Setting the tone with a moody, panning electric guitar riff, Griffen Handshake open All My Friends Wanna Be Doctors with intrigue and dimensionality.
Pulsing drums and bold guitars expand the opus, as the duo from Pittsburgh deliver the situational lyrics, “The crowd pleaser shows up at the party and shows the best friend up, you think you’re above people at the party so tear the dance floor up…”, and the hook which summarises the nature of the song, “All my friends they wanna be doctors, while I’m just a wannabe punk rocker…”
Elaborating on the meaning of the track, Griffen Handshake, a band comprised of two brothers, Millen Schuchert on guitar and vocals, and Arjun Schuchert on drums and vocals, confess, “This is not an anti-doctor song. It’s intended for those who act over-qualified and put others down for what they want to do in life.”
The tell us, “The hook of the song captures the feeling of seeing people around you succeeding and pursuing pre professional dreams, while all you want is to choose your own path, maybe playing music in a punk band.”
This is an interesting perspective, as it can often be perceived in reverse, depending on which circles you run in. For example in the U.K. doctors are heavily underpaid, overworked and it’s not a glamorous profession in the least. The lyrical inspiration behind the track came from Millen feeling frustrated about what people around him were saying about his career choice in music.
He says, “Defying what the voices that are closest to you are saying is tricky to navigate for anyone. The vocal emotion in the song is driven by that idea.”
We learn that Griffen Handshake‘s influences come from a wide range of artists, from Green Day to No Doubt to Nirvana to The Interrupters, although it is clear that they are creating a universe of their own. They have been consistently performing around the local Pittsburgh scene, and we can imagine that the Griffen Handshake live experience is simply out of this world.
We have added All My Friends Wanna Be Doctors to our New Music Spotlight playlist, and continue to stream their wider discography, whilst Griffen Handshake leave us with their motto of oneness, “We are all one, so don’t push us down.”