|
We've
always been great believers in getting to a gig early and checking out the
support acts and not just the headliner. One of our best finds last
year out of these support acts were rising stars My 21 Grams. A
stormingly good band from London. After refreshing the senses
other bands fail to reach we catch up with the band again to find out
more.
| MM - Hi guys, would
you like to give us a brief history on the band, how it all came about,
how it’s evolved and where you call home etc? |
Craig:
The band came together in 2005. Blake and I
found the other guys after we had collaborated in various bands before. It
was a new beginning for the both of us really. A clean break.
Gary: I met Blake while I was playing a show in
London; we met Jack in Tunbridge Wells and Alex we stole from Italy!
Blake: I guess London will always be home to us,
but touring the UK has given us a sense a unity throughout the country.
Nothing brings people together like music can.
Alex: Being from Italy, I seem to not notice the
subtle differences in dialects etc around Britain, therefore I take it all
in my stride wherever I go around the UK. When we played the Glasgow
Barfly, they told us we were the best live band they’d seen in 2 years!
|
 |
MM - How do you feel the
bands sound has developed since it originally started?
Alex: When I
joined, many of the songs had already been written, performed and
recorded, so they had a very strong individuality by themselves. We then
focused on finding the right balance in the song writing process. That led
us to a heavier sound, but it all came out pretty naturally. The latest
songs seem to mirror what we feel is our right to be in a band.
Craig: The sound of the band has changed over the
course of time we’ve been together but I think that’s just a natural
progression, each song we write we try and make it sound different to the
last. Right now we’re writing some of our best stuff to date and we’ve all
improved so much after the tour and that’s reflected in our writing.
Blake: I’ve always written songs from an early
age. Different bands, people, places or even situations can change your
writing style. But the more time I’ve spent with the guys, the closer I’ve
come to writing songs that I’ve always wanted to.
Gary: It helps that we all come from different
backgrounds. As we write together, someone will always throw in something
I wouldn’t have thought of. Our sound is the product of that growth and
respect we have for each other.
MM - How would you describe
your music and whom do you see as your target audience?
Alex: I see our music
like a rattlesnake. First it will hypnotize you, and when you least expect
it will bite you hard. We seem to attract a young and angry audience. We
unleash our aggression from the stage; they take it and mix it with in the mosh pit. At the end, we both feel better.
Craig: Our music is
heavy rock, it’s solid and it’s written with the five of us bearing our
souls and doing what we love. Our target audience is anyone who
appreciates music and a good time. We try and make our songs as
interesting as possible and our shows the same.
Gary:
Our music is quite heavy, but not over the top. Every song is carefully
thought out and fought over … until Blake says it’s ready (ha ha).
Blake: I
hope our appeal is that we write good songs and our honesty is refreshing
in a music industry so full of bullshit. I know so many bands that have
been put together or spawned from a record company A&R department. I’m not
saying those artists don’t work hard or don’t deserve where they are, it’s
just not who I am or what I think making Rock music is about.
MM - There
are countless numbers of rock bands trying to get their names out there.
How do you avoid being another band that someone listens to once and
forgets? What do you do to stay unique and remembered?
Blake: I
don’t see other bands as a threat. My life is about making music, meeting
new people and trying to do the best with what I’ve got. It is hard to get
your voice heard when there is so many people who believe in what they're
doing, but if you’re good enough you will make it. It also depends what
your ambitions are and whether the band you’re in enjoys the same
enthusiasm as you do. I always give 100% every gig and I know the rest of
the guys do too. It’s what keeps us motivated and what gives us strength.
Craig:
We’re one of the few bands out there that plays with 2 guitarists.
Nowadays it seems frowned upon if you have a guitar solo! We were actually
told, if we dropped a guitarist, we'd be more marketable! Some people just
don’t get it do they?!
Alex: I
believe that if you put your real personality in what you do, without
poisoning it with whatever you think might be the "right way" or even
worst the "cool way", you can't be other than unique. The fact that our 5
personalities and backgrounds are extremely different helps us a lot for
that aspect.
