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Songwriter and artist, GRESLEY has released his debut album, Songs I Wrote Since She Left Me, and it's an earnest, vulnerable baring of soul. After the parting ways of his band, New Hope Club, the UK-born, LA-based artist has embarked on a pivotal solo journey. GRESLEY wrote the album during a stint back home in his parents house, where he yearned for his sense of normalcy, the comfort of his longtime girlfriend back in LA, and explored the daunting, but exciting path ahead of him. Eager to learn more about this coming-of-age journey, we sat down with GRESLEY and got the scoop:

OnesToWatch: Who are you? 

Gresley: My name's Gresley. My actual name is George Smith. Gresley is my middle name. When it came to making this project– I'd been in a band for like 10 years prior to this –I thought it was like a nice way to start a new journey, in both my personal and creative life. I felt like it brought something different to the table so I could begin to bring my own stories to the people who already know me. For anyone discovering me the first time around, it also feels a little bit more fresh. Also, George Smith is probably the most boring name in the world. 

Tough to Google. 

It is.
If you've tried it, there's a lot of there's a lot of us. So Gresley’s a little bit easier. 

It almost sounds like your parents wanted you to have an independent solo project with that middle name. 


Pretty much my whole life, I would ask my parents, why did you give me such a weird middle name? So, my dad's a huge train enthusiast. The guy who pretty much made the first ever locomotive, I believe, is called Sir Nigel Gresley. My dad was pushing for that to be my first name. I'm kind of grateful it wasn't. I remember at school, people would call me grizzly bear and bully me around that. So I didn’t go by it. But I always thought it was different and interesting. 

What made you decide to be an artist, more specifically a solo artist? 

I was in a band for a long time, and we split up just over a year ago now, and my visa expired for the States. So I actually went back to live with my parents, which is crazy. I'd been in the States for so long, wrapped up in this whole band thing pretty much since I was 16. So going back home was weird, but also a way to reground myself, see all my school friends, and replant those seeds. Around that time, too, I wasn't sure if I wanted to do music properly, as an artist.
Obviously, I'd done it for 10 years, but I wasn't feeling crazily inspired at the time. The first couple of weeks home, I just relaxed and then two weeks in, I got so bored of not doing anything. So I moved this desk into my bedroom, bought a new microphone and just started making songs. I spoke to my management over here and we just kind of agreed to see where it goes. After about a month into writing, I wrote this one song while I was in the garden having a coffee one morning speaking to my dad, and it just sparked something. I was like, oh, this is an avenue for me to go down. Let me pursue this. Since then, I haven't really stopped. It definitely sparked an entirely new process and mindset. I'd been signed to labels throughout my whole career. And now, I’ve been able to take ownership, be independent, steer the ship myself. I can write what I want about what I want, I can make the creative whatever I want. I just go with my gut and trust my intuition. I obviously look to other people for opinions and I don't neglect those, but I do love the idea that no one's going to work harder than you when you want something. You can't expect someone else to do the hard part for you. So, from very early on, I decided that I wanted to make music. I fell back in love with making music. 

That’s beautiful. The songwriting process must be quite different for you, going from a band to a solo project. In what ways are there similarities, and on the flip side, how are things different?  

When I was in the band, we all collaborated together, so I'd start something, bring it to other people, and we'd finish it, or vice versa. The first couple of times that I actually started writing by myself, it was an out of shape muscle. I hadn’t written a song from start to finish by myself for a minute. It's a lot easier to double guess yourself when you’re writing alone, too. Eventually, I was just determined to finish everything I started, but it took me a minute to get into the swing. I got more into the production side, too. I'd been dabbling in it for the last 10 years. But since I was back with my parents, I didn't have much else to do, so I got more into it. 

What’s something you learned about writing for yourself?

There’s beauty in being able to tell the story that I sought to tell, and tell it how I wanted, in my own narrative voice. 

Lyrically speaking? 

Yes, lyrically. When I was in the early stage of creating this project, I had a few references, but they slowly went away and I just started referencing that song I had written in the garden. So I was referencing myself in a way. But the lyrical throughline was within 15, maybe 20 songs I had written during this time when I was apart from my girlfriend. She was in the States and I was in the UK. So all of the songs had this long distance, yearning theme, full of desperation. They felt very indicative of “me” at the time. That's the way that I look at this album, like a time capsule of that moment in my life. Which is, I feel, what albums kind of should be. But the actual process, it was just exciting to really do my own thing, you know? I relate to it so much more. Some of the stuff that I'd done before I’ve related to, but there was no compromise in this.
And when I brought it to collaborators, I already had a full idea of the world that I was trying to create. As the album progressed, I became a lot more comfortable–even personally–speaking to people, actually openly being honest and expressing my thoughts and feelings, which I think as a creative, you have to do that. 

Beautiful. And that brings me to the project. You mentioned it functions as a time capsule. 
So how old is the oldest song? 

The oldest song I started on March 4th, last year. 

Oh, that's very recent. 


That one’s called “Babyface.” I think it's track two on the record. That was the first full song I wrote. There's another song called “Missing You Already” where I had the general idea of the chord progression and picking pattern and some of the melodies two years ago. I always found myself going back to it. But first full song was in March of last year.
And the last one was pretty much written in September. 

When did you move back with your parents? 

I moved back really early February last year. 


Okay, so this is a true capsule of that period. 

