GrimRock | Matt Connarton Unleashed

0:00 Speaker 1: Well you heard it here first. That is the world

0:01 Speaker 1: radio premiere of the new single from grim Rock that

0:04 Speaker 1: is called Cast a Shadow. And by the way, for

0:06 Speaker 1: those of you watching online, you can see I've got

0:09 Speaker 1: my grim Rock shirt on that I wore for the occasion.

0:12 Speaker 1: And let's see if we have Grim on the line

0:13 Speaker 1: with us. Grim Are you there? Yes, I am, how

0:16 Speaker 1: are you hey? It's good to speak with you. I

0:18 Speaker 1: love the new song. You know, we're big fans here,

0:21 Speaker 1: of course, you know. We love that sort of garage

0:23 Speaker 1: rock vibe. That's so cool. But I think that's your

0:26 Speaker 1: best one yet. That's my personal favorite so far. I

0:28 Speaker 1: really like that song a lot.

0:31 Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I actually did this one in a

0:34 Speaker 2: regular studio, you know, to give it a different effect,

0:37 Speaker 2: you know than what I normally do. You know.

0:39 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's still it still captures that same sort of vibe,

0:43 Speaker 1: but I did notice just sonically, it's definitely an upgrade.

0:48 Speaker 1: Can you tell us about that, because and I'm curious

0:50 Speaker 1: too to Obviously we've talked before. You've been on the

0:53 Speaker 1: show a number of times. But for listeners who might

0:56 Speaker 1: not have been familiar with you, you know, I know from

0:59 Speaker 1: our previous conversations that your process used to be. You know,

1:02 Speaker 1: you were kind of doing it all DIY, but you

1:04 Speaker 1: did mention going to a studio this time, and like

1:06 Speaker 1: I said, it's definitely an upgrade. So yeah, tell us

1:08 Speaker 1: about that.

1:10 Speaker 2: So yeah, you know, I did all my other tracks

1:12 Speaker 2: at my home studio and the last ones I sent

1:14 Speaker 2: out the Pine Box Studios in Connecticut, HA done for

1:17 Speaker 2: g R five And I have a friend is named

1:20 Speaker 2: mister Bob. He runs a Rhythmhouse studios in Hilo, Pennsylvania,

1:25 Speaker 2: about an hour from my house, and I go. I

1:28 Speaker 2: used to go to his open mics, you know, when

1:29 Speaker 2: I get chances, you know, because he does them on

1:31 Speaker 2: Saturday nights and he has a studio there and it's

1:34 Speaker 2: a really nice setup and he's a really good person.

1:37 Speaker 2: And he actually got a physical set of drums, micd

1:40 Speaker 2: up there and everything, and that was something I felt

1:42 Speaker 2: that I was missing in all the other tracks. While

1:45 Speaker 2: the drums sounded good, they weren't an analog set, you

1:49 Speaker 2: know what I mean. Yeah, And that was one of

1:51 Speaker 2: the drivers, you know, I wanted to go in there

1:53 Speaker 2: do that, get to clean up the vocals, you know,

1:56 Speaker 2: things like that. And being he had that studio there,

1:59 Speaker 2: and we've talked. I couldn't tell you how many times

2:01 Speaker 2: we talked about it. I finally committed to it, So

2:03 Speaker 2: I'll be doing the whole album there, Oh, very good.

2:05 Speaker 1: So the whole album. So you're how many? I mean,

2:09 Speaker 1: have you already started the album or obviously this? I

2:11 Speaker 1: assume this track is going to be on it, right.

2:14 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's gonna be the first track. That one is

2:16 Speaker 2: first only because it bridges the gap between g R

2:18 Speaker 2: five with like Faded and Abyss to bring it into

2:21 Speaker 2: a familiar realm, and then I can expand from there.

2:23 Speaker 2: But it's gonna be ten tracks in the end.

2:25 Speaker 1: Oh, very good, Very good. That's a big commitment. Ten tracks.

