Slowing down with Atlanta duo, Lights Follow

Slowing down with Atlanta duo, Lights Follow

by rick olivares

Atlanta, Georgia duo Lights Follow scored a massive hit with the song, “Slow Down” aided by its use as the theme on the Japanese reality television show, Terrace House, for three seasons. 

Both the song and the Netflix series have taken the world and the Philippines by storm. For the Lights Follow – Matthew Heath and Grady Griggs – it has given them the opportunity to showcase their talent and their deep and catchy songs that also includes their latest hit, “FLT RSK”. 

We spoke with Heath (who just returned from a vacation) about how “Slow Down” came to be a hit, their new hit, “FLT RSK”, and the possibility of performing in Southeast Asia.

“The song comes from a super personal place for me,” bared Heath. “My wife and I recently had our first child and I was just to the point where I was doing music production and writing full time. Up until then, it was a huge struggle – working in restaurants at night and writing and producing by day. I had been doing music full time for five months and felt this overwhelming need to hustle so I would not go back to working in restaurants. ‘Slow Down’ was a note to myself kind of song. It was me preaching that I needed to be careful and to step back why I was working so hard. I was losing sight of what was important – my family.  The song allowed me to process what I was feeling and was a tangible reminder to ‘slow down.’”

Then Netflix came calling through Lights Follow’s licensing company, 5 Alarm. 

“We had written the song prior to Terrace House and then someone called and said, ‘Congrats on the Terrace House theme,’” added Heath. 

The duo hadn’t heard of the fly-on-the-wall reality television show that follows the life of three female and three male strangers -- all who are Japanese -- who live in a beautiful home in an exquisite setting in Japan (except for the fourth season which was shot entirely in Hawaii). Because of the uniqueness of the environment, it makes for a lot of drama. Terrace House, now on its fifth season, used “Slow Down” as its theme song for Season 2 (Boys and Girls Next Door), Season 3 (Boys and Girls in the City), and Season 4 (Aloha State).

“Grady and I were blown away,” admitted Heath when contacted about the use of the song. “We couldn’t believe that our song was the theme for a television show. I wish I could say that it was written specifically for the show but I do think there is a bit of serendipity involved because it fits the show like a glove.”

Even with the new series for Terrace House Tokyo House 2019-20, the shows fans have become rabid Lights Follow fans. “Fans of Terrace House have been amazing. They are the kindest and most considerate group of fans we have ever encountered,” said Heath. “The song still has a steady following on Spotify and Apple Music because of the show.”

“Slow Down” is also used as a walk up song by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Japanese pitcher Kenta Maeda who has been a guest commentator on the show and helped turn his baseball teammates into fans of the show. 

And that helped propel their new single “FLT RSK” (read as flight risk). Ordinarily, the term has a negative connotation as it is someone who is deemed to likely leave the country before a trial or a hearing. The band flipped the idea to turn it into something positive – about people who are not supposed to succeed in life but do so anyway.

“We love the idea of using conflict and extracting something positive from it,” summed up Heath. “The tension between conflicted verses lyrics and resolved chorus lyrics is just something very satisfying.”

The deeply personal nature of Lights Follow’s songs have seen them acquire a fan base all over the world – something Heath describes as “mind-boggling” – including Manila.

As for performing in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, Matt did say that both Grady and himself are open to the idea. “Neither of us have been to Manila, but we would love to visit,” enthused Heath. “We are open to all possibilities.”