This is
Grasp!
The bands sound
has been described as “Jangling Rickenbacker guitars and a driving, thumping
back beat combine to create an electrifying mix of mid 60's inspired guitar pop-soul”
With the mainstay of their fan base residing in and around the Essex area, the
band have recently been concentrating their live performances at venues in and
around Southend on Sea, however they have previously frequented the majority of
London venues such as “the Garage”, “the Dublin Castle”, “the
Hope and Anchor” and “the 100 Club”. Kicking off proceedings at
“V2000” was a big highlight for the band and dates at Liverpool’s”
the Cavern Club” and a return visit to their personal favourite “the
100 Club” are currently being arranged.
“a
wasted weekend” was the result of mounting pressure from the bands regular
audience to produce a more in full product as previous recordings have all been
standard three track demos. Recorded between January to April, 2004 at Spencer’s
newly completed home studio, the project has given the band their first experience
of recording and producing themselves. With many lessons in do’s and don'ts
learned, the band are working towards new recordings in the near future. In September
2004, the band signed with FrontRow Consulting ltd, a management company fronted
by ‘79 Mod revival stalwart, Andy Cullen, who now manages the band. Initial
feedback sees the relationship blossoming and the band working hard with gigs
throughout October. A Record deal may not be too far away following the distribution
of the demo album “ A wasted Weekend”.The Bands current line up sees
Andy Taylor on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, whilst Gary Weeks provides the main
guitar sound of Grasp with his rasping Rickenbacker leads. The band’s rhythm
section is Spencer Taylor on Bass and Mark Hines on Drums.
Taylor’s stage
prowl and backing vocals provide a perfect harmony for the rasping soulful voice
of his namesake, whilst Hines’ spectacular solo’s and one man demolition
act, have bought the obvious comparison’s with the greatest(and craziest)
drummer of them all, Keith Moon.
Tony Chats to Grasp Dec 2004
What brought you together? A love of the 60's and indie-pop perhaps? The advert on the rehearsal wall stated "Bass player wanted, influences The Small Faces, The Who, The Jam etc". Couldn't ignore that one could I!!
Your
new demo seems to take allot from 60s and a sprinkle of New Wave late 70's? There
is a definite sense of 'Britain in your sound' Is that where you are heading this
band ?
As a band I don't re-call us ever actually discussing what sound we want to achieve. We just write and play and let the influences come through. Obviously these include the 60's and the new wave period and that is evident in our music, however there are also a hell of a lot of other influences that help to gel the whole thing together but these are not so obvious.
How
do you think your sound is perceived in the UK at the moment ? Do you
often
feel as though you are ploughing a lone furrow?
More
like a trench actually!! It seems that most of the music getting a lot
of
attention at the moment has a mostly American influenced sound to it. We
on
the other hand do have a very English sound and although there are a lot of similar
bands out there on our circuit I think we ave a number of things which are unique.
We have three song writers in the band so there is variety in the tracks, although
they all have the "grasp" sound. We are very loud on stage, not in a
wall of indiscriminate sound like a lot bands but in a musical quality way. Also
you could take us from the size venues we are playing today and plonk us straight
into the bigger venues with large audiences and I guarantee that we wouldn't look,
sound or feel out of place.
How good does it feel to
be able to put out your own recorded material ?
Have your lives been leading
up to this moment!!??
I'll be happier when we get
something out on a wider release but having said that it's always nice to get
our material out to people in any shape or form.
What
are your plans for Grasp? Is world domination on the agenda? Not really. I
think we'd be happy with Europe, The States, and Asia!!!!!!
Can
you give us some background & Influences perhaps ?
The band were formed a number of years ago by Andy and Mark. Since then they have seen a number of members come and go. Gary joined around a year or so before me on bass but they couldn't seem to find the right guitarist to complete the line up. So a move over to Guitar for Mr Weeks and myself in on bass and it all clicked!!! Other influences not already mentioned include, Funk, Soul, Punk and Fusion.
Sum up Grasp in 3 Mighty Words..Tidy Big Sound!!!!!
Ok so thanks to the mighty Blocky for sorting out the interview, this band have such a deep rocking sound that along with Bright hope like Black Velvets, Punky The Lams, if they can get into the right venues we might just se them being a surprise of 2005 !!