2:28 Speaker 1: I'm always curious to know, because you know, we live

2:31 Speaker 1: in an era where you've got so many different options

2:33 Speaker 1: in terms of how you release music. You know, a

2:35 Speaker 1: lot of artists will do an EP, some will do

2:38 Speaker 1: a series of singles. It might eventually coalesce into an

2:41 Speaker 1: EP or an album, kind of the inverse of what

2:44 Speaker 1: it was, at least when I was growing up, where

2:45 Speaker 1: it was. You know, the album comes first and then

2:47 Speaker 1: you release the singles. But what what went into your

2:50 Speaker 1: decision to do a ten song album.

2:55 Speaker 2: Well, I've wanted to do albums before, and I come

2:58 Speaker 2: up short on them, you know, with like and Rock

3:00 Speaker 2: Radio was like six tracks, yeah, like five officially and

3:03 Speaker 2: that acoustic track, and you know, I kept going and

3:06 Speaker 2: I was like, man, I really want to do a

3:07 Speaker 2: whole album. And g R five was the closest I

3:09 Speaker 2: had to a whole album with eight tracks, and I

3:12 Speaker 2: was like, you know what, I'm just going to do

3:13 Speaker 2: it this time. I'm going all out, since I'm going

3:15 Speaker 2: to have studio time and you know tech, you know,

3:17 Speaker 2: detect there to be able to make it sound you know,

3:21 Speaker 2: better than what I had. Yeah, and I'm just going

3:23 Speaker 2: to go for it.

3:24 Speaker 1: Have you started? I mean obviously this track, I mean

3:26 Speaker 1: technically you've started if this track is going to be

3:28 Speaker 1: on the album, But I mean have you started working

3:30 Speaker 1: on the other stuff yet or are you? Are you

3:32 Speaker 1: demoing or where are you in the process? Now?

3:34 Speaker 2: I have probably twenty five starter tracks to choose from

3:38 Speaker 2: and through and I have three of them that are

3:39 Speaker 2: pretty close to completion. Okay, I plan and I plan

3:42 Speaker 2: on going in I think the twenty third of February

3:44 Speaker 2: to record track two and possibly track three, depending on

3:47 Speaker 2: where I get.

3:47 Speaker 1: Okay, okay, any kind of an et I mean, obviously

3:50 Speaker 1: it's a big like I said, it's a big commitment.

3:52 Speaker 1: Any kind of an ETA on when the album might

3:55 Speaker 1: be done and out.

3:57 Speaker 2: Well, I don't know exactly. I'm hoping it before Halloween,

4:01 Speaker 2: you know. Okay, okay, it's kind of the target, you know, yeah, yeah,

4:05 Speaker 2: now and doing it this way.

4:07 Speaker 1: Uh, and again it is an upgrade certainly sonically, But

4:10 Speaker 1: is it is is it hard? Kind of you know,

4:14 Speaker 1: you you do let go a little bit of control

4:16 Speaker 1: right when you're when you're used to doing so much

4:18 Speaker 1: of it with your own process, because everyone has their

4:22 Speaker 1: own process, and now you're you know, it is more

4:25 Speaker 1: collaborative when you're going to a studio and doing it

4:29 Speaker 1: this way and and and working with someone who can

4:31 Speaker 1: really obviously it's advantageous you're working with someone who's bringing

4:35 Speaker 1: out your best sound. But is it also hard to

4:39 Speaker 1: let go of some of that control or because some people,

4:43 Speaker 1: For some people, collaboration is very natural and and but

4:46 Speaker 1: some people kind of struggle with it a little bit.

4:49 Speaker 1: I mean, how is that for you?

4:52 Speaker 2: No, I'm fine with it, you know, and you know

4:55 Speaker 2: the advice he gave me when I was in for

4:56 Speaker 2: the first session was valuable to me. You know, it

5:00 Speaker 2: really helped me out with some certain things, you know,

5:02 Speaker 2: things I was just re loose with before. Yeah, now

5:05 Speaker 2: I had I had to have a structure with it,

5:07 Speaker 2: and you know, I'm thankful to have that kind of

5:10 Speaker 2: guidance from somebody that has the experience. You know.

5:12 Speaker 1: Oh, that's great. Did you know, like at that first session,

5:15 Speaker 1: did you think, Okay, this is where I'm going to

5:17 Speaker 1: do the album, this is this is what I need.

