Student musician channels quarantine loneliness into EP

Griffin Jones’ desolate room acted as a vacuum of creativity during COVID-19 as his thoughts wandered into space. Photos by Tyler Smith and Jack Selden. 

In desolate space there is a void of nothingness. There is no one to influence your thoughts, nothing to distract you from an idea and no force pushing you anywhere. You are simply floating through the empty abyss as questions run through blackholes and answers stretch to infinity. 

The closest people that have come to this feeling — if you're not part of NASA or Elon Musk’s SpaceX — is the vacuum that COVID-19 put the world into in 2020. This time of absolute oblivion in the confines of four walls made singer and junior television writing and production major Griffin Jones stretch to the utmost limits of his mind as he was left to ponder any inquiry he had for hours, days and months with no disruption.

At the peak of COVID-19 in 2020, Jones, also known by his stage name Grif Dorf, was meant to be starting his freshman year of college experiencing the turbulent times that come with facing the world for the first time. However, Jones was left asking existential questions while blasting a projection of a spaceship living room. Jones told The Panther that the nothingness of his life turned into something, and he used his limitless train of thought to inspire his first EP, “Sightings from my SpaceShip."

“Sometimes I project a spaceship living room, which is so niche," Jones said. "There's a bed and a table and then out the window is just space, and it moves. I just put it on and it plays for 10 hours. So that sometimes is a good writing tool for me. I call my studio or my bedroom ‘the spaceship.’ So it kind of just adds to the space vibe. It's part of the aesthetic.”

In his music, Jones writes of self love, acceptance and mental health — themes he is able to explore as he listens to the white noise of space. He has played the piano since he was seven and took up drums briefly when he was 14, both of which helped him construct his songs.  

“I like to think my music is kind of like an internal dialogue," Jones said. "So a lot of it is just stuff I say in my head going back and forth with myself. My favorite lyrics are more specific to me and I like seeing if anybody feels the same way.”

Being in his hometown of Davidson, North Carolina for his freshman year of college brought out the authenticity in his writing as he surrounded himself with honest people that told him the truth about his music. 

“The really biggest thing I took from North Carolina is the realness, because a lot of people I've met from the industry can be kind of fake," Jones said. “I also just want to try to bring realness and honesty into everything I do." 

His musical influences include Childish Gambino and Tyler, the Creator, who also sing of self empowerment and self love. A standout moment to Jones that really inspired his drive to create music was when Donald Glover released his album “Because of the Internet,” which was accompanied by a 70-page screenplay that indicated when to listen to each song on the album. 

“He just built a world with (the album)," Jones said. "And it got me into it so much, because I had to find all the extra stuff so I had to go on Google and search for the screenplay. I realized that you can affect somebody and do so much with art and specifically music as a medium.” 

Tyler Smith, Jones’s hometown friend and sound engineer, said that the best part of making music with Jones is his vulnerability while they throw ideas around in the studio.

“His chemistry is so good to bounce off of, and he's a good communicator," Smith said. "If he's feeling some sort of way, he will just let you know about that. He also understands and listens (to me). He has all the great aspects of someone who you would want to work with."

After his first EP, Jones did not slow down. He is currently working on a mixtape and is set to release a new song called “Dream” in December. He has also put out two music videos for his songs, one of which, for “Hoodie.” His friends in North Carolina helped him shoot this video in one take, which he hopes shows his confidence in his ability. 

With all the music he has made in just two years his determination is a huge skill of his. Smith said once he sets his mind to something there is no turning back. Jones has simultaneously made music, music videos and even is starting his own record company and media label, Pajama Punk Media.  

“He's so committed," Smith said. "I love his drive with it. He literally released a whole EP. That's like a lot of work. I remember even talking to him about (the EP) and he was like, ‘I really want to release this, this summer’ and then he did it. He's so good at having a goal in mind and just going for it." 

Although he is constantly doing something, Jones is a self-proclaimed homebody. When he is not in his spaceship writing, he is hanging with his parents and two older sisters, one of them being Carter Faith, who has made a splash in country music. 

“(My sister and I) didn't grow up writing together but we actually did make something a couple of months ago that we're working on, and we're trying to work on more stuff over the holidays," Jones said. 

As a television writing and production major at Chapman, he also loves watching TV shows such as "30 Rock" and "Community," but cartoons hold a special place in his heart as and are an influence for his song writing. 

“I like the innocent but still intelligent kind of humor or thoughts or ideas," Jones said. "So that's why I'm drawn to stuff like “Monsters Inc."

Jones said he ultimately hopes his music will inspire people to keep going and never give up on finding happiness within themselves. 

“I want to help people with whatever they're dealing with, whether it's mental health or other stuff," Jones said. “I also want to inspire people, because I feel like another thing that I think is cool about what I'm doing is I don't have a label. There's no management company. It's literally just me and my friends. A lot of it is done in house. So I just also kind of want to inspire people with the hope that they can really do it on their own."

Jones’ music can be found on Spotify and he is planning to release a single titled Dream” in December.