From Southern California, General Ed. features brothers Michael and Gabriel Godwin on guitar and Anthony Rodriguez on bass. General Ed.’s latest release is the spirited song “Calypso” from their soon-to-be-released album “Spoon-Fed.”
Always trying to keep things fresh and new, General Ed. focuses on creative and inspired songwriting and production to continue sharing their style with the world. By touching hearts and spreading good music, General Ed. Aims to bring a little good to the world.
The newest release from General Ed. “Calypso” is a fun, light-hearted rock song that is sure to have anyone dancing along. With jubilant guitar riffs and passionate vocals, “Calypso” sucks you in from the start. After the mood-lifting musical introduction, General Ed. comes in with expressive lyrics about feeling stuck.
Greek mythology influences are apparent in the lyrics, referring to a girl who is forever “stuck in limbo” on an island, unable to leave. Although you can feel the emotion in the songwriting, “Calypso” still has a breezy, easygoing feel.
With a musical bridge full of high-pitched, fun acoustic and catchy electric guitar, there is never a dull moment with “Calypso.” The creative addition of beach sounds during a bridge slowdown will instantly transport you to a sandy shore of your choosing. “Calypso” ends with more classic guitar and atmospheric vocals, the perfect end to a compelling and unforgettable song.
Check out “Calypso,” the upbeat and stimulating new single out now, along with General Ed.’s album “Spoon-Fed” coming soon.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, General Ed. I.t was a pleasure listening to “Calypso” can you tell us your intentions behind this song? How did you want your listeners to feel after hearing it?
Gabriel: Thank you so much! We really appreciate it. Our intentions behind the song were to make people feel comfortable and understand what it’s like to live in Southern California, where literally everywhere you live is about 30-40 miles from a beach. We’ve really never created a song that wasn’t just a gain-infested rock song, so by making this song, we wanted to show people that we also appreciate the beach scene that comes with living about 20-60 miles from San Diego and or Newport Beach.
Michael: I think the song gives off a very light and relaxed but also fun feeling, and I get this image of people having a good time at the beach just enjoying some time in the sun. We kinda wanted to show this in the music video for Calypso, so we decided to film it at the Beach at Coronado near San Diego, and that was a fun time.
You mention that you have a home studio for producing your songs. What is this process like? How did you come up with the musical concepts for “Calypso?"
Michael: Yes, we have a home studio we set up at the house where Gabriel and I live, and we record everything there. Our goal was to have all the creative freedom and the time we needed to produce these new songs for our new album very intentionally. When we go into the studio to record, it’s a very casual yet prepared process. We usually set aside a day to focus on recording the music to a new song, and either Gabriel or myself will bring our ideas to the table, and we’ll work through the song together and record the drums first, followed by the rhythm guitars and bass. Then we start having fun layering more instruments and sounds on top until we feel like the song is complete. As for the vocal tracking for these songs, having a home studio has given me plenty of time to focus on perfecting our melodies and using as many takes as I need when recording. After a song is all recorded, I then take some time to mix the song, and we listen to it together to make sure it sounds finished. As for the musical concepts for Calypso, they came from that main riff that Gabriel made. The riff gave off a distinct California beach sound, and Gabriel and I started to build the rest of the song off that beach rock sound. Recording at home has really given us the opportunity to be patient and let our ideas and songs marinate until we have a finished creation that we are proud of.
Where do you typically draw inspiration from when songwriting? What gave you the idea for “Calypso” and the Greek influence behind it?
Michael: Both Gabriel and I write the songs for the band, so we have different methods and influences that play a part in our songwriting, but I’d say we write about topics and emotional experiences that hit home for us or we that consider being important or thought-provoking. Musically we always like to make fun of guitar music because that’s what we really love, but we also like to draw from many types of music as well since we all have slightly different tastes in music.
Gabriel: As for the Greek influence in “Calypso,” we’re a pretty well-read group of people like all of our band members have a degree or are getting a degree in humanities, so this song can be seen as an allusion to The Odyssey at times. The way that Odysseus felt when trapped on an island away from home is kind of a cool concept to explore and write about, so we decided to take that route lyrically and musically to go more toward how it actually feels to be fully engulfed in the beach culture for a couple of days straight.
How does the rest of your album “Spoon-Fed” compare with your single “Calypso?"
Michael: Oh, that’s a good question. Our new album is full of different types of songs and sounds, and we definitely pulled from many of our different musical influences when making these new songs. Gabriel and I had songs and ideas that we had been working on for a while, and I think we ended up making a very diverse and dynamic album with songs that are a bit more stripped-down blues-rock, songs that are more produced, and grand-sounding, and even a couple acoustic ones. It’s definitely going to be a fun and cohesive listen all the way through, but I’d say that Calypso is a stand-out track that is very much different from anything we’d made before.
What's next for you?
Michael: Ya, so we are releasing our second single for the album really soon, and we are really excited for our new album, “Spoon-Fed,” and for these new songs we’ve been working on for a long time to finally be officially released on July 22nd. It has been a long process making this album, and we are really happy with the way it turned out, and we can’t wait to start playing these songs live, and for the many experiences, we have to come.