5:20 Speaker 2: Well, I planned on it before and okay, I just

5:22 Speaker 2: I committed to it starting with this track.

5:24 Speaker 1: Oh, okay, gotcha, gotcha? Now what was it that?

5:27 Speaker 2: Uh?

5:29 Speaker 1: It was? Is it Bob? Bob Arthur's Is that the guy? Yes, sir, Okay,

5:35 Speaker 1: Now what was it that caused you to commit to

5:37 Speaker 1: working with him? Because I assume, I mean, you probably

5:40 Speaker 1: talked to or maybe not. I don't know, but you

5:41 Speaker 1: might have talked to some different engineers and producers or like, like,

5:45 Speaker 1: why did you decide to work with Bob?

5:48 Speaker 2: Actually I didn't talk to anybody else.

5:50 Speaker 1: Really.

5:51 Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been at mister Bob's studio because I can

5:54 Speaker 2: say he doesn't open mic on Saturday night Okay. I've

5:56 Speaker 2: been there a lot, like over the last couple of years.

5:59 Speaker 1: Yea.

5:59 Speaker 2: And he even had me as a as a a

6:02 Speaker 2: headliner for Halloween Show like two years ago or whatever.

6:06 Speaker 2: And we've we've talked a lot. Yeah, and I have

6:09 Speaker 2: a lot of a lot of respect for him and

6:11 Speaker 2: he's he's genuinely a really really awesome person, you know. Yeah,

6:15 Speaker 2: and it just it felt comfortable, felt natural, you know,

6:17 Speaker 2: since I've talked to him so much, And like I said,

6:20 Speaker 2: we were going to commit to before for g R five,

6:22 Speaker 2: but things kind of changed over a little bit through

6:25 Speaker 2: the course of it. Yeah, and I figured now's the time,

6:28 Speaker 2: you know, I have a first set of tracks, first

6:30 Speaker 2: set of ideas. I want to get that Paulish sound.

6:33 Speaker 1: Do you plan to for the album? Do you plan

6:35 Speaker 1: to redo any of your earlier work or is it

6:37 Speaker 1: all going to be new stuff?

6:38 Speaker 2: It'll all be new stuff.

6:39 Speaker 1: Okay. Very cool, Very cool. And you said you've got

6:42 Speaker 1: you've got twenty five songs kind of you know, sort

6:45 Speaker 1: of in the queue in your mind that you can

6:47 Speaker 1: you can choose from.

6:48 Speaker 2: Yeah, I have I have about twenty five starters. Okay,

6:51 Speaker 2: that that could be possible for this track. This, you

6:55 Speaker 2: know album, and I guess that I have two other

6:57 Speaker 2: ones y ready pretty close to ready to go. Yeah,

7:00 Speaker 2: I should have it finished up or you know, ready

7:02 Speaker 2: to record in February.

7:04 Speaker 1: So oh, outstanding outstanding? Now? Is there gonna be kind

7:08 Speaker 1: of a theme to the album? Is there something that's

7:10 Speaker 1: going to tie these songs together? Or are you just

7:13 Speaker 1: kind of going with with what sounds good to you,

7:16 Speaker 1: what you feel? I mean, sometimes it's a feel thing, right,

7:19 Speaker 1: you know, songs just feel right together. But sometimes there's

7:22 Speaker 1: there's a theme. What's your approach there?

7:26 Speaker 2: No, this is more gonna be like a feel like

7:28 Speaker 2: g R five wash and I put when I put

7:30 Speaker 2: together g R five, you know, the first track on

7:32 Speaker 2: the album is called Angry. I didn't do that until

7:35 Speaker 2: Absolute Last, and I ended up making that the first

7:38 Speaker 2: track on the album. Yeah, because I felt like it

7:40 Speaker 2: was a heavy, a real quick, you know, shot to

7:43 Speaker 2: the head opener, and you know, then it just kind

7:46 Speaker 2: of graduated in and then then all the songs kind

7:48 Speaker 2: of flowed and like got you know, more advanced, more

7:52 Speaker 2: you know, like a more finished feeling. I think towards

7:56 Speaker 2: the end like fading fading abyss and I'm trying to

7:59 Speaker 2: carry that over with this track and.

