Post by tackhead311 on Aug 7, 2009 16:29:39 GMT -5
[glow=red,2,300]Gren was a power-pop trio consisting of Brett White (vocals, guitar), Marcus Gonzales (bass) and John "Possum" Hill (drums).
Gren formed in Los Angeles, California, USA, in the spring of 1994. The band was signed to I.R.S. Records[1] and released their first full-length album, Camp Grenada[2], in 1995. Recorded in 10 days and produced by Tim O'Heir (Sebadoh, Belly, Dinosaur Jr) at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, it was promoted by several North American tours including a support slot on the Ramones' Adios Amigos Farewell Tour[3] in 1995 and 1996. The record's grungy pop-punk sound drew immediate comparisons with Green Day and Nirvana.
Gren had a Billboard Top 40 Hot Mainstream Rock radio single[4]with "She Shines" in 1996 and a video for "She Shines" directed by Mark Miremont was aired on MTV's 120 Minutes in January of that same year.source wikipedia
After the fall of I.R.S. Records in 1996, Gren disbanded[/glow]
I got to catch up with Brett ask him a few questions and it was a honour for me. Gren was one of the best live bands i saw in the 90s its a shame they didnt make it bigger.
1 You were on tour with The Ramones on there Adios Amigo's tour. How was that?
Probably about as exciting as you can imagine. Every show was sold out, so, we went from playing to 50-100 people per night to 2000+. They were mostly standoffish. However, we had moments when Marky and CJ would break the proverbial ice. Sadly, I think any chance of a friendly rapport with Joey was eliminated when Marcus (our bass player) accidentally walked in on him while he was on the toilet at a show in Philly. Try being BFFs after something like that. Impossible.
2 Gren was compared to Nirvana and Green Day a lot and I did not see the connection, so how did you feel about those comparisons?
Well, I'd be lying if I said Nirvana wasn't an influence, if not a downright motivation. We used the quiet-verse-to-heavy-chorus formula that Cobain made famous. Our songs had a pop-punk feel to them and a bit of humor like Green Day. It's a fair comparison, IMHO. That's easy to say this many years later, by the way.
3 What was behind the name Gren?
Truth be told, it's absolutely meaningless. I made up the moniker "Gren" to serve as my name when I placed ads looking for bandmates. In retrospect, I really don't know why I felt the need to be all mysterious, using some made up name. When it came time to name the band, we figured we'd keep the sound of that name but change the spelling to the more traditional "Grin". We ended up having to revert back to "Gren" after discovering that Nils Lofgren had a band called "Grin". I know, it's confusing.
4 What are your former band-mates up to these days? Any more reunion tours planned or new music from Gren on the horizon?
We're all married with somewhat traditional jobs. I surf with Marcus several times a week and I see Possum occasionally at get-togethers. He and I saw the Van Halen/David Lee Roth Tour a couple of years ago. Possum still works in entertainment. Marcus and I are desk jockeys. :-( I really should've lied here, huh?
We uploaded a bunch of unreleased demos and such to our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Gren/38916177831), but, we have no plans for writing anything new.
Reunion tours? Haaahaahaha...you really think our families would let us out to do that? :-) Seriously, we did a reunion show a couple of years ago and even rehearsed for a second show as recent as December. However, we kind of lost steam when we found that we couldn't get a good weekend slot here in town. I guess there's not much demand for a 15 year old band that didn't get very far. Who knew?
5 What was the coolest venue Gren got to play? What was the largest crowd? And was it nerve wracking?
Coolest? Personally, I'd go with the Ramones show at the Palladium. That show kind of validated us (in our minds) since L.A. somewhat shunned us from the get-go. To be able to come back and play one of the most high-profile shows that year was a real kick in the pants.
Largest crowd? We've side-staged a few 50,000 plus festivals, however, they weren't all lined up to watch us so that doesn't count. I guess I'd have to go with an outdoor show with the Ramones in Pittsburgh. That was probably a 15,000+ captive audience in front of us.
