Granite Rose Garage Rock
rockers embrace raw recordings and AC/DC
In his acceptance speech at the Grammys in 2012, Dave Grohl talked about his award-winning record, Walk, and how he and the Foo Fighters recorded it while playing live together in a garage.
He spoke about how important the human element and embracing imperfection was in the music making process. I recently had the opportunity to listen to a record from another band that has chosen to embrace that very same human element and the imperfections it carries with it.
That band is the locally-rooted Granite Rose, who recently recorded their new album, Worlds Apart. The six songs that make up this record were all recorded within 12 hours, with the band playing together at the same time (a rarity these days) and the music essentially being mixed simultaneously (by their incredibly talented producer, Mark Golde of Rock Garden Studios in Appleton, Wis.).
The final touches were made by Mastering Engineer, Emily Lazar, who worked on the Foo Fighters’ Wasting Light album.
The band briefly chronicled this process in a mini-documentary called “Sound of a City,” which recently premiered on HM Magazine (and was shot and edited by HM photographer, Kyle Lehman). Within a minute of viewing this video, it was immediately apparent why these guys chose to record the way they did. The words “Real. Raw. Reckless.” are seen early on in the film and they fit.
This band’s authenticity, raw emotion, and penchant for risk-taking is evident in their music and a live recording effort with an aggressive time limit feels right for these guys.
One of the most noteworthy elements of the video for me was seeing Nick Anderson belt out the opening lines of “Friends All Around.” Without seeing him actually singing, you would think that the person singing those notes and singing them that high would have big, long hair and wear some spandex. But that’s not what you get. No, Anderson looks like any normal Eau Clairian dude. But what comes out of him vocally and artistically is anything but “normal.” It is indeed real, raw, and reckless... and so, so good.
One reason Anderson wanted to make “Sound of a City” was to show the authenticity of the band, its talent, and its approach to making music.
“We wanted to show people that it was real. Granite Rose loves playing, and all of us playing together is when the magic happens,” Anderson said. “We wanted to show everyone that this whole recording in a room together live thing was real ... Instead of people just hearing the album, we wanted them to see an inside look at the badass process we used to record it.”
The six songs on Worlds Apart are every bit as real, raw, and reckless as the process used to play and record them. It is evident from the get-go that the band’s three members, Nick Anderson (lead vocals/bass), Galen Keily (guitar), and Trevor Peck (drums), know what they’re doing. They are excellent at their craft. And they make each other better, which is one of the compelling reasons they recorded this album the way they did.
In the title track, the lyrics and the tone throughout paint a vivid picture of the distance between two people and the agony that distance is causing. Then there’s the fun, party vibe of Friends All Around. When that one gets going, it sounds reminiscent of something from Poison or Motley Crue, and it’s fun feel is a nice change of pace. But, a clear standout by far is the last track, “Hang Me,” every bit as sober as the title suggests.
After listening to Worlds Apart, I was emotional. First of all, it was refreshing. I love indie folk and indie rock just as much as the next guy, but it was nice to hear a local band doing some straight forward rock and roll.
“This album stands out because of how it sounds, and how those sounds were made. It sounds warm, it sounds natural, most importantly, it sounds real,” Anderson said.
“There’s mistakes, there’s imperfections, and there’s a whole lotta rock n’ roll.”
Couldn’t agree more.
