Full of quaint, pokey streets and home to King’s College, Cambridge might not be your first thought when thinking skull-crushing, pummelling music (it certainly wasn’t mine). Well, think again because The Grey come charging out that city like the proverbial bear with a sore head, delivering a finely nuanced sound that’s also heavy as hell. With latest album, KODOK, out in the world and garnering great reviews and a busy summer scheduled we couldn’t resist cornering the band (Steve Moore, drums, Charlie Gration, guitars, and Andy Price, bass) at this year’s Uprising festival to get the latest news.
You’re fresh off stage. How has your Uprising experience been so far?
Andy: I don’t think “fresh” is a word I’d use!
Charlie: It’s been fantastic. This has been the second Uprising we’ve had the pleasure of playing and it has been amazing. It’s a killer line-up and I’m looking forward to seeing all the bands playing.
Steve: It has been superb, and the whole crew and staff have been killer, we couldn’t ask for better.
Are you the type of band who look back and evaluate your set?
Steve: I do, because I record every show then go back and critique it.
Charlie: I think everybody does that. There’s that element to it, but also it is live music so it’s all about that magic and harnessing that energy. They’ll always be those little fluffs here and there, but as a band we are always looking to grow and expand and improve as we go along.
Andy: It’s about recognising that 100% is not always needed in terms of precision; it’s also about pushing that energy out there, as long as that feel and vibe is there, that’s the important thing. We’ve got lots of energy to burn off, so we like to run around occasionally.
You all seem chilled offstage but something strange happens when you pick up instruments and you tend to get a bit crazy. How do you psyche yourself up for a set?
Andy: I think it’s something that just happens. When it is showtime we just flip and get into it.
Charlie: It’s very much the music, but also the camaraderie, the brotherhood between us and what we are trying to achieve with this band.
Steve: I think it’s the sum of parts, really. We are like a chain of dominoes; when one of us goes, the next does and we start egging each other on.
Andy: Definitely, I’ll be on stage and I’ll look over and see Charlie going that little bit harder and it makes me raise my game, then I look and see Steve going crazy… I’m not sure if I know any other way to play. I debuted for a doom band a little while ago and I was still swatting bees with my bass.
We saw you recently at The Tin Arts venue in Coventry. Do you approach festival and club dates differently?
Charlie: I don’t think so, no. We could be in a room with two people or playing to a large crowd, it’s all the same, we take care of business and try to annihilate it. Also, the musical journey through our songs, the heavier and mellower parts, we just try to be honest and get that energy across. Each time we play, even at rehearsals, we try to create that vibe so when we play live we bring that feeling.
Andy: We’re weirdly driven, the three of us; we each have this “in” and then we push it all out, so it doesn’t matter if we are playing to two people and a dog, the energy all comes from the same place. It’s not a case that we’re feeding off the crowd or we need the crowd to do something; all the energy comes from within and we push it out, it all comes from the chemistry we share.
How do you three get so heavy?
Charlie: Again, it’s all the sum of the parts. We all lock into each other and it wouldn’t sound the same if anything changed.
Steve: To add to that, it all comes from Charlie in terms of the riffs. Andy and I always have a say, but Charlie is the one who makes the noise and we are there to accompany it really.
Your music is (largely) instrumental. Was that a conscious choice or could you not find a suitable vocalist?
Charlie: The original idea of the band was to have a standard format with a vocalist, and as time went on I think it was one of those happy accidents where we found our own path, and this is where its led. This is just the way it has evolved, it wasn’t our intention to form an instrumental band; we love Russian Circles, Pelican, Bossk, even though they have vocal elements, but the whole vibe of this band is honest music and it has transpired that we ended up playing instrumentally and this allows us to blend different styles. Andy does sing some vocals for us, and in the studio we are so lucky to have so many cool guest vocalists and musicians contributing. So we can be instrumental, it can be vocalised, and it can be a remix.
Andy: The thing with our music is that it is layered so it builds towards a crescendo, and vocals can be another layer to make it sound bigger.
Charlie: And with Andy’s lyrics on ‘CHVRCH’, it’s a layer and a part of the song as opposed to a vocalist singing on it. It’s like another instrument and another piece of the puzzle, that gets the energy across.
Your new album has been out in the world for three months. How easy is it to let go of something that personal and put it out in the world?
Charlie: We had to do that already; our label is based in Sweden so there’s the time factor to throw in the mix, we realised a while back that we’d have to let go and set it free.
Andy: I’d kind of say it has been a relief. We’d been recording it for quite a while and Charlie works magic with the producer, but we’ve been working on it for a while, then we had to get the artwork sorted, then we had the wait to get the vinyl pressed, so it has been a relief to let go and get it out.
Steve: And big respect to True Spilt Milk for doing the artwork…and for putting up with my constant demands.
Andy: It took us quite a while to get to this point, so it’s really good to have it out there. It’s also nerve wracking because we know the ins and outs of that record, and it is strange to hear people read it differently, but it’s also nice to find out which parts they like. The reception to ‘Painted Lady’, for example. None of us thought that ‘Painted Lady’ was going to be the song that struck a chord with people, but that seems to be the one I get most comments about.
Steve: And ‘Sharpen The Knife’ as well, that’s a big one on Bandcamp.
So where next musically?
Charlie: We are two-and-a-half songs in on the next album, but we are in a lucky position where we have so many festivals and live dates coming up so it’s all about KODOK at the moment.
Steve: We’re just enjoying the ride at the moment. Because of everybody who contributed to this album, we want to make sure as many people as possible hear it.
Charlie: I think that next year we’ll start getting the next bunch of songs together, but for now lots of live dates coming up.
You’ll be playing the UK’s biggest festivals; ArcTanGent, Bloodstock, Download. Are you excited or nervous?
Steve: We are really stoked. Uprising is our first festival of the year, we’ve been out and about, we’ve had week long tours of England and Scotland, so it feels like we’re firing on all cylinders and we can’t wait.
Finally, if I had a magic wand and could make one wish come true for The Grey, what’d it be?
Charlie: A tour with Alice In Chains.
Andy: Roadburn or Hellfest.
Steve: A tour with Oasis.
Interview by Peter Dennis