Once you get enough shows under your belt, the performance becomes automatic. No nerves. Beer helps.
6 What was your favorite Gren show?
Our reunion show in 2006. It represents what all bands want to see - a venue packed with people who are there to see them play. That was a great night!
7 How did you guys hook up?
Free ads placed in Music Connection magazine. I know that probably sounds archaic like we were using hieroglyphics and carving messages on stone tablets, but, there was no proliferation of the internet in 1994. Al Gore was still working on it back then.
8 So, what were your musical influences?
My influences were and shall always be Van Halen, REM and 70s/80s pop music. However, at the time, I was paying close attention to what was on the radio as well. So, I have to admit to being influenced by Nirvana, Weezer and Green Day. It would be absurd not to mention them.
9 If you were putting a Brett White All-Star band together, who would be in it?
I don't know. But I'm pretty sure I'd want a keytarist in the mix. Possibly Yoko.
10 Have you heard of the game Rock Band? If yes, have you played it ?
Yes. I occasionally come out from under my rock. :-) I've played it but I am simply no good at it. My kids are much better. I can totally kick there asses on Tony Hawk though.
11 How do you feel about the music games and how would you feel if your music was in the game?
I guess if those types of music games can turn kids on to some older, great/classic bands that they would have otherwise missed, I'm all for it. How would I feel if our music was in the game? I'd feel bad for the guy responsible because he probably got his pink slip right after.
12 Any advice for young people just starting out in the music industry?
You have a level playing field since "the industry" as I knew it is completely gone. Create and share your music. Don't do it for the money because there simply isn't any.
13 What is in your musical library these days? Who do you enjoy?
I have about 1500 songs on my iPod. I listen to roughly 25 of them. Mostly old Van Halen. Old dog...new tricks...yadda, yadda...
14 Any thing on the music horizon for Brett white?
I recently learned how to play the extended solo from "My Sharona". Does that count?
Thank you so much for a chance to interview you. My very first one. lol. I hope I did not suck too bad!
You and me both, man. :-)
Thanks ron
Gren formed in Los Angeles, California, USA, in the spring of 1994. The band was signed to I.R.S. Records[1] and released their first full-length album, Camp Grenada[2], in 1995. Recorded in 10 days and produced by Tim O'Heir (Sebadoh, Belly, Dinosaur Jr) at Cherokee Studios in Los Angeles, it was promoted by several North American tours including a support slot on the Ramones' Adios Amigos Farewell Tour[3] in 1995 and 1996. The record's grungy pop-punk sound drew immediate comparisons with Green Day and Nirvana.
Gren had a Billboard Top 40 Hot Mainstream Rock radio single[4]with "She Shines" in 1996 and a video for "She Shines" directed by Mark Miremont was aired on MTV's 120 Minutes in January of that same year.source wikipedia
After the fall of I.R.S. Records in 1996, Gren disbanded[/glow]
I got to catch up with Brett ask him a few questions and it was a honour for me. Gren was one of the best live bands i saw in the 90s its a shame they didnt make it bigger.
1 You were on tour with The Ramones on there Adios Amigo's tour. How was that?
Probably about as exciting as you can imagine. Every show was sold out, so, we went from playing to 50-100 people per night to 2000+. They were mostly standoffish. However, we had moments when Marky and CJ would break the proverbial ice. Sadly, I think any chance of a friendly rapport with Joey was eliminated when Marcus (our bass player) accidentally walked in on him while he was on the toilet at a show in Philly. Try being BFFs after something like that. Impossible.
2 Gren was compared to Nirvana and Green Day a lot and I did not see the connection, so how did you feel about those comparisons?
Well, I'd be lying if I said Nirvana wasn't an influence, if not a downright motivation. We used the quiet-verse-to-heavy-chorus formula that Cobain made famous. Our songs had a pop-punk feel to them and a bit of humor like Green Day. It's a fair comparison, IMHO. That's easy to say this many years later, by the way.
