness.’”

And no matter what GRiZ record you pick up, certain themes remain prevalent, like “patience or peace or love or empathy or friendship.” That being said, Ride Waves is mostly “about balance,” or finding stability through the highs and lows of life. “I hope that the music that I create is a constant inspiration for people to live their own life,” GRiZ adds warmly. “To live it beautifully, and to live it honestly.”

This article originally appears in the June 2019 issue of Relix. For more features, interviews, album reviews and more, subscribe here.