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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.
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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!
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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.
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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
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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”.
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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.
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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
- 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.
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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
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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.
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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!
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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
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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.
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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 yourself. |