3 What was behind the name Gren?
Truth be told, it's absolutely meaningless. I made up the moniker "Gren" to serve as my name when I placed ads looking for bandmates. In retrospect, I really don't know why I felt the need to be all mysterious, using some made up name. When it came time to name the band, we figured we'd keep the sound of that name but change the spelling to the more traditional "Grin". We ended up having to revert back to "Gren" after discovering that Nils Lofgren had a band called "Grin". I know, it's confusing.
4 What are your former band-mates up to these days? Any more reunion tours planned or new music from Gren on the horizon?
We're all married with somewhat traditional jobs. I surf with Marcus several times a week and I see Possum occasionally at get-togethers. He and I saw the Van Halen/David Lee Roth Tour a couple of years ago. Possum still works in entertainment. Marcus and I are desk jockeys. :-( I really should've lied here, huh?
We uploaded a bunch of unreleased demos and such to our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Gren/38916177831), but, we have no plans for writing anything new.
Reunion tours? Haaahaahaha...you really think our families would let us out to do that? :-) Seriously, we did a reunion show a couple of years ago and even rehearsed for a second show as recent as December. However, we kind of lost steam when we found that we couldn't get a good weekend slot here in town. I guess there's not much demand for a 15 year old band that didn't get very far. Who knew?
5 What was the coolest venue Gren got to play? What was the largest crowd? And was it nerve wracking?
Coolest? Personally, I'd go with the Ramones show at the Palladium. That show kind of validated us (in our minds) since L.A. somewhat shunned us from the get-go. To be able to come back and play one of the most high-profile shows that year was a real kick in the pants.
Largest crowd? We've side-staged a few 50,000 plus festivals, however, they weren't all lined up to watch us so that doesn't count. I guess I'd have to go with an outdoor show with the Ramones in Pittsburgh. That was probably a 15,000+ captive audience in front of us.
Once you get enough shows under your belt, the performance becomes automatic. No nerves. Beer helps.
6 What was your favorite Gren show?
Our reunion show in 2006. It represents what all bands want to see - a venue packed with people who are there to see them play. That was a great night!
7 How did you guys hook up?
Free ads placed in Music Connection magazine. I know that probably sounds archaic like we were using hieroglyphics and carving messages on stone tablets, but, there was no proliferation of the internet in 1994. Al Gore was still working on it back then.
8 So, what were your musical influences?
My influences were and shall always be Van Halen, REM and 70s/80s pop music. However, at the time, I was paying close attention to what was on the radio as well. So, I have to admit to being influenced by Nirvana, Weezer and Green Day. It would be absurd not to mention them.
9 If you were putting a Brett White All-Star band together, who would be in it?
I don't know. But I'm pretty sure I'd want a keytarist in the mix. Possibly Yoko.
10 Have you heard of the game Rock Band? If yes, have you played it ?
Yes. I occasionally come out from under my rock. :-) I've played it but I am simply no good at it. My kids are much better. I can totally kick there asses on Tony Hawk though.
11 How do you feel about the music games and how would you feel if your music was in the game?
I guess if those types of music games can turn kids on to some older, great/classic bands that they would have otherwise missed, I'm all for it. How would I feel if our music was in the game? I'd feel bad for the guy responsible because he probably got his pink slip right after.
12 Any advice for young people just starting out in the music industry?
You have a level playing field since "the industry" as I knew it is completely gone. Create and share your music. Don't do it for the money because there simply isn't any.
13 What is in your musical library these days? Who do you enjoy?
I have about 1500 songs on my iPod. I listen to roughly 25 of them. Mostly old Van Halen. Old dog...new tricks...yadda, yadda...
14 Any thing on the music horizon for Brett white?
I recently learned how to play the extended solo from "My Sharona". Does that count?
Thank you so much for a chance to interview you. My very first one. lol. I hope I did not suck too bad!
You and me both, man. :-)
Thanks ron
