How Greta Van Fleet Found Their Voice With ‘The Battle at Garden’s Gate’ – Interview

To say that Greta Van Fleet have found their voice with their sophomore album The Battle at Garden’s Gate would be an understatement. Out April 16, the record is truly a sonic journey from start to finish, and it’s vastly different from anything they’ve ever put out before.

When Greta released “Highway Tune” in 2017, they saw a pretty instantaneous success — but you either loved them, or you hated them. It was often said that they sounded like Led Zeppelin, and frontman Josh Kiszka couldn’t escape the Robert Plant comparisons.

In 2021, the young rockers are living completely different lives than they were a few years ago. They’ve released several EPs and their debut full-length record Anthem of the Peaceful Army, traveled all over the world playing concerts, sold out venues left and right and even won a Grammy for Best Rock Album.

Now, they’re living in Nashville — a very different landscape as opposed to their hometown of Frankenmuth, Michigan. And they’re about to release their second album, The Battle at Garden’s Gate.

Needless to say, they’ve found their sound. And they don’t resemble Led Zeppelin anymore.

The vocalist still shows off his range capability, but gone are the crunchy riffs of “Safari Song” and “Lover, Leaver.” Complex instrumentation, and philosophical and introspective lyrics make for a set of truly epic tracks.

“It plays out very much like a film would be or a book was written,” guitarist Jake Kiszka told us about the concept for the album. “I think Josh had suggested The Battle at Garden’s Gate because I think the title certainly fit within the stories that we’re telling, and the sort of architecture of the album overall.”

The boys’ travels over the last couple of years truly opened their eyes to a lot of new cultures around the world, but also the hardships many of those cultures face everyday.

“It’s a lot to do with the interaction that we’ve had with people I think has done something for me,” Josh Kiszka reflected. “Every day, I’m kind of surprised a little bit more at how isolated we were from the world, growing up inside of practically a village. And then playing in front of audiences that are 10 times the population of the place you grew up in.”

“There’s a lot of good and bad in the world, and being put right in front of it challenges you to consider a lot of things,” the singer continued. “I think it translates inside of the music.”

Watch the full interview below.

The Battle at Garden’s Gate will be out April 16. Pre-order it here now.

Greta Van Fleet Interview — The Battle at Garden’s Gate