Jack:
We’re a really a tight group and welcome anyone into our circle. It’s not
about being cool. It’s about the love of music and having fun! Getting
away from normal life!
|
 |
MM - Some
people sit around and wish for things but nothing happens; however, you
guys are a motivated band. What do you really think you will be doing in a
year?
Alex: I think that in
a year time we will be signed and recording our first album.
Craig: This year is
the year we take over the world.
Gary:
Our main aim is to get some kind of finance and then we can tour until we
drop! |
Blake:
We do believe our songs are good enough to be heard worldwide and we’ll
continue to push as much as we can. Everyone needs a little help but you
can’t wait around for it, get out there and enjoy the world!
Jack:
I’d like to see us set with a label that actually is willing to look after
us, touring, building a strong fan base, playing bigger venues and selling
records. |
MM - Some
people sit around and wish for things but nothing happens; however, you
guys are a motivated band. What do you really think you will be doing in a
year?
Alex: I think that in
a year time we will be signed and recording our first album.
Craig: This year is
the year we take over the world.
Gary:
Our main aim is to get some kind of finance and then we can tour until we
drop!
Blake:
We do believe our songs are good enough to be heard worldwide and we’ll
continue to push as much as we can. Everyone needs a little help but you
can’t wait around for it, get out there and enjoy the world!
Jack:
I’d like to see us set with a label that actually is willing to look after
us, touring, building a strong fan base, playing bigger venues and selling
records.
MM - At what age did you
become interested in being a performer and what/who inspired you to join a
band?
Craig: Blake forced me at gunpoint to join the band that was all the
inspiration I needed.
Blake: Ha ha. I’ve been in bands since school and back then it was just
about getting together with my friends and having a laugh. Oasis came
along and made it look like anyone could have a go at being in a band. They seemed all about self-belief and the attitude of having fun while
making great music.
Alex: I wrote my first song aged 8 and have written songs ever since. I
could never be happy without creating music. Anything else, the whole
circus that comes with being a musician is just an extra to me. Music is
not just my passion, it is my pacemaker. I would say that my Mum got me
started when I was a newborn, playing records to me and encouraging me to
express myself through singing.
Gary: At 13 I discovered the Beatles, and more importantly John Lennon,
who became my biggest inspiration. |
 |
|
Jack: I’ve been playing drums off an on for most of my life, but only
really started taking it seriously when I was about 13 or 14 when there
was a battle of the bands at school. As bad as I played, I loved to be in
front of an audience performing. After that I started practising more and
eventually realised I should join a band. My dad was the main influence
when it came to joining bands. I looked at it all he has done and thought
...
“This is definitely what I want to do”. |
MM - Have any members of
the band been in other bands previous to My 21 Grams?
Alex: I was in many bands before, never in the UK though. I used to try
everything, from metal to pop or electronic.
Craig: Blake and I have been in bands together
since school. We’ve done Punk, Metal, Blues and lots of Rock n Roll!
Gary: I’ve played in lots of bands from jazz to
heavy metal. But I didn’t have much success until I moved to London and
did my own thing as a singer/songwriter. I released a single under Starvue
Entertainment in 2002.
Blake: I think the reason we work so well together is because we know what
we want. It takes time to find yourself musically I believe, but we have
all experienced quite a lot already. We know when it’s working and when
it’s not. I never found it easy being in a band until now. In the past
it’s always been political or just frustrating when everyone’s pulling in
different directions. But now it’s about wanting the same things and
working hard for each other.
|
MM - Where did the bands
name come from and what does it represent to you? Can you remember any of
the other names that were considered at the time? |
|
 |
Craig: My 21 Grams come from the story of Duncan
MacDougall and his experiment to try and attempt to weigh the soul. We
found the story funny and interesting and just went with it. Other names
included Ezekiel, which the majority of us didn’t like and Black Daze,
which was a name too similar to past projects.
