A NEW goons album

We've been working hard on a new, cohesive piece of art for you guys. A NEW GOONS ALBUM! The release date is going to be September 3rd. There will be a release party/show, but we haven't confirmed the details on that just yet. A few days ago, we listened to what we have so far from start to finish. There will be 10 tracks on this album and seven of them are finished. Two are in progress, and one has not been recorded yet.

We spent the last few years trying to figure out what we were going to do next. Do we release an album? Do we just release singles? Do we get 'normal' jobs and give up? It has been a strange couple years for all of us, and I'm not going to lie, we came very close to quitting a few times. That being said, we decided to write and record an entirely new album.

I understand why the music industry has moved in the direction it has moved. I understand that people focus on getting playlisted and try to write singular songs that fit into certain categories or 'vibes', but that is not something I want to do. I want to make albums full of art that take you on a journey. Music that tells a story. I want to write music that stays with you. At least, I want to try to do that.

This new album is very different than our first, and when we listened to what we have done so far, I got very excited. I feel like this album makes a bold statement about who we are. It is fun, dance oriented, a bit kooky, cheesy, heartfelt, and as Sydney put it "Hopeful". In a time where I personally feel like hope is something that constantly alludes me, it is very encouraging to me that we were able to make art that is hopeful.

If nothing else, it is my sincere dream that this album reaches someone's ears who could use a little bit of hope right now. I know I'll take any I can get. We can't wait for September 3rd to come!

Until then, Stay Goony.

Much Love,

Cole

working on my relationship with music

For a long time now, I have felt music differently than I used to. As I got deeper into producing music it fundamentally changed the way that I listen to it. In a lot of ways, it is no longer art to me. It is incredibly rare that music moves me. I used to be moved by music all the time. It would make me cry, make me daydream, give me goosebumps, open my imagination, and stoke my belief in the world. Now it feels like most of the time it is a problem I'm trying to solve. A formula I'm following, a list of boxes I'm trying to check. I fell in love with music because it was, for me, the vessel I used to experience this world. It allowed for the real to be surreal. It communicated in a way that words didn't. It was harmonious, ordered, chaotic, balanced, spiritual, fantastical, hopeful, and honest. Now, instead of writing for that reason, I find myself writing to get playlisted on Spotify.

Spotify...

That is probably the best and worst thing that has ever happened to music. Access is wonderful. Being able to upload music and spread it to the world is a great thing. At the same time. I don't think music on mass is the same anymore. I don't think we write music for the right reasons anymore. At least, a lot of us. I know that I suffer from that problem.

I've been trying to listen to more music that used to move me, regardless of what people think is popular these days, or what's 'In'. I recently listened back to the album 'Mylo Xyloto' by Coldplay, and I rediscovered a song that used to really hit me. 'Us Against the World'. I have always had this fascination with metaphor, myth, and religious or "Spiritual" language in music. I don't know what it is really. I think it probably has something to do with hope. I am a pessimistic person by nature. To me, hope and optimism are things you have to actively choose. There is tremendous power in choosing hope over despair, love over hate, selflessness over self, humility over ego. NONE of those things come naturally to me. Music is one of the tools that used to help me center myself. I rely on it heavily to move me to be a better man, and when I don't allow myself to sit in it, and be moved by it, I am not the man I would like to be. I don't know that I believe in a higher power, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't, but when we choose to write music in hopes that there is some sort of power outside ourselves that can help us be better people, I am moved to be better. I thought I'd post the lyrics to Coldplay's 'Us Against The World' here:

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US AGAINST THE WORLD

Oh morning come bursting the clouds, amen

Lift off this blindfold, let me see again

Bring back the water, let your ships roll in

In my heart she left a hole

The tightrope that I'm walking just sways and ties

The devil as he’s talking with those angel’s eyes

And I just wanna be there when the lightning strikes

And the saints go marching in

And sing slow it down

Through chaos as it swirls

It's us against the world

Like a river to a raindrop

I lost a friend

My drunken hazard Daniel in a lion's den

And tonight I know it all has to begin again

So whatever you do

Don't let go

And if we could float away

Fly up to the surface and just start again

And lift off before trouble just erodes us in the rain

Just erodes us in the rain

Just erodes us and see roses in the rain saying

Slow it down

Slow it down

Through chaos as it swirls

It's us against the world

Through chaos as it swirls

It's us against the world

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I hope all of you are able to find music that moves you.

Much Love,

Cole

What's Upcoming For Goons?

I just wanted to take a moment to write a little post about what is in the works for Goons. First of all, we have a new song coming out July 3rd, and it is an absolute hoot. We love it. It's funny, sexy, nerdy, groovy, and pretty awesome if you ask us. We've got some shows coming up as well. We're hoping to book more groupings of shows in multiple cities so that we can hit the road more often and be more effective in gaining new fans. So July is the first time we truly hit the road since before the pandemic. We will be playing In:

Houston, TX (Axelrad) - July 16th Dallas, TX (Free Play Arcade) - July 22nd Austin, TX (Swan Dive) - July 23rd Dallas, TX (Will Rogers) - July 25th We have been having a lot of conversations about Goons this year, and are in the final stages of finalizing our game plan for the future of Goons. It is most likely going to look like a lot more live shows in a lot more places. We will most likely stop focusing on Austin, and focus more on other cities, and things like house shows. Our goal is and always has been to do two things. Make a sustainable living playing music, and inspire others. We're getting to an age where we either need to move on from this goal, or start taking major steps towards seeing it come to fruition.

The last few years have been quite a learning experience for us, and we have gained enough knowledge to confidently take steps in a direction we feel is the right one.

So what can you expect from Goons?

We're not ready to make a full announcement yet, but, it's safe to say you can expect to see some very interesting, exciting things soon.