8:01 Speaker 1: Be on So yeah, yeah, Now what's the situation there

8:05 Speaker 1: as far as playing live? Have you been playing a

8:08 Speaker 1: lot of shows? I have?

8:11 Speaker 2: I kind of I played all the way about November

8:13 Speaker 2: first last year. Yeah, and I just thought I was

8:16 Speaker 2: gonna focus on trying to get this new album and

8:19 Speaker 2: between the holidays and working whatever else, you know, kind

8:21 Speaker 2: of everything kind of got delayed. Sure, but you know,

8:24 Speaker 2: I've been working on it, and I was just I

8:27 Speaker 2: just played a show in a local place, Connorsvill, Pennsylvania,

8:31 Speaker 2: and I'm actually gonna play a second show there in March,

8:34 Speaker 2: and I have things lined up including come visiting you. Yeah.

8:38 Speaker 1: Yeah, you're gonna be up our way. It'll be great

8:40 Speaker 1: to meet you in person and get to see you

8:42 Speaker 1: live actually in person. That'll be That'll be amazing. Now

8:46 Speaker 1: do we do? We know at this point exactly when?

8:49 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's May thirtieth, May.

8:51 Speaker 1: Thirtieth, Okay, outstanding, outstanding, You're gonna be playing at Terminus, Yeah.

8:57 Speaker 2: I hope. So yeah, Well, I had sent out my

9:02 Speaker 2: feelers and I've gotten I got a couple of different

9:04 Speaker 2: people saying, well, you'd be better off doing this club

9:06 Speaker 2: because it's more your genre of music, and ended up there, Yeah,

9:10 Speaker 2: on referral, and I got an email saying, yeah, we're

9:14 Speaker 2: good to go, but it was from March thirtieth, and

9:15 Speaker 2: I was like, send emo back. I just sent an

9:18 Speaker 2: email back. I'm like, I really hope it's a typo.

9:20 Speaker 2: They're like May thirtieth. I haven't heard anything back yet,

9:23 Speaker 2: but I'm pretty sure they'll probably. I mean, if they

9:26 Speaker 2: email me once, I'm sure they'll go back again. You know. Yeah,

9:28 Speaker 2: excited about that, you know, because it's a whole new

9:31 Speaker 2: environment to be in, you know.

9:33 Speaker 1: Oh, Terminus is a wonderful place. Yeah, And we love

9:35 Speaker 1: Eleanor and Andre good friends of ours, and Jenny and

9:39 Speaker 1: I have known them for a long time. I've known

9:41 Speaker 1: uh jeez, I think I've known them both for more

9:43 Speaker 1: than twenty years now. Oh my god. I'm looking at

9:46 Speaker 1: my calendar and March thirtieth is a Monday and May

9:50 Speaker 1: thirtieth is a Saturday. So I think you're right. I

9:52 Speaker 1: think it was a typo.

9:54 Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm hoping.

9:55 Speaker 1: So I'm pretty sure because they don't do shows on

9:57 Speaker 1: Monday nights there, so if March thirty as a Monday, yeah,

10:00 Speaker 1: I'm sure. She meant May thirtieth, so but but good good,

10:04 Speaker 1: So yeah, Jenny and I are really looking forward to that.

10:06 Speaker 1: So that's that's gonna be wonderful. And then now, so

10:10 Speaker 1: where are you again? For for newer listeners who aren't

10:12 Speaker 1: familiar with you, where where in Pennsylvania are you?

10:15 Speaker 2: I'm right around the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.

10:17 Speaker 1: Okay, what's the scene like there currently? The music scene,

10:21 Speaker 1: it's it's happening.

10:22 Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of a lot of different places to play,

10:25 Speaker 2: especially with original music, and certain ones like the Green

10:29 Speaker 2: Beacon Gallery in Greensburg are really in tune with that.

10:32 Speaker 2: You know. Mister Field is a great person. He has

10:34 Speaker 2: a lot of original acts there, you know, even if

10:37 Speaker 2: they're not even established. I did my first, my very

10:39 Speaker 2: first show is grim Rock there and boyd, I film

10:43 Speaker 2: isn't really added. But he had me back a whole

10:47 Speaker 2: bunch of times after that, so you know, I'm very

10:49 Speaker 2: thankful for him.

