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They've recorded three Grip Weeds albums there,
as well as CDs by the Central Jersey bands The Holy Goats and The
Anderson Council, sessions with members of The Smithereens and demos
for many friends.
"We've been able to survive because it hasn't
been like we've been looking for money to record," Reil says.
"We just record in our own home. It's been a real good situation
all the way around. We started very humbly and took profits we earned
from recording other groups and piled it back into equipment. We
continue to do that."
The resulting albums, 1994's "House of Vibes,"
1998's "The Sound Is in You" and 2001's "Summer of
a Thousand Years," all combine the strong influences of The
Beatles, The Byrds and other '60s pop acts in an exciting, original
way.
By staying true to the music they've loved for so
long, the Grip Weeds' style has come around again with some of the
'60s garage sounds that have influenced such hot major label acts
as The Hives, The Vines, The Strokes and The White Stripes.
"The whole '60s thing was a magical musical
time," says Pinell, who met Reil when her longtime band, The
Rooks, shared a bill with The Grip Weeds. "We love it and people
see that in us. It so happens that it's in style right now."
But the '60s were not in style when the Reils were
pre-teens scouring the Somerset County Library in their hometown
of Bridgewater for classic LPs by and books about The Beatles and
The Byrds. In their minds, disco was polluting the airwaves and
punk was overflowing from the sewer of the rock 'n' roll underground.
The Reils not only have found liked-minded pop zealots
in band- (and in Kurt's case, soul-) mates, they've also found them
at Rainbow Quartz Records. The buzzing New York-based indie released
"Summer of a Thousand Years," and will internationally
re-release a remixed "The Sound Is in You" early next
year.
Having toured both Europe and the Southeast within
the past six months, The Grip Weeds will showcase at the CMJ Music
Marathon for the second year in a row tonight at Arlene Grocery
in New York City.
While industry exposure is likely, the band is happy
to maintain its do-it-yourself work ethic with the help of Rainbow
Quartz.
"The most important motivation for me why we
play music is not fame, it's just to play music," Reil says.
"That's all we want to do. All the success you get out of it
is a nice perk, but that's not the reason to do it.
"A lot of bands get discouraged and confused
by that. Bands that succeed or continue are ones that make the music
a part of their lives and do it because they have to, not because
they have to get famous."
With several appearances at the International Pop
Overthrow Festival in Los Angeles and New York and the Sparklefest
under its belt, the band is famous enough within in the underground
pop scene.
They'll add to their glory Dec. 13 when the band
plays International Pop Overthrow again at Arlene Grocery.
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