It's a very deep look into my brain spiraling out.
I've been with my girlfriend for six years, and I'd been living with her for three of the previous years before I moved. So to go completely apart was a bit strange. 

I can imagine. The title of the album is Songs I Wrote Since She Left, but did she leave? 

We kind of both left, because she works in music too and she leaves on tour a lot. So when I moved back to the UK, she was touring and stuff. Throughout pretty much most of our relationship, she's been on the road, too. So the album draws on a lot of those experiences. 

Do you have any ambitions for this record, for yourself?

Honestly, putting it out as an independent artist is major for me. It's my first time doing that. I hope the fans like it. I can't really tell them what to feel, but I just hope that they enjoy it and can see this part of me that they've never seen before. In a band, you're not exposed as much, in a way. You can hide behind the other members, it's sort of a proxy version of yourself. So this is a very authentic version of me as an artist and also just as a human. I'm very communicative with them about this, I'm very open and honest about that. 

Do you have a Discord?

I do, yeah. I saw a friend of mine have one a couple of months back, I set one up and it's just fucking awesome. It's like a group chat. It's a way to be very interactive and I feel like they appreciate that. When they get excited, that just makes me want to do more of it. I like seeing their reaction firsthand.

Do you have ambitions for your fans to listen to this record in full? 


I definitely want them to listen to it in full because I feel like a lot of people just put things on shuffle nowadays. But there's an emotional roller coaster that this album takes you on that’s best experienced top to bottom. The first song’s sad and depressing and got this nostalgic 2000s Coldplay feel. Then, the album takes you on this journey of long distance, then reconciling and feeling happier, then slowly slipping back into depression at the end. It’s very raw, especially sonically. I made sure that I played most of the instruments on the record so it sounds like it’s coming from me. I like that you can hear me in every song.

Love that. Let’s pivot into some fun questions. What is the best place to get sweaters? 

I've been in an Abercrombie hype at the moment. They've got some good stuff. Incoming brandy all. They rebranded a couple of years ago and did a whole resurgence through the music scene by doing collaborations with artists. It was really cool. 

Oh, this is perfect.

Some Urban Outfitters sweaters are really good, vintage shops too. I need to do more vintage shopping. I haven't been for a minute. I'm going on tour, so I need to get my outfits ready. 

To be at your most relaxed and zen state, where would you be and what would you be doing? 

I would be at a pub. My local pub in the UK. Pint of Guinness. Freshly poured from a tap in my local pub, a little bit rainy, cigarette with my mate. 

I think that's a vibe. You should do some promo, meet your local rock star at a pub. 

I was going to try and do it with some of the fans when I'm in Dublin and Glasgow, maybe London. I want to go to the pub after the gig with some fans. 

That's huge. If you were to create your own festival and perform at it, who would be on your lineup? 


I wouldn't perform at it. I love Clairo. There’s an artist called Wayne Dynamic that I'm obsessed with at the moment, too. They’re in that Andy Schoeff vibe. I saw him in LA three years ago and it was one of those gigs where everyone was silent, just standing there dead still. It was pretty dark, he was backlit while he was singing. And there was one part where a light kind of hit his face and everyone went, did you see him? Everyone was talking about it.
It was so cool. I’d like that at my festival. I'm very much a chill music listener. 

Rainy day pub, garden festival, then. With Guinness. If your mates– after the pub –ambushed you, and they're hungry, can you whip up a meal? And if so, what would it be? 


I am notorious for the one meal I can make. I make one pasta dish and it's spiced vodka fusilli. That's kind of the only thing I can cook. But it's pretty good. I get good reviews. But there was this one time where I made it for my girlfriend and her sister and a couple of friends. My girlfriend basically kind of made it and no one knew. And then we served it up and then everyone said, “Wow, this is the best one you've made!” Crushed me. It hurt on so many levels. But, you know, I'm improving every day. When she goes away, I make it in bulk, eat it throughout the week. 

Can you spare any details on the recipe at all? 

It's a family secret in John and Vinny's. So, I kind of nicked it from there. But basically, garlic, shallots. Dice them up, pan, oil, a little bit of salt and pepper. Don't burn the garlic because it burns very quick. Tomato paste. Let it turn a darker red. Vodka. Flambé. Scary part. Little flame. Obviously you're cooking the pasta at this time. Then you put heavy cream. Not a lot. I have got to the point now where I eyeball it. Use a whisk. Don't use a spoon or anything. A shit ton of Parmesan cheese. Come around, I can make it. 

I’ll take you up on it. Last couple of questions, I would love a non-music recommendation: it can be literally anything. 

There's a coffee spot in the Valley, House Roots. Really good. I buy the beans from there once or twice a week. They also sometimes sell bread, there called Out of Thin Air bread. The best bread. They have this one bread that looks like a leaf and you dip it in butter. So good. 

Very nice. Last question is, we'd love a music recommendation. Who are you really digging right now? 


I mentioned Way Dynamic. There's this guy called Sylvie that’s great. It’s very cinematic, PCH, vintage film camera. 

Lastly, I’d like to end on your words. 

Just thank you for all the support. Everyone coming over from what I've previously done, it means so much.
It's very much the start of everything. I feel like the real hard work starts now. I'm excited to get on the road and see as many people as I can and play the album. 

Well, thank you so much. 

Thank you so much for you, Dave.