10:50 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, excellent. By the way, let's see in the

10:54 Speaker 1: chat room here, Jenny is in there, of course. Hello,

10:58 Speaker 1: she's she's at home. She's not with me today because

11:00 Speaker 1: we're gonna be going We're gonna be doing something later

11:02 Speaker 1: that I'll I'll talk about later on the show. But

11:04 Speaker 1: Katie Michelle is in the chat room and says, we

11:06 Speaker 1: live Grim Love. I do like the short albums, but

11:10 Speaker 1: go big or go home.

11:13 Speaker 2: Right, that's that's tattoo baby, that's my album cover model.

11:16 Speaker 1: Oh yes, oh yes, okay, yep, yep. She was in

11:18 Speaker 1: the she was in the chat room last time we talked.

11:20 Speaker 1: I think, yeah, very good. Let's see we have Paul

11:25 Speaker 1: some Maria the second.

11:28 Speaker 2: Yeah, I know him. He's he does Brownswell Screams. He

11:32 Speaker 2: does like around the Halloween time in Brownsville, Pennsylvania. He

11:36 Speaker 2: does a show that benefits the Brownswell Public Library. And

11:40 Speaker 2: I've been I've played there for him. I'm gonna play

11:42 Speaker 2: there this year as well.

11:42 Speaker 1: Oh very good, very good. Yep, he says, Carnival of

11:45 Speaker 1: Screams September twelve at September twelve, twenty twenty six at

11:50 Speaker 1: the Brownsville Free Public Library. Very good. And he also

11:53 Speaker 1: said Grim is the man.

11:55 Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate that. I appreciate him too, you know.

11:58 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, very nice? Nice? What uh so for people

12:03 Speaker 1: looking for it? What Katie is on the cover of

12:07 Speaker 1: What Again? G R five, the last album g R

12:10 Speaker 1: five yep, yep, yep. I have that actually on the

12:13 Speaker 1: wall in my podcast studio at home too, so people, uh,

12:16 Speaker 1: people tuning into the podcast version of the show might

12:19 Speaker 1: see the might see the album cover. But yeah, excellent, excellent.

12:22 Speaker 1: So now in the local scene there too, like around Pittsburgh,

12:25 Speaker 1: you must I know we've talked about this before, but

12:28 Speaker 1: I mean, you must really stand out right because well,

12:31 Speaker 1: first of all, so your sound is not something that

12:36 Speaker 1: a lot of people are doing. Again, that's sort of

12:37 Speaker 1: it's almost like a garage rock kind of vibe, but

12:40 Speaker 1: a little dark and and but it's also visually, people

12:44 Speaker 1: who have not seen you should go online and check

12:48 Speaker 1: out what you're doing because visually, uh, you really kind

12:52 Speaker 1: of stand out right, and I assume there's no one

12:54 Speaker 1: in the scene there who's doing quite what you're doing.

12:56 Speaker 1: And what's especially interesting about it is if you you know,

13:01 Speaker 1: I don't know if you've ever heard this comparison, but

13:03 Speaker 1: I kind of almost you remind me a little bit

13:06 Speaker 1: of King Diamond when I see you in your full

13:10 Speaker 1: you know, in the makeup and everything. But but it's

13:14 Speaker 1: but you don't sound like King Diamond obviously, So I'm

13:18 Speaker 1: really curious about that. Like in the scene there where

13:21 Speaker 1: you are in your area, you must really stand out.

13:23 Speaker 1: I assume there's no one doing anything like what you're doing.

13:27 Speaker 2: There's actually there's actually some bands around here that do

13:29 Speaker 2: makeup and stuff. Are there things like that? Yeah, there

13:32 Speaker 2: is thirteen of call to one of them. There's a

13:35 Speaker 2: band out of around the Cleveland area that does it too.

