What's next for Quiet Blue?

We caught up with Melbourne’s Quiet Blue to chat all about his atmospheric new single ‘Hollow’.

What is the meaning behind ‘Quiet Blue’ both as a name and as a project?

Quiet Blue came about because my favourite time of day throughout most of my life has been that really warm blue time just after Violet Hour when everything goes really quiet. When I was starting out this was the time that I did a lot of my writing and learning so my music really became synonymous with this time for me. The Project has aof course grown into something with bigger sounds and more thematic influence but I still like thinking about this time of day when I approach songwriting.

‘Hollow' is darker than your other singles both sonically and thematically. Can you tell us a bit about the story behind the track?

I think sonically, I built the world of the song in a pretty dark space because I wanted to be able to create a lot of contrast. I wanted to make the verses really dark and then when the repetitive 'all night' motifs come around open things up with the ethereal vocal backings and the sly key change. This was mainly because the song is really about the difference between fulfilment and emptiness and I wanted to convey this in the arrangement more than anything. It was a really fun exercise trying to tell a story in the music rather than in lyrics!

Your music, particularly, ‘Hollow’, has a stunning atmospheric quality to it. Are there particular environments or places that you draw inspiration from?

Building atmosphere is one of my favourite things to do as a composer, and as I learn more about sound design I've been able to use new techniques and sound sources which has been one of the most exciting aspects of my development as a songwriter. As I mentioned earlier, my inspiration for the Quiet Blue project stemmed from the blue hour of the evening when there's this sort of 'quiet' over everything. I think in these moments you can hear things that you don't normally hear properly and that can make these smaller things feel so present and powerful.

What was the creative/recording process like for ‘Hollow’?

The creative process for Hollow was one of the best songwriting experiences I've had since starting the project. Everything happened so smoothly and even with the smoother experience I was able to experiment with a bunch of fun ideas as well. This song came about while just trying to get some time off another song I was working on because I was starting to hate it (was going down a 3am rabbit hole hehe). So I just wanted to create something pretty and have some fun and 'Hollow' just sort of happened.

The single is accompanied by a stunning lyric video. How did the video come together?

The video came together because I was stuck at home in lockdown and just had a bunch of footage I had taken for previous promos and found that Hollow just worked so nicely with video. The song is so moody and I thought it would be a really good way to encourage people to sit down and take the song in rather than just listening in passing because I think that is the best way to really take in all this song has to offer.

How do you hope people will listen to ‘Hollow’?

I really want people to listen to this song alone in their own time or space that they feel really comfortable in. For me it would be in the car or at the beach or even just in my room through monitors with a couple of candles lit. The song goes on a journey and it's almost like watching a show that has subtitles; if you are preoccupied with other things you miss whole scenes of dialogue that have an integral effect on the power of the work altogether. So I want people to be able to take in all of the intricacies of the music and follow the story of the arrangement.

You’ve had a packed 2020 with the release of singles ‘Jealous’, ‘Lost It All’ and now ‘Hollow’.
What's next for Quiet Blue?

There's actually a lot of exciting things in the works, my Debut EP is well underway and getting Mixed/Mastered as we speak! I'm so excited about this project because it's a culmination of so much music over such a long period of writing and it really well documents my progression as an artist until now. Collaborating with a number of producers with the EP has manifested some amazing sounds and vibes that I listen to and think wow is that me? That's one of my favourite feelings when looking back at music I've created! We haven't looked at setting in release times for the EP but seeing as things are very strange in the Industry at the moment we are looking at a slightly less traditional release plan for the EP just to spread things out a bit and make the most of all of the music.

Quiet Blue ‘Hollow’ out now.