Grandad

How did the band form?

The band was initially formed by James and Josh during the pandemic, when support bubbles were first implemented. We demo’d some rough tracks from James’ bedroom and managed to grab the attention of guitarist/vocalist Matt through the website ‘Join My Band’. This was soon followed by our close childhood friend Harri picking up bass and banter duties.

Tell us about the new single ‘About Him'?

About Him is a song written by brothers James (drums) and Josh (guitar/vocals). The track takes a nostalgic, uplifting journey through the memories and emotions that were experienced since losing their Grandfather to cancer in 2015.

Why did you pick this track as the lead to the Ep? How does it set the tone for the other tracks?

About Him actually differs thematically from the rest of the songs on the EP. Most of the tracks explore themes of isolation, rejection, anxiety and heartbreak. Whereas About Him takes a much more literal and personal direction. We chose to release it as the single as it became a track that is very close to our hearts, whilst giving the listener a well-rounded taste of our sound. We also felt that it would really resonate with people that have experienced the devastating effects of the disease and the release date ended up accidentally coinciding with world cancer day!

How did you pick your band name?

The band was formed around the same time that Josh became a dad, meaning that James and Josh’s Dad became a Grandad. In addition to this, 2020 marked five years since the death of their own Grandad, so it felt like a fitting homage to a family member that we were extremely close to.

What other other bands inspire you?

Much like many other bands, we have a huge list of influences across a multitude of genres from hip-hop to hardcore. However, bands such as HUM, Deftones, Failure, Superheaven and Balance and Composure have all been hugely influential to our sound.

What live gigs do you have coming up?

We’re playing a sick venue called Hot Box Live in Chelmsford on May 14th alongside our friends in SHEER. Also, we’d love to find a way onto the Are You Listening? Festival line up this summer, so if anyone reading this has the hook up - slide in our DMs!

Name two other bands on the local scene we should check out.

Gotta give some love to DR SATSO! We don’t even know what genre they are…which can only be a good thing, haha! They put on a sick live show and are a properly talented bunch of individuals, so go give their album ‘A Sour Milk Experience’ a spin and make sure you catch them at a show - you won’t regret it!

Although they’re not local to Reading, it would be a crime for us not to shout out the boys in SHEER over in Chelmsford. Their debut EP is full of back to back shoegaze belters, and on top of that they’re some of the soundest individuals we’ve had the pleasure of sharing a stage with. Go chuck them some pennies on Bandcamp, they truly deserve to be on top of the British shoegaze scene!

What’s next for Grandad?

First Reading, then the world…I jest haha! I think ultimately we’d love to continue to build and refine the sound we’ve established, to really see how far we can push our abilities. We’ve learnt so much in the process of writing and recording these songs and now that we have the building blocks, I think there are some very exciting times ahead of us! We’re all really proud of this release and have been sat on some of these songs for two years, so we can’t wait to see how they're received!

The debut EP 'Walk Around Me' is out 4th March 2022. The single 'About Him' is out now!