13:40 Speaker 2: I see you now, I forgot their name again. I've

13:42 Speaker 2: actually played with them at one of the shows over

13:44 Speaker 2: in Cleveland and they're fantastic too. But like thirteen a

13:48 Speaker 2: call to duo, you know. And so there's a lot

13:50 Speaker 2: of solo and duo people in the area, and there

13:53 Speaker 2: is a few that do you know, mass or a

13:56 Speaker 2: makeup or something, you know what I mean. So I

13:58 Speaker 2: don't completely out, but I think, like you said, what

14:02 Speaker 2: shocks people was they seeming to expect like, you know,

14:06 Speaker 2: slip knot, you know, or something like that, and they

14:08 Speaker 2: don't get that. But they don't you know. But I've

14:10 Speaker 2: never had any issues with crowd with that, you know,

14:12 Speaker 2: or anything like that, So I think it's a good

14:14 Speaker 2: surprise for them. Now.

14:15 Speaker 1: That's got to be cool too, because you know, you're

14:17 Speaker 1: you're I would imagine that when you're walking into a

14:21 Speaker 1: situation where you know, you know, what people's perception is

14:25 Speaker 1: when they see you and what they're expecting, and then

14:28 Speaker 1: getting to surprise them, you know, and then having it

14:31 Speaker 1: turn out to be a pleasant surprise because your music

14:33 Speaker 1: is so good. I mean, that must be very gratifying, right,

14:35 Speaker 1: that must be That must be kind of Obviously getting

14:38 Speaker 1: on stage and performing your songs is fun, but getting

14:40 Speaker 1: to kind of surprise people like that, I mean, that

14:43 Speaker 1: must make it even more fun.

14:44 Speaker 2: I would imagine, Oh, it's great, you know, and I

14:47 Speaker 2: make sure that, you know, interact with people and then

14:50 Speaker 2: you know, like after after I do my sets and whatever,

14:52 Speaker 2: I you know, I let people, you know, pull my

14:54 Speaker 2: guitar and two pictures with people and stuff like that,

14:57 Speaker 2: and I think it gives them extra value to it too,

15:01 Speaker 2: you know, because it's personal and it's more personable. Yeah,

15:03 Speaker 2: it's not like your favorite big league band that it's

15:08 Speaker 2: they're unaccessible, you know what I mean. And I get

15:11 Speaker 2: a lot of gratification from that, more so than actually playing,

15:14 Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Ye to be able to

15:15 Speaker 2: connect with people, you know.

15:17 Speaker 1: I think if I were, if I were doing that,

15:20 Speaker 1: I don't know that I would have the discipline to

15:22 Speaker 1: not be tempted to just be like like before the show,

15:26 Speaker 1: meeting people before the show, just being very like er,

15:30 Speaker 1: it's just trying to be it's just trying to be

15:31 Speaker 1: as dark as possible, you know. And then you know,

15:35 Speaker 1: and then of course after the show, being you know,

15:37 Speaker 1: just like my normal self and being friendly and everything,

15:39 Speaker 1: but just trying to be like, like as dark as

15:41 Speaker 1: possible before the show, just so they're extra surprised, you

15:45 Speaker 1: know what I mean. I don't know, I think that

15:47 Speaker 1: would be fun, but that.

15:49 Speaker 2: Would be walking in, just walking in somewhere you've never

15:52 Speaker 2: been before. Yeah, get all the looks and everything. And

15:54 Speaker 2: I really, you know, I try to feel the feel

15:56 Speaker 2: the crowd out and I don't do much mingling at

15:58 Speaker 2: the very beginning.

15:59 Speaker 1: Yeah you know that.

16:00 Speaker 2: I know you you know, we're the owner or whoever. Yeah,

16:03 Speaker 2: And I think I think that gives a little bit

16:04 Speaker 2: of a an element of they don't know what to expect.

16:07 Speaker 2: And then I go on, then I go out, you

16:09 Speaker 2: know and talk to people.

16:10 Speaker 1: So right, does something change uh for you? Mentally? When

16:15 Speaker 1: you when you put out everything on and you're all

16:18 Speaker 1: you know, kind of in your in your character, so

16:20 Speaker 1: to speak, if that's the right way to put it, Like,

16:22 Speaker 1: do you feel different? I've often heard you know, my

16:25 Speaker 1: my all time favorite band, regular listeners know this is Kiss,

16:28 Speaker 1: And I've often heard like Geene Simmons talking about putting

16:30 Speaker 1: on the makeup and just feeling like a completely different

16:32 Speaker 1: entity almost, you know, like like do you experience anything

16:36 Speaker 1: like that?

