Good Kid — The Riveting Sequel We’ve All Been Waiting For
By Paula Arkhangorodsky
Way back when I was a new student at Bayview, I had one of my very first articles published in the school paper. Titled, “Good Kid, Gooder Concert”, the article described my interview with a Toronto-based band about what they do and how they would classify the music they create. This summer, I had the opportunity to do the same once again. So, for those who may not have been around at Bayview during the 2016–2017 school year, I present to you: Good Kid.
In the past three years, a lot has changed in the world. People have been born, people have died, some have graduated from Bayview Secondary. However, one thing that we can look to for both a sense of stability and a real-life power-up is a five-person, indie-punk-pop band from downtown Toronto: Good Kid. Since our last meeting with Good Kid, they’ve released much more music and recorded even more! In 2017, they released their single, “Witches” — this was followed by their self titled EP in 2018. Just this year they released their latest single, “Slingshot”. In this time, Good Kid has solidified their sound and released these on-brand, but varied, songs.
Good Kid is made up of five members: Jon the drummer, Nick the lead vocalist, Michael the bassist, and David and Jacob on guitars. Their music isn’t what you would normally find from the 2010s; in fact, when I introduced this band to one of my friends who practically eats up indie-punk music, they could only say one thing: “How does this music even happen here?” And occasionally, “this was released now?” Yes, anonymous friend, that happened here — in Toronto, now — in this decade. Their music does take a lot of inspiration from J-rock.
Paula: What genre of music would you describe your music?
Jacob: I think it’s really hard for a band to describe their own genre. We’re not actively trying to write music in a specific genre, so I’d say it’s more about what our current influences are. The first thing we wrote was heavily influenced by bands like The Strokes, Two Door Cinema Club, Bloc Party, Kana-Boon. So a mix of 2000s Indie Rock and J-rock. But the stuff we’re writing more recently is maybe a bit more influenced by bands like PUP, peach pit, last dinosaurs. So still similar but a bit different.
P: Where do you get the inspiration to go crazy on stage? Where do you get that energy from?
Nick: It’s not inspiration really, it’s just what’s fun. It’s just enjoyable. It’s the reason why I like playing in a band — it gives me the opportunity and the excuse to jump around. And where do I get the energy? It’s very energizing to play — and to play with this band, and to play on a stage in front of people.
P: What is the song, “Alchemist” about?
Nick: Fullmetal Alchemist! The anime. It’s verbatim. It’s not complicated. It’s straight-up.
P: What is the song, “Faster” about?
Nick: It’s kind of visually about driving down a forested road in winter, that’s the imagery. I kind of blend the idea of reckless driving and teetering on the edge of control. There are some themes about being in a relationship that you know isn’t gonna work out.
P: What advice do you have for aspiring musicians?
Nick: We just kinda do it for fun. So maybe the advice would be to keep doing it for fun.
P: What would you say are some useful tips for high school students?
Jon: Ehhhhh… Sleep. Honestly though, the amount of people who don’t… Especially in high school — you gotta have good sleep. Gotta make sure you sleep well. Sleep!
