STUFF ABOUT ME AND THE ALBUM
ARTIST BIO
Greg Williams has released a dozen albums on major and independent labels and toured nationally as the singer and songwriter behind The Young Homebuyers, Play Loud, The Every Brothers and Splurge, spanning garage pop, folk pop, lo-fi singer-songwriter and Brit-pop flavoured indie rock.
MOJO magazine heard the ghost of Lennon in his expressive and emotionally direct voice, keen eye for pop treats and innate ability to meld melody and mood, while others heard echoes of Neil Finn (Crowded House), Grant McLennon (The Go-Betweens) and “Liam from Oasis with a brain”.
Reviewers in the USA and UK dug deeper… Beatle-esque, “The Bends” era Radiohead, classic early Oasis, the jangle of The Church and Teenage Fanclub.
Greg’s new album “Stone on Stone” blends all that with a love letter to the raw sound of classic Australian rock music, featuring guitarist Ashley Naylor (Paul Kelly, The Church) and cemented by the punchy production of Kevin Shirley (Divinyls, Hoodoo Gurus).
With a band including the long-time Splurge rhythm section—Owen Smythe (drums) and Adrian Ricciotti (bass)—and by Ashley Naylor, augmented by Steve Nieve (Elvis Costello & The Attractions), James Black (Black Sorrows), Greg Arnold (Things of Stone and Wood) and Richard Pleasance (Boom Crash Opera), the album is built on a strong collection of songs and performances to announce his late arrival as a solo artist.
Greg is already working on a follow-up, again with Ashley Naylor, the acoustic guitar-driven album “Castaway”, featuring harmony vocalist Michael Barclay (The Coloured Girls/Messengers, Weddings Parties Anything). He is also planning the first digital release of his two vintage lo-fi solo albums.
“Castaway” was inspired by lost pre-Splurge songs—unearthed from forgotten tapes—and the solo albums “Here & Now” and “Louder Than Words” (Greasy Pop/Festival Records), recorded on four-track cassette, will include five unreleased band demos featuring Michael Barclay and the late Steve Connolly (The Coloured Girls/Messengers).
The video for “This Life”, the first single from “Stone on Stone”, was recently awarded an Honourable Mention at the 2024 Berlin Music Video Awards (12-14 June).
BUILDING STONE ON STONE
Stone On Stone, the new album by Greg Williams, was built on a foundation of strong songs and a core band sound, but there were times during its construction that its creator wondered if its simple design would ever be realised.
The plan was hatched to make a record in the wake of a one-off reunion gig but the re-energised band lost one bass player and had to break in another new boy before the recording had even started. Straight after tracking at Sing Sing, the founding guitarist left.
Out of money to record and without an actual band, Greg traded his house in the ‘burbs for ten acres with studio next to a forest and near a little country town about an hour north of Melbourne, where he could make as much noise as he wanted to off the clock.
It was there, in Elphinstone, that the record took shape again when guitarist Ashley Naylor was enlisted. His hard-driving and lyrical guitar playing gave the record a second life. But then… the pandemic.
“The world I was making it in was being erased faster than I could make the record,” Greg says now. “Making music doesn’t always have to be easy to make, it can be really hard when you are pushing your limits. But when you are chasing the good stuff—for all the right reasons—it can take time to get to the end.”
“I was working alone for most of the time, and trying to stay true to the original spirit. I’m a band guy and I was reluctant to put my own name on the cover because it still sounded like a band… just not the same one I started with… and that was making me change the way I had sing.”
“I couldn’t bash out the songs again in a rehearsal room and there were no gigs, so instead I drove around the countryside, singing them over and over until it felt like I was in the right band. Then I recorded them all again in full takes, often only once, until it sounded good.
“When It was all done, I was still stuck in the country and couldn’t get to a studio to the mix the record. But then we heard about Kevin Shirley, who was stuck in Sydney, and doing online mixes. We sent two tracks and they came back sounding big and raw and open, so we kept going.”
Why Stone On Stone?
“The title came last. The project folder was called SING SING, which I thought was as good a name as any. I got curious about how the studio’s namesake prison in Ossining New York State got its name, which is derived from a Native American word meaning stone on stone.
“The site was chosen for its abundant limestone, which the incarcerated quarried to build their own prison. I couldn’t think of a better metaphor.”