Jack: I remember where we were when we decided on
the name. Park Gate Studios in East Sussex. I also remember Cicatrix being
another name thrown around. That would’ve sucked.
Blake: Band names are a nightmare. I much prefer naming tracks. It’s so
hard to try sum up your band in a slogan or whatever. |
MM - How does the song
writing process work within the band, is it down to one particular person
or do you all get involved?
Craig: We all pretty
much come up with ideas, whether it's working on riffs at home or jamming
out at rehearsals. Blake is our composer, he’s the ideas man when it comes
to a concept or arrangements, but we all try and get ideas in there and
we’re quite open with each other if we feel something is or isn’t working
we’re not afraid to say so. We try as much as possible to write as a
collective, so that everyone in the band is doing something and adding his
own personality to the songs.
Alex: We’re all
involved in the process. Ideas come from each one of us and at that point
the others know what to do. We trust each other as songwriters and we take
critiques. We would make a great football team!
Blake: I’ve never
been one of those songwriters who claim it’s really easy writing songs and
only takes 5 minutes. I find it exhausting sometimes. That’s why I feel
blessed to have the guys around me who can shoulder song-writing
responsibilities and can put those ideas across. They’re all excellent
musicians and that’s why I’m so happy with what we’re doing and what we’ve
done together.
MM - Name your favourite 5
albums of all time and what they have meant to you personally.
Craig: They would
have to be Pearl Jam, Ten – Steve Vai, Passion & Warfare – Van Halen, Van
Halen – Jimi Hendrix, Experience – RATM, Rage Against The Machine. All for
so many reasons but all mainly as the albums simply rock!!
Gary: Police – Outlandos d’amour, Hendrix – Axis … Bound as Love, Beatles – The White
Album, Rage Against the Machine – Evil Empire, Deep Purple – Deep Purple
in Rock.
Alex: You’d also need to have "Smashing Pumpkins: Mellon Collie and
the Infinite Sadness!"
Blake: I’d add Iron Maiden – Number of the Beast. It's something I grew up
with and was the first album I loved. RATM, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Guns
and Roses were a huge influence on me personally. But I love the Beatles,
Stones, The Who, Zeppelin and loads of other bands. It’s a difficult
question to answer as my tastes change daily.
Jack: Naming 5 is a hard one. Off the top of my head though I can name
“Animosity” by Sevendust to be one. Sevendust are my favourite band and I
consider that album to ‘represent’ their sound. “Get Some” by Snot. I
feel that Snot were ahead of their time, they might be considered ‘nu-metal’,
but they were doing things well before nu-metal bands started. For the
record, I don’t consider them nu-metal!
MM - Who, in your opinion,
is the greatest genius of all time in the music business and why?
Gary: Col. Tim Parker, Elvis Manager. In my opinion, a ruthless bastard
who knew what he wanted and got it.
Jack: Dave Grohl is certainly one to get my vote.
Alex: Apparently, nowadays in order to succeed in music you need to be a
good businessman as well. From that point of view I would say Marilyn
Manson or Green Day. Genius is who started something truly original, I
would then name Jimi Hendrix or Black Sabbath. My final answer is Radiohead, as a whole. They are more than a great idea at the right
moment. They are free.
|
MM - How has the Internet
helped spread the word about the band and do you feel downloading is
actually harming the scene or perhaps helping to keep it alive?
Craig: The Internet has helped us immensely. Our my space page
makes it so much easier for us to contact
our fans, friends and for us to get our
music out there. We’ve had almost 7,000
hits on my space and that speaks for
itself. The world can hear our music
thanks to the Internet. Downloading
can |
only help the scene. Music
should be easily accessible for anyone and
the Internet allows that to happen.
