Last Friday, Mandy Groves dropped the colorful visual for “Done with Me,” the first single from her new EP, “THREE.” Sonically, the EP turns back toward R&B but maintains a chill house vibe. “Done With Me” anchors the misty daydream in deep rhythm and blues.
Colin Floom directed the sensual video and gave it the intimacy he’s known to bring to the screen. According to IMDB, Floom line produced the upcoming Mark David-directed film, Starf*cker, a satire about the proclivity of sexual misconduct and assault allegations in Hollywood, due sometime this July.
“Colin Floom and I met on the set of a music video he was shooting— the video for ‘Tight Rope’ by Musab featuring Slug from Atmosphere,” Mandy said. The singer/actress has an extensive actor’s resume and plans to expand her portfolio to bigger productions in 2020.
“I was an extra in the video,” Mandy continued. “Almost 2 years later, [Colin] reached out and wanted me to be a part of another music video and we really became friends from there. When developing the idea of the video, I knew I wanted to do another project with him so we came together and made it happen.”
In October, a major car accident left her seriously injured. Suffering a concussion, dislocated ribs, a fractured hand, a stage-3 liver laceration, and a number of other injuries, she stopped taking acting jobs and recording music. Weeks of bedrest seemed to put everything on pause and the singer started to feel antsy.
Mandy Groves – THREE
“A month of recovery at my parents’ house, put me in a different frame of mind,” Mandy said. “I hated not working on something. I already had ‘I Want U’ done but it didn’t feel finished or like something I wanted to drop alone.”
When her healing time stretched on into November, the singer decided to get back into the studio, while also still in a neck brace. She met with Shinu to write and record. Mandy and Shinu previously worked together on her second EP, BLAME that dropped in May, her last single, “Blow”, and a cover of “C7osure” by Lil Nas X. “My vibe was different,” she revealed.
“More sad and moody and sexy… So I got there with the intention to make something like that. My voice was also much healthier while I was recovering than when I was in the band… I had time to heal from the wringer it was put through in the band; loud instruments, bad sound/ low monitors, exhaustion, having to sing around cigarette smoke, etc…so I knew I wanted to really sing; show my range and my true voice.”
As with every other project they’ve done together, the duo made some magic happen in a mere matter of hours. “We got started and it just fell together,” Mandy said. “I knew I wanted to make something with feeling and emotion. I wrote the lyrics to ‘Done With Me’ that night and recorded it.”
The Power Of 3
After realizing that both songs she wrote had 3-word titles, the singer found some direction for the project. “I was like, ‘Let’s make one more song!’… 3 songs with 3-word titles. Then I realized it would be my third EP and we had the whole concept down. 3 is a very meaningful number to me and it holds a lot of power in my life.
To Groves, the number three represents the power of change and the magic of creativity. “I’ve been guided by 3s in many tough situations and on many new paths. I feel like with this EP, I’m finally finding my true sound and expressing really relatable feelings.”
Leaving Wash Park Band
Days before the car accident, the singer learned that she lost her position as the lead singer of Wash Park Band. “I was fired from the cover band I devoted 4 years of my life to,” she told us. “…Essentially because of my growing acting career and solo music, they were starting to phase me out, both in my role in the band (by secretly auditioning and hiring my replacement) and in the way they treated me until they finally let me go. Like many young women before me in the band, I was hired for my potential and treated differently once I tried to reach it.”
Within days after being let go, while driving home from the studio in the early hours of the morning Mandy Groves fell asleep at the wheel. She hit a guardrail going 70 mph on the highway, injuring herself and totaling her vehicle. “I moved in with my parents for [that period of time] and they took care of me day and night. I felt like I was missing out on so much and falling behind [on my work].”
The singer’s goal was to transform a laundry list of negative experiences into something fruitful and inspiring. “That’s why this EP means so much to me. I feel like I am finally settling into who I am as an artist and adversity only fuels my drive.”
“This EP really feels like a continuation of ‘Blame’,” the singer shared. “It feels like closure, in a sense, and a new start. Now I can devote all of my energy towards my music and my acting.”
