Singer-songwriter Goody Grace started playing music when he was four years old, in a small town on the suburbs of Winnipeg. Grace is known for seamlessly weaving rap throughout his upbeat, acoustic singing. Now, after recently releasing three singles, his debut album is set to release this fall on Bananabeat Records.

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Chris Remmers: When your music career started, what was one of the things that influenced you as far as the places you’ve been throughout your life?

Goody Grace: When I first started making music and writing songs I was just in Canada. I grew up in a town called Selkirk, Manitoba. It’s right in the middle so I had never really left my province. I was just super excited to go wherever I could in the beginning phases.

Photo courtesy | Robert Linsdell

CR: What are some of the biggest differences between growing up in a small town in Canada verses coming to the United States?

GG: It’s very different. I’d say how people are — different cultures. It’s great to go around and experience meeting new people. It’s very inspiring for me to come to Los Angeles and go around America, being where I am from. After everything, you take it all in.

CR: How do you feel like music and travel fit into your life? How does that inspire you to create new music?

GG: Wherever I go I always meet people. I talk to people, get to know them. I look at the different cultures. I guess if I’m observing that it inspires me and goes into my art, just from day-to-day life with new people and places.

CR: Do you have any specific places that you’ve played that you just can’t forget?

GG: Yeah, I actually just got off a Western American tour and, to start, I love LA. I love most parts of California. I really like Portland. That was one of the best stops on tour.

CR: What did you like best about Portland?

GG: The people and the culture. It’s a pretty hip city and the whole culture and vibe of the downtown area. It felt new to me and it felt cool to me.

CR: When you’re going to a new place, what’s the first thing you look to do? Do you look to eat or see the sights?

GG: I look to eat and go to shops and talk to the workers. I like meeting new people and I like socializing. So as much as I like sightseeing, I like to be in the scene.

Photo courtesy | Stuart Seeger

CR: Sounds like you’re in the right profession, my friend.

GG: Yeah, absolutely.

CR: Are there any places that you haven’t played yet that are on your bucket list?

GG: Yeah, I’d love to go to New York City. I’ve never been there. I’ve only been in the Western part.

CR: Where exactly would that be?

GG: We just got off tour. We were in Arizona, Seattle, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and of course, California.

CR: Wow. That’s amazing.

Photo courtesy | Scott Taylor

GG: Yeah, Washington is great as well. But I’d like to go to Florida and more Eastern parts of America.

CR: Would you consider yourself more of a beach person or a more suburban-type feel?

GG: I’d say I’m more suburban. I like looking at the beach and the idea of the beach more than I think I like actually going to the beach. I’m more of a city person.

CR: What are some of the best cities that you’ve been to in your life, whether it be for food or vacation?

GG: Going back to even Canada, I really like Toronto which is a province over to me. That’s a great city. It’s very comparable to some cities in America. But I love Los Angeles. I love the food. I love the people, the culture.

Photo courtesy | Shinya Suzuki

CR: How do you think you would contrast and compare the music scene, as far as the crowd atmosphere is concerned, in Canada verses being some places in the States?

GG: In Canada, we don’t have a lot of tours coming through, so when it happens it’s sort of a big deal. It’s like the whole town knows about it, so everyone is super excited. That’s for the bigger artists. For the local scene, I guess it depends what you’re into. Overall, there aren’t much scenes going on in Canada, at least where I’m from. I mean, on the coast there’s much more music scenes in, say, Vancouver and Toronto but, in America it seems like every city has their scene. There’s way more shows coming through and local shows. So, based off Los Angeles, I’d say the scenes are much more active out here.

CR: I guess that’s definitely something to enjoy. Where in the world, if you had to choose your top three destinations to either vacation or play, what would they be?

GG: I’d like to play in New York. That’s for America. But, one of my biggest dreams is to vacation in Italy. I’ve always been so drawn to the scenery, seeing the movies and the music and all that. So, I’d really like to go there. And most parts of Europe — England, France. I’ve never been overseas so that’s definitely on my list.

Photo courtesy | Giuseppe Milo

CR: That’s awesome. That’s definitely going to have to be on the bucket list.

GG: Of course.

CR: Over the course of the next year or so, do you guys have any big events coming up, tours or shows you want to talk about?

GG: Right now I’m in LA so I’ll be down here for a while. I’ll probably be doing shows around here. As for touring we don’t have anything set in stone yet, but there’s definitely some ideas. Hopefully I can tour more of North America, see new places. But I’ll be doing some Los Angeles shows, for now.

CR: Where in LA do you like to play?

GG: I’ve only done one show here so far and that was to end off the tour. It was at the Roxy which is a pretty good venue. That’s the only place so far, but I’m still hoping [for] more.

CR: When you’re traveling with friends, family or your group, what would you say is the most relaxing thing about traveling? When you’re going on a long journey, destination-to-destination, across a country or multiple countries?

GG: Well, when I play I’m just acoustic so on this last tour I was with some other people. We were in a box and we got to know each other. But, whether it’s family or new friends or whatever, I like just experiencing places with them and seeing what other people like and what they are interested in. I think socializing is the good part. You get to know people when you’re traveling. You’re close together for so long. I think that’s the good thing about touring and traveling in general.

CR: Absolutely. Just the camaraderie you gain with the people you’re playing with and the people you’re with all the time, that’s definitely it, a great thing.

GG: You don’t get that same experience just being in one place.

CR: Being a musician yourself, what’ve been some of your musical influences over the years?

GG: I started out when I was young. I was very into punk music like Blink 182 and all that. As I got older I got into Bob Dylan and some older stuff which, when I picked up the acoustic guitar, that’s kind of driven me to what I do now.

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