Having only just released his debut single Beautiful last month, Pleasure Valley (Joe Franzone) has just unveiled his second title Food for Thought. The track, which is out on Spotify now, features Franzone performing most of the instruments, with WA artists Michael Dunstan adding some electric guitar parts and Talia Hoofewerf on second vocals. Growing up in the coastal town of Esperance, Franzone’s solo endeavour may be new, but his experience in the local music scene is longstanding, performing in a total of four projects currently (Grand Casual, Michael Dunstan, Echo Run and Pleasure Valley). BRAYDEN EDWARDS spoke to Franzone to find out what inspired him to embark on the solo project, and the special meaning behind his new track.
Congrats on the release of your new single Food for Thought! How long has it been in the works for and how does it feel to finally be releasing it?
Thank you so much! I am very excited to be putting this song out and feel very humbly blessed to have the opportunity to do so. I began writing the guitar melody early last year and enjoyed jamming on it at home in my free time. Slowly evolving and structuring musically in my head. I had a rough idea of where I wanted this song to sit though it really did come to life in the studio with Andy Lawson (Debaser Studios). Lyrically I dedicated Food for Thought to a friend dealing with severe mental illness and wanted to hopefully inspire people going through a tough time that happiness and good times are coming. To be releasing new music under my own solo project feels unreal and to be ticking off this life long goal feels amazing.
We first heard from Pleasure Valley with the single Beautiful just recently. How would you say your new song is different from the first?
I’d say musically it has more of a Mac De Marco influenced sound. Vocally I had the pleasure to work with Talia Hoogewerf who really brought the chorus/bridge to life. I also had Michael Dunstan do some awesome guitar parts which helped the song lift. I really like the contrast between Food for Thought and Beautiful, they’re both in a similar world though quite separate musically.
While Pleasure Valley is a new project, what other acts have you been part of that we might be familiar with, and why did you want to start something of own like this?
I have been lucky enough to perform with a few projects over the years and currently focusing on four projects including Grand Casual, Michael Dunstan, Echo Run and Pleasure Valley. I have wanted to start a solo project ever since I started playing music. To have finally committed and put in the effort, I have definitely got the bug and you will be seeing a lot more of Pleasure Valley.
And did your connections with those other bands and musicians play a part in recording your music? Who else was involved in bringing the the song to life in the studio?
Absolutely, I felt really at home having worked with Andy Lawson (Debaser Studios) with both Michael Dunstan and Grand Casual on many occasions. I was very comfortable experimenting and performing with Andy on this project.
I really enjoyed putting down most of the instrumental parts in studio and was lucky enough to have Michael Dunstan put down some electric guitar parts in the studio. A good friend/musician Talia Hoogewerf also collaborated in studio to put some back up vocals down which also sounded amazing.
What was the premise of this song lyrically, and what do you hope listeners will take away from its message?
Food for Thought is dedicated to a very close friend of mine dealing with depression. I wrote this song to hopefully inspire people having a hard time that better days are coming and not to lose hope. I wanted to inspire people to love and look after their friends/family/strangers. “You can’t change the world, though you can change someone’s world” is ideally the thought process behind the lyrics of this song.
What’s next for Pleasure Valley? Any more new music or live shows coming up we can look forward to?
I’m looking forward to playing my first live show as Pleasure Valley. We have some plans in movement for a debut show which may be sooner than later. I have some more music to release which I can’t wait to share and plan to be back in the studio next year.
