For those of us who have spent time as gigging musicians, the phenomenon of ending up with a weird gig is a familiar sensation. For myself, I’ve played all sorts of unconventional shows — benefits in empty bank vaults, scarcely attended festivals in the middle of nowhere and even a particularly moving (albeit, unsolicited) funeral service for a deceased biker at a dive bar. After just a few of these types of shows, it’s easy to get that “I’ve seen it all” mentality. Yet, many of us also know the feeling of finding an odd sort of inspiration from these odd sorts of gigs. One such example of this is the new single from Greg In Good Company, “Heaven Is a Moment Here with You,” which dropped on August 21.
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“I started writing this song at a gig at Malibu Wines in Los Angeles, where they stuck me in a tree to serenade hikers passing by,” frontman Greg Gilman told American Songwriter. “It was one of my favorite gigs to date, but there was downtime between each group, so I entertained myself by playing this melody and experimenting with structure. A few days later, the hook, ‘heaven is a moment here, a moment here with you,’ came to mind.”
From there, “Heaven Is a Moment Here with You” blossomed into an organic and effortless expression of Gilman’s artistic sensibilities and philosophical creed. Fueled by the natural spark of inspiration, Gilman and his band got the song from idea to product with an impressively quick turnaround.
“I recorded this track with our longtime producer, Mitchell Haeuszer, at his Los Angeles studio, HAUS Music, last summer,” Gilman said. “I actually went there with the intention to work on a different track, but he asked about new material I had written, so I played him this, and he was just like, ‘let’s record this one instead.’ We had the rough mix done in three hours. It was a wonderful recording experience because it was so spontaneous and I had no expectations. It was truly just the magic of the moment.”
This ties back to Gilman’s code of values and, ultimately, the meaning of the song in the first place. “I want people to remember to be here now when they listen to this song,” he said. “The past is a memory and the future is an idea. The present moment is all we have. But if the mind is elsewhere, we miss the marvel and wonder right before our eyes. I hope the song evokes gratitude for this life and all of the wonderful people in it.”
Listen to “Heaven Is a Moment Here with You” by Greg In Good Company below:
