Graham Jonson, otherwise known as [quickly, quickly](https://www.instagram.com/quicklyquickly/?hl=en), continues to christen his recent signing to Ghostly International with the new video for “I Am Close to the River” off of his forthcoming record [_The Long And Short Of It_](https://ghostly.ffm.to/the-long-and-short-of-it), out August 20th. For “I Am Close To The River,” the Portland, Oregon artist returns to the piano much as he did the morning he dreamt up this melody. Loosely based on the psychonautic experience he had with Willamette River, the video sees Jonson explores warbling and warping landscapes, soundtracked by the song’s transcendent instrumentation and hanging vocals, eventually introducing orchestral strings from Elliot Cleverdon.
“The song is about my experience by the river; Breathing to the rhythm of an Alice Coltrane song, feeling the river’s water trickle on my feet and just taking in my surroundings,” says Jonson of the song, the video for which premieres today on _Flaunt_.
Read below for Jonson’s answers to some of our queries.
**What are you most excited for when releasing your upcoming album, _The Long and Short Of It?_**
I think the most exciting thing for me personally is just getting the music out. It's almost cliche to a point, but I really have been sitting on a lot of this material for a long while. Most tracks are over a year and a half old, some are well over 2 years old. I'm also of course ready to continue moving forward with my musical evolution, and I think this is a huge stepping stone into whatever project I make next.
**Do you find it difficult to play almost every instrument on your album? How did you learn how to play these instruments?**
The only instrument I really actually know how to play is piano. I sort of assumed the position of a full band out of convenience, since I didn't have to go through the process of finding other people to play on my tracks. I feel like I've always been very particular about what I like and what I don't like when it comes to music and for this album, playing most of the instruments on my tracks gave me the most control to do what I wanted to do. recently, however, I've been realizing that the songs in my head can't be played by just me, as I'm not super technically proficient in any one instrument. I think there will be a lot more collaborations with people in the future, and I will continue to learn other instruments as well.
**How would you personally describe your sound?**
I like to say my sound is just Portland Music. My goal is to make music that doesn't just check one box; maybe that's kind of lofty to say, but I really want to make sounds that aren't easily defined. My favorite music to listen to often takes familiar elements from a handful of sounds and genres, and it's something I really try to emulate. I'm also in the process of ditching my previous "Lo-Fi Beats To Study To" reputation, as I think I have a lot more to offer as a musician, and I want to be known for experimentation rather than a single closed loop. Perhaps that's another lofty comment.
**What inspires you the most when it comes to songwriting?**
I certainly get the most songwriting inspiration from just straight up listening to music. It's probably what I do the most. There's a lot of musical and structural knowledge tucked away in the right music, and I think learning where to find it and how to listen critically opened up a lot of doors for me. I'm constantly trying to find the small nuances in whatever song I listen to, as I think the little things are what makes music enjoyable!
**What artists do you look up to?**
I listen to so much music it's hard to pick a few. check out my artist playlists on Spotify. It's a lot of 60s to now.
**You've just signed to Ghostly. How do you feel?**
I'm really excited to be a part of Ghostly for many reasons! I think their integrity as a label really shows in how they release music. The attention to detail in both audio and visual is really something that I hadn't seen from any other label that reached out to me in the past. Also the entire roster is fucking cracked and everyone on the team is super friendly and non-intimidating.
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