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Little Falls, NJ
12-12-07 |
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| by Hal B. Selzer |
local noise |
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THE GRIP WEEDS
J E R S E Y C O O L |
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but we have modern musical influences
too,” adds Kurt. “You can’t help but be
affected by the world around you.We’ve
been influenced by The Foo Fighters,
Soundtrack Of Our Lives, White
Stripes/Raconteurs, Paul Weller, and
many, many more. Sometimes you hear
a great song and it moves you to write
something of your own. Also, I run our
recording studio (The House Of Vibes)
and am constantly inspired by the music
that comes through, because I’m working
so closely with the artists to create it.
Besides all that, the things that we
experience in our daily lives and what’s
happening in the culture inform our music.
A bad day or a weird experience not
related to music can manifest itself in
a great new song. And we all hate the
President!”
One thing that has enabled the band
members to have unique experiences
with which to influence their music is the
extensive touring the band does.“Touring
always puts you into a strange alternate
universe where odd things happen every
day,” laughs Kurt. “A few years ago, we
did a tour of Spain, and it was the last
night of the tour.We pulled into this tiny
ghost town called Pradajon and expected
it to be a disaster. The band we were
touring with was from Israel and deathly
afraid of trouble with the local Arabs
there, and that put us all on edge.When
we got to the club, no one spoke a word
of English, but as we walked in, all the
music they were playing was either
recorded at The House Of Vibes or from
bands we knew in Jersey! On the other
side of the world in a strange country,
we had found our home. It turned out to
be the best gig of the tour, a packed
house with people who loved us and
even knew the words to our songs, and
yet didn’t speak a word of English!”
Another endeavor that keeps the band
busy is their sideline of musician
seminars, which they call the “Basement
To Billboard” seminar. “I did a producer’s
panel at a guitar seminar, and many
people asked very basic questions about
how to record, how to know if what they’re
doing is any good, when to go to a pro,
etc.,” explains Kurt. “As I answered those
questions, I realized that it was exactly
the position that The Grip Weeds were
in when we started.We had no clue, so
we just had to make our mistakes and
keep our ears open and learn. We
realized that there is a need among
musicians just starting out to have a road
map to help them get to where they want
to go, or even just to show them how
to get some music into a digital recorder.”
For more information about
The Grip Weeds, check them
out at gripweeds.com, or
myspace.com/gripweeds. |
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Some bands are just cool. No way
around it, and no matter what your musical
taste, you know it when you see it. One
such band is The Grip Weeds. And don’t
just take my word for it, none other than
the king of garage bands, Little Steven,
has anointed songs by the band as “the
coolest songs in the world” four separate
times on his Underground Garage radio
show.
“It’s melodic, it’s psychedelic, it’s rocking,
with vocal harmonies, inventive guitar
work and powerful drumming, if I do say
so myself,” says Kurt Reil, who mans the
skins for the group.“At our best, we write
songs that have a depth to them that
goes beyond the first listen. It’s been our
quest to make records that people will
keep returning to, finding more things in
the words and music to keep them
interested.”
Joining Kurt in the band are Rick Reil
on guitar, Kristin Pinell on guitar, and
Michael “MK” Kelly on bass. “When Rick
and I started the group, we were at
Rutgers University in New Brunswick,
and just wanted to play cool obscure ’60s
covers from The Who and The Hollies,”
Kurt recalls.“Eventually, we started writing
our own songs and slipped them one by |
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one into our live shows, hoping they would
work alongside these great old songs.
Our songwriting improved to the point
where we wound up with a totally original
live set, which we then recorded. That
eventually started a whole other career
of music production! We had two other
guys when we started out, but Kristin
joined in time for the recording of our first
disc, House Of Vibes, and MK came in
for the last album, Giant On The Beach.
Before MK joined, we had the common
problem of the exploding bass player!
He is number seven.”
As you might expect, the band comes
from a background heavily leaning toward
classic rock. “Most of my influences are
from ’60s and early ’70s rock,”Kurt relates.
“There was something happening then,
a renaissance in pop music that produced
such quality music. It’s like the holy grail
for us to write songs of that caliber. I’m
partial to The Beatles of course, but The
Byrds, Who, Moody Blues, and lots of
“nuggets” bands all figure in somehow,
among many others, but never directly,
usually in our playing.”
Not that they don’t listen to some more
up-to-date music as well. “The Grip
Weeds are rooted in ’60s based music, |
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