I’m singin’ in the rain, just singin’ in the raaaiiiin…’ Greta Van Fleet lead vocalist Josh Kiszka, sporting a buzzed undercut and colourful southwestern print shirt, is singin’ in a mock movie-musical voice. And it is raining. Well, actually just sprinkling a bit on this muggy June afternoon. Not enough to make us leave the rooftop terrace at the members-only Soho House in the band’s adopted home town of Nashville, Tennessee. It’s Josh, twin brother guitarist Jake, younger brother bassist/keyboard player Sam and honorary brother drummer Daniel Wagner, all cheekbones and rock-star casual attire, chatty and constantly ribbing each other, the way brothers do.
Before we settle in, Josh tells the story of the happy accident that led to Malcolm McDowell singing Singin’ In The Rain in that memorable scene from the film 1971 film A Clockwork Orange. The Greta guys are serious music and pop-culture nerds, and during our hour-long conversation we’re joined by Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Eric Idle, Pete Townshend, Peter Sellers, Blind Faith, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Led Zeppelin.
“It’s all part of ‘The Infisonicosm,’” Jake reveals with a grin. “We’re so nerdy that we’ve invented our own term for the Greta Van Fleet universe.”
“It’s short for infinite sonic cosmos,” Josh clarifies. “It’s kind of based on this Hindu idea of many worlds inside of many worlds.”
Musically, Greta Van Fleet’s Infisonicosm is a place of seemingly incongruous pairings. Epic guitar riffs burn alongside the transcendental humanism of Ralph Waldo Emerson, larynxshredding anthems gather in the classical poetic language of Dante and Chaucer. Because the
