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06-29-2006, 11:13 PM
|  | standing on the beach.... | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: six feet under
Posts: 11,427
| | | The Grates Cut Back On Swearing And Increase Touring [discussion]
The Grates Cut Back On Swearing And Increase Touring
Thursday June 29, 2006 @ 06:30 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff
The Grates
Not many bands can say that their lives would be completely different if a backyard shed hadn't let them down, but that's exactly what happened for Australian trio The Grates.
When they formed four years ago, singer Patience Hodgson, guitarist John Patterson and drummer Alana Skyring rehearsed in Patterson's dad's shed ("where we still write heaps of our songs now, actually"). As Hodgson explains, they thought that it was soundproofed and played "heaps of music with swear words in it.
"We used to write the shittiest songs. We marginally write better songs now, but they used to be crap. We used to have this song that just was like, 'Who's that sexy motherfucker with the short, short hair?' and then we'd say it about 100 times."
That came to an end when Patterson's mother informed them that the shed wasn't soundproofed. "I can't say that that hasn't influenced our songwriting, because I think it definitely did," Hodgson says.
"The moment that we found out that John's mom, who really hates swearing, could hear all of our swear words, I really cut back on the swear words to the point where some songs don't even have any in them."
Without counting the few profanities that made it past the shed, The Grates' Gravity Won't Get You High debut is one of those rare albums that boasts both radio-friendly pop and unpredictable indie tomfoolery. The band make fun, lo-fi, garage-style rock with traces of snotty punk, blaring horns and twanging banjos. Though the trio say that they had no plans to take their music anywhere, they quickly noticed that the crossover appeal of their songs had an audience outside of their Brisbane backyard.
Things started changing for the band two years ago when Triple J, Australia's popular youth-oriented national radio network, picked up a rough recording of the song "Trampoline." At the time, The Grates had only been making music for a few months and had never been on tour. They decided to play a few shows only to meet the demand for the single.
"We were never out to pursue anything, but then they kept saying, 'We're going to put another song on the radio,'" says Hodgson. "They didn't even tell us sometimes.
"Like 'Rock Boys,' which was our worst recording that we just recorded with one mic. They just started playing it one day.
"So I suppose, because somebody there liked us, it kind of encouraged us to always take that next step — like, 'Oh, we've got a song on the radio, that's kick-ass.' Because you think it's going to happen just the once, and then it happened again. So we're like, 'Let's do another tour.' And then when the other songs started getting played, people were asking us to do supports. So there's just things that you can't control that led into one another."
The band soon found themselves spending two months in Chicago with producer Brian Deck, who they selected to "put more layers into our sounds." Gravity Won't Get You High debuted at #9 on the Australian sales chart in April. The record will be released in North America on August 29, but Hodgson isn't the least bit bothered about sales figures here, there or anywhere. There are other things on her mind.
"In a wonderful way, people really like [the music] and they get really happy and it feels really good for us when we can play a show and it's just positive," she squeals.
"So I suppose when we play our songs and people like it, it's just subconsciously like positive reinforcement. And that's the kind of reinforcement we like, so now we're just really happy with people feeling happy."
The Grates play Limerick Junction in Vancouver on Friday.
__________________ the power of negative thinking |
06-30-2006, 12:35 AM
|  | meowmeowmeowmeowmeowmeow | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: melbs
Posts: 2,493
| | | oh i love them. i cant wait to get back to australia, i cant believe i havent seen them yet! |
06-30-2006, 02:11 AM
|  | Lets stay up | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia
Posts: 7,500
| | | Everybody should get their cd its super cute |
06-30-2006, 07:37 AM
|  | Barbie Is Not Your Friend | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: toyland
Posts: 845
| | | i love them they are really good |
06-30-2006, 08:17 AM
| | procrastinating | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Lester, innit.
Posts: 615
| | | i saw them a few weeks ago, they were so lovely.
they gave out free 7" and balloons |
07-04-2006, 04:28 PM
| | Registered Member | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Black Swan
Posts: 7
| | | The Grates
Their new single '19-20-20; is out today.
I think Patience is a supercute frontlady, she dances like a 5 year old, sounds like a hyperactive sleater kinney...
'Trampoline' is such a sexy song, ahhh!
Anyone else like?
Theyre very different to what I normally listen to, quite infectious & appealing.
Summerfun music! |
07-04-2006, 05:40 PM
|  | girl with one eye | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: London, UK
Posts: 942
| | Me like too! The album is pretty cool but i haven't seen them live yet...they played London last month but i didn't know their stuff then. Hopefully they'll come back to the UK soon!  |
07-04-2006, 07:18 PM
|  | obsession for possession | | Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 292
| | | im from The Grates home town. i like them and all especially with the lack of great frontwomen in bands recently. the review for their homecoming show were pretty good too, but i havent seen them live. i like 'feels like pain' & 'inside/outside' best. |
07-04-2006, 09:16 PM
|  | .pulledahumanfrommywaist | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: gay paris
Posts: 2,511
| | | heart them so so much. i miss them and sort of wish that they had stuck being a shitty band not even brisbane liked just so i could be one of 8 seeing them. its weird when friends sell out 1000+ seat venues |
07-04-2006, 11:32 PM
| | Lets stay up | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia
Posts: 7,500
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by .parisian heart them so so much. i miss them and sort of wish that they had stuck being a shitty band not even brisbane liked just so i could be one of 8 seeing them. its weird when friends sell out 1000+ seat venues | are you a personal friend of the band????
The Grates are so fucking awesome. I love 'i wont survive' and 'science is golden' ahhhhhhhhhh their cd is in my car now i <3 them so much. |
07-05-2006, 03:41 AM
| | .pulledahumanfrommywaist | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: gay paris
Posts: 2,511
| | | yeah but so is half of brisbane pretty much.
i won't survive is my favourite too i think. and inside outside. |
07-05-2006, 10:49 AM
| | Lets stay up | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia
Posts: 7,500
| | | I cant wait to see them.
Sukkafish has been stuck in my head for the last few hours. |
07-05-2006, 11:32 AM
| | Registered Member | | Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Black Swan
Posts: 7
| | 3 more reasons I heart em...
They gave me vinyl, stickers&badges, Patience was wearing a sheep brooch & big smile & they were selling sockpuppets at their shows & for whatever reason I was touched by that!  |
07-05-2006, 11:41 AM
| | Lets stay up | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia
Posts: 7,500
| | | They are art man |
07-05-2006, 11:42 AM
| | Lets stay up | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Australia
Posts: 7,500
| | Im going to make people sock puppets for presents now!  |
07-05-2006, 12:12 PM
|  | wooden and alone | | Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 2,674
| | | rock boys is my favorite song by theirs. some people are saying they've lost the hard, screechy edges with the lp but i prefer it. the ouch, the touch was too noisy for me. |
07-05-2006, 02:13 PM
| | Barbie Is Not Your Friend | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: toyland
Posts: 845
| | Quote: |
Originally Posted by KillTheLastRomantic I cant wait to see them.
Sukkafish has been stuck in my head for the last few hours. | i love that song |
07-05-2006, 06:24 PM
| | .pulledahumanfrommywaist | | Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: gay paris
Posts: 2,511
| | | i dont know why shes sassing sexy motherfucker though. i always loved it and thought it was a solid song | | Thread Tools | | | | Display Modes |  Linear Mode | 
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