Agnes Manners is the innovation of former Hellions songwriter Matt Gravolin. Those who are staunch Hellions devotees will not be disappointed by this new reincarnation of Gravolin’s musical mind, and those unfamiliar with Gravolin’s work will be left desperately scrambling to consume all his previous output.
Earlier this month, Gravolin announced the full lineup of Agnes Manners in all its glory. The band also announced that their debut record, Fantasia Famish will be released in September.
Under this new moniker, Agnes Manners plans to embrace the androgynous nature of the music and dismantle “the archaic blueprint of masculinity” whilst championing vulnerability and empathy. This pure, tender feeling permeates through every avenue of the Agnes Manners sound.
“It wasn’t until my father passed suddenly in 2018 that I felt the need to focus on the new sound I felt building within me. A sound that dad would have liked,” Gravolin reveals while discussing the new, musical name.
Now, Agnes Manners has unveiled the music video for single ‘Evergreen’ — which was released earlier this month. The video is a visual feast, that harks back to the ambitious, extravagant theatrics of A Fever You Can’t Sweat-era Panic! At The Disco.
To celebrate the release of the ‘Evergreen’ music video, we asked Matt to offer us a peek into his musical mind, and the things that he finds inspiration in. So check out the music video below, and see what he had to say.
Check out ‘Evergreen’ by Agnes Manners:
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1. Hellions
The research and discipline that was required to write for Hellions has influenced my writing and playing style more than anything else. We had an affinity for MCR that sparked a love for Queen as we got older, we had an affinity for System of a Down that became a love for eastern melody and genre-bending. Each of us threw our own flavours into the pot and it became a sort of joyful gluttony – the songs had to be as big and theatrical as possible. That process and my love for the three guys is my most profound influence.
2. Shane Edwards
The Agnes Manners recording is the eighth that I have made under Shane’s auspices. This is the first time that he and I had worked on a project that isn’t rooted in punk, it afforded me a whole new playing ground and it seemed to allow Shane to return to his musical roots – with no public expectation or rules to adhere to, the songs felt particularly malleable. Shane encouraged the use of antique guitars and we created guitar tones reflective of those heard in classic rock bands of the 60’s and 70’s and in renaissance bands like The Strokes to invoke the soul of permissiveness inherent to that time in music history.
3. Melbourne
I had lived in Sydney all my life up until November 2018. Adjusting to a new home, a new lifestyle and making new friends inspired a lot, lyrically. The songs that were written in Sydney were refurnished with the new perspective Melbourne had afforded me.
4. The Concept of Celebrity
I have this reservoir of resentment reserved for modern celebrity and it has bled into my songwriting, most glaringly in tracks ‘Worship’ and ‘Sincerity In Retrograde’. It sounds a bit haughty of me and maybe it is, but it bothers me that the distinction between people that are famous for mastering their craft and the glut of people that are just famous for being famous can be blurry.
5. Elton John
I’ve always had an obsession with balladry. Elton Johns chord progression and vocal melody combinations hit a sweet spot for me. I found that I was taking on his melodic inclinations in small ways during the writing process. We remember ‘Tiny Dancer’ and ‘Your Song’ but I’ve found that songs like ‘I Guess Thats Why They Call it The Blues’ and ‘Border Song’ live on in my subconscious, forgotten until I hear them by chance on a classics radio station or at the end of a party and it makes the hairs on my forearms stand on end.
6. John Lennon
The songs composed during Lennon’s time with The Beatles are touchstones for all records written subsequent but it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I properly delved into his solo recordings. His ‘Plastic Ono Band’ album featured moments unlike anything else that I had ever heard. I listened to ’Mother’ and ‘God’ repetitively.
7. Father John Misty
In many ways, Father John Misty’s new-age folk served as a blueprint for Agnes Manners. I hadn’t realised that satire and colloquialism could be melded and weaponised in such a way and it inspired me to simplify my verses so that I could do more with my lyrics.
After getting to know his catalogue I spent a lot of time with Bob Dylan’s music. I’m embarrassed to say that I’d have sooner associated folk music with hay bales than with transformative storytelling.
8. John Floreani
With Agnes Manners being a new songwriting format for me, John’s guidance in traditional song structure and vocal melody writing proved to be invaluable. He made big contributions to three of the songs and was kind enough to lend his voice to one.
9. Family
My father passed suddenly in 2018 and I was grieving while composing a lot of the Agnes stuff. I think it’s palpable when you hear the body of work in its entirety. My family and I walked through it as best we could, hand in hand. It’s all you can do. I couldn’t have kept that out of the music if I tried.
My brother-in-law Duane and I shared a close friendship as younger men and it burgeoned into something more fraternal as years went on. He has contributed to nearly every album I’ve made in the last 8 years or so and we continued that tradition with the Agnes Manners collection.
10. Charlotte Gilpin
Charlotte and I shared a close friendship during the writing of the Agnes tracks. The first single ‘As Long As You’re Mine’ and several other songs were written with her in mind. Her influence on the songs grew as our relationship flourished.
