Sometimes bands change your life, sometimes they change your perception, often they provide you with a release and nearly always a sense of enjoyment. One of the most enjoyable bands on the local circuit these days is the mighty hoe down hip hop folk funk kings of craziness, Grain.
Having witness their tongue in cheek, upbeat and energetic live show many times now and indoctrinated ourselves to both there original E.P and their new offering, which is released next month, Grain are now one of Nottingham's best underground bands.
Mixing a sound like no other and with a overwhelming feel of fun to all the songs, we thought it was about time we got the low down on what makes the Grain keep being passed and who the hell it is gonna be passed to next.
Ben – Vocals + Guitar
Rich – Guitars + Banjo
Dan – Bass
Neil – Drums
Loz – Percussion
Steph : First Question, you have a new E.P out, are you happy with the sound of this one and hows does it compare to the last E.P?
Ben : Yes we are really happy with it, it is the second recording we have done and the first one sounded really, really quite lousy so this is a vast improvement.
Neil : Well, it is the first time we have a recording that represents what we sound like now. We were a bit frustrated at the old recording as it didn't get across what we sound like live really.
Steph : Ok, can we expect more releases or is this it now for the time being?
Ben : We are actually going to do some more very soon, we plan to go into a studio and do more recordings so you can expect another even better one very soon.
Steph : Have you played outside Nottingham really? If so where and what sort of response did you get?
Rich : We played the Attick in Leicester but it was a bit of a washout as there were 5 bands on and everyone came to see the local bands, by the time we played most people had left and we were just playing to the sound guy and the barmen, but they loved it!
Loz : You should have seen their faces…..all 5 of them.
Steph : Do you hope to travel more this year, what are your plans?
Ben : Yeah, we are looking to go outside Nottingham more, we have some gigs in Birmingham and Leicester in the next couple of months and so hopefully we can start gigging all over the country soon.
Loz : We want to play some festivals……
Grain in Unison : Yes Festivals in the summer!!!!
Steph : Are you surprised by the level of support you have received from your growing Nottingham fan base?
Rich : Thats a good question.
Ben : It is a tricky question!
Rich : If I say no it seems really arrogant…..
((Everyone laughs))
Loz : But if we say yes we sound too humble!
Ben : I love feeding off the audience, so the more the crowd go for it, the more we respond to that so we both work off each other I think. So not really surprised but just really chuffed.
Neil : Its nice to think people get what we are trying to do and when you get feedback on what we are trying to create on stage.
Ben : There is definatly a massive buzz when you see a good reaction on people's faces.
Dan : When you see confused blank faces trying to understand what is going on!
((everyone chuckles))
Steph : What are your favourite places to play in Nottingham, venues?
Rich : Junktion 7 is good and the Maze.
Ben : The Maze is one of my favourite places, I saw a lot of bands there when i first moved to Nottingham and that was before I even learned to play music so that is quite a special place to play for me. The Frog and Onion because a lot of our friends and fan base go there so it is always a great atmosphere even though it is not really known as a music venue.
Steph : Okay to finsih off just any shout outs to people or bands who have helped and you think are worth a mention!
Neil : Trickster have been very supportive and we really like their music too.
Ben : Old Basford too, they are really nice to us…..
Rich : They did the last recording for us.
Ben : and just a big shout out to everyone in Forest Fields!
Loz : I have a question, Neil, do my butt cheeks clench in time when we are playing as you get a good view?
((everyone laughs))
Do all of ours???
Neil : I get the perfect view.
