So, What Was GRiZ Doing During All That Time Off? ‘I Just Needed to Figure Out Who I Am to Me’
Categoria: Musica
Dungeons & Dragons, the death of his father, a lot of self-reflection. In his first interview in more than 3 years, the artist talks about hiatus & new album Future Funk Volume 1.
Por Billboard | 04/06/2026
Many people dream of taking extended time off from their job. GRiZ actually did it. Almost exactly three years ago today, on June 6, 2023, the beloved bass-funk producer announced he was talking a break, writing on social media that “Life is really good, and I often make myself too busy to see where I am or how far this project has come. I’m following my gut instincts so for now, I’m not going to put a hard time limit length on the break.” He said he wasn’t sure when he’d be back. And with that, he went about playing a lot of video games and Dungeons & Dragons. He made music without deadlines and quit smoking. He went to therapy, got a place in his native Michigan to be closer to his brother and spent more time with his family and friends. He was feeling good about his health, life and art and making plans to return with his own music festival, and then his dad died. He hadn’t talked to his father in 16 years and says hearing of his death was like “having the roof of your house f—ing blown off.” His grandfather died not long after, a point by which the wheels for his return were already fully in motion. It was, to oversimplify, a lot to handle, but he figured it out, returning with his sold-out Seven Stars music festival in October. Talking to Billboard over Zoom from his base in Denver on a recent sunny Thursday, the artist born Grant Kwiecinski seems happy and looks fresh, laughing a lot and speaking freely and philosophically while intermittently petting his dog, Frankie. This is his first interview in more than three years and may be his last for awhile. The occasion is Future Funk Volume 1 , the first new GRiZ album since 2021 that’s out Friday (June 5). While GRiZ released an EP and dozens of singles over the last year, Future Funk Volume 1 feels like another phase of his return, functioning as a sort of thesis statement for his sound in total. That is to say it’s funky, crunchy, joyful, ebullient and also hard, a duality that reflects his Gemini star sign, he says. Fans will have many opportunities to hear it this summer, with GRiZ on the lineup for events including Bonnaroo, Electric Forest, Outside Lands, North Coast, Experts Only and the return of Seven Stars this October. Here, GRiZ talks about leaving, coming back, losing his dad in the meantime and why now, his career is just a vehicle to experience life itself. Let’s start with the hiatus. I re-watched your announcement of it, and it sounded like you were coming from a place of like, “I’ve learned boundaries, and I want to hang out with my friends and family and put all the things I’ve been learning into action.” How did that go for you? Sometimes the stress gets too big, and for me it got too big. I was like, “I feel like I’m ill-equipped.” I was either going to get checked into a stress rehab or get canceled for popping off about something, because I didn’t understand ho