Alex: I love the potential of the Internet. It is a fair revolution of the
individual, and an even fairer "Fuck Off" to a music business that is a
smiling corpse. I'd love a world where everybody can express to whoever is
listening. The trouble with music on the Internet is it's overcrowding and
difficulty to find what you’re looking for. Record labels need to embrace
the future of music and stop trying to spoil it. They'll creep into the
Internet adding their rules and they'll end up owning it with everybody in
it. I am in favour of free downloading, nobody should ever see making
music as a job.
Blake: We’ve has over 10,200 plays of our songs on the Internet. You’d not
be able to match that sending out demos so that respect the Internet is an
amazing tool for an artist to have.
Jack: It helps that there are sites now like Myspace where you can put
your music up for free, and people will be able to surf the web and find
you. Then if they like you, they can get their friends to look too. But
also the piracy on the Internet in some ways is harming the scene I’d
imagine. I don’t know a great deal about it but it seems to be the main
issue people have with downloading music for free. |
|
MM - If you were doing a
gig on a desert island and could only bring one instrument with you for
the whole band, what would it be and why? |
Alex: Well, it has to be an instrument, as I can't really remove my vocal
chords. It would be a guitar.
Craig: It would have to
be an acoustic guitar that way we can still write songs together and then
once we were rescued we’d have a shit load of new ideas to play with when
we got back for a new album.
Gary: Definitely the
guitar. Everything starts with the guitar.
Jack: I suppose we
could see what we can do with a tuba? I’d definitely want to take my whole
drum kit just because I’d probably go insane not hitting things, and
resort to beating the guys up! |
 |
MM - Tell us something that
most people don't know, never have known, and probably never would know
about you if they don't read this.
Alex: That we don't
take drugs and we go to sleep always before it's dark.
Blake: I’ve recently started taking Jui Jitsu classes! It’s a lot of fun
but getting beaten up for 4 hours a week isn’t great for your body!
Jack: My Dad was actually the drummer for AC/DC back in the day. Look him
up, his name's Chris Slade.
Gary: Yeah, he played Whole Lotta Rosie with us one time, very cool.
MM - For you, what have
been the 3 high points of 2006 and what do you hope 2007 will hold for the
band?
Craig: The tour with The Glitterati, it was great
to go on the road with those guys they were a great bunch of lads. The
video shoot to Blackout, which was a good laugh and all the new material,
we’ve written which we will soon be playing in our set.
Blake: For me, getting out on the road is amazing. You meet so many
different people and enjoy so many different experiences. Song writing is
all about life experiences for me so I find inspiration every time we play
live. I’m not one to reflect the past; I’m always looking to the future. I’m sure 2007 will be about us starting to make a mark on the music scene. We’ve built up a great fan base, a live set we’re all proud of and now
we’re going to take some tracks to the studio and make sure people can
hear us.
Jack: For me the tour with The Glitterati was the biggest high point. Not
just for getting out and playing across the country, but the fun that was
had. Especially in Glasgow … or what I can remember of it. Max, Andy, Nick –
I’m looking at you guys!
Alex: 1) Studio
2) Tour
3) My new boots
MM - Finally is there
anything you’d like to say to all our readers out there?
Craig: We hope to see
you all soon and keep checking out
www.myspace.com/my21grams, as we’ll be
posting new tracks soon.
Blake: Thank you to
the Mayfair Mall Zine for taking time to check us out and |
 |
showing a genuine
interest in our band. We want to get back to Newcastle at some point this
year and with your support we know it’ll happen!
Gary: It’s hard to
know if you can trust bands these days, but we’re the real deal. We’ll
always give you our time and be true to what we believe.
Alex: If they don't
shut up, why not play louder?
Jack: If you haven’t heard our music yet, get listening! Check out the myspace at
www.myspace.com/my21grams and let us know who you are and where
you are, then maybe we’ll end up playing shows around your way. I’m sure
the others feel the same, but I’m eager to get back out on the road to
show you all what we’re made of. |
MM - We'd like to thank the lads for taking the time out to talk to us
today and look forward to seeing them back out on the road again.
This band really do rock with their all, but don't just take our word for it, check out their website and
give their songs a listen for yoruself.
|