16:37 Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, I mean I feel like I'm a completely

16:39 Speaker 2: different person. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's to me, it's

16:43 Speaker 2: uncovered up and you don't know who I really am,

16:45 Speaker 2: you know what I mean kind of thing you get to.

16:47 Speaker 2: I get to portray something maybe larger or greater than

16:50 Speaker 2: I normally would, you know what I mean? Because if

16:52 Speaker 2: I I mean, I do some I do some like

16:54 Speaker 2: local open mics or whatever. Sometimes not painted, and it

16:58 Speaker 2: just doesn't have the same effect. Yeah, you know is

17:01 Speaker 2: when I'm painted and I'm in front of people, you

17:02 Speaker 2: know what I mean. So I get to open up

17:04 Speaker 2: a little bit more and just be a little bit

17:05 Speaker 2: more in a character, you know, more than anything.

17:08 Speaker 1: So so you do occasionally do shows where, like you said,

17:11 Speaker 1: if it's an open mic, you're not you know, I

17:14 Speaker 1: can see where it would be in a situation like that,

17:16 Speaker 1: maybe you don't want to put everything on right.

17:20 Speaker 2: I mean, you go and you play like two or

17:21 Speaker 2: three songs. I mean it's not you know. I mean,

17:24 Speaker 2: I mean I probably should, but I usually don't when

17:26 Speaker 2: it comes to something like that.

17:27 Speaker 1: You know, No, that's understandable. And then so when you

17:32 Speaker 1: play live, what happens? Is it just you? Or do

17:34 Speaker 1: you ever uh? Do you ever have anyone play with you?

17:38 Speaker 1: Do you have a band or how does that work?

17:39 Speaker 1: What's what's the uh sort of the the setup there

17:43 Speaker 1: for you?

17:45 Speaker 2: I'm all solo. I don't have a band. I have

17:48 Speaker 2: backing tracks minus all guitars and all vocals. Yeah, that

17:51 Speaker 2: way you know that I'm actually playing and singing, because

17:55 Speaker 2: you know, I'll, especially with the guitars, when it gets

17:57 Speaker 2: to lead solos and stuff, everything falls out from behind

18:00 Speaker 2: it because you know, on the recording you have the

18:02 Speaker 2: backing guitar and I was playing the leads of time,

18:05 Speaker 2: so they can see that I'm really doing it, you

18:06 Speaker 2: know what I mean? Yeah, I don't make sure you're

18:08 Speaker 2: talking between or do something a little different so they

18:11 Speaker 2: can see that I'm actually working it, you know what

18:13 Speaker 2: I mean? Not just and I always joke around you know,

18:15 Speaker 2: because I'm in that costume, like you know, I had

18:17 Speaker 2: the band, I put a spell on them and put

18:20 Speaker 2: them in my you know player, you know what I

18:22 Speaker 2: mean kind of thing.

18:24 Speaker 1: Yep, yep. Are other musicians generally accepting of what you

18:29 Speaker 1: do in terms of that, because you know, there was

18:31 Speaker 1: a time when there was a little bit of a

18:33 Speaker 1: stigma using technology to to sort of almost create a

18:39 Speaker 1: live band while you're playing, you know, But I I

18:41 Speaker 1: feel like now, you know, I mean, especially on this show,

18:44 Speaker 1: I'll tell you, We've talked to so many people who just,

18:48 Speaker 1: you know, they want to have a big sound, but

18:49 Speaker 1: they don't want to deal with everything that goes into

18:53 Speaker 1: having a band and having to coordinate things and rehearse

18:57 Speaker 1: with other humans and everything, And it's just easier to

19:00 Speaker 1: do a solo thing. But they don't necessarily want to

19:02 Speaker 1: just do a solo acoustic singer songwriter thing either. They

19:06 Speaker 1: want to have that band vibe. So I feel like,

19:10 Speaker 1: just broadly, there's a lot less stigma attached to that

19:14 Speaker 1: than there would have been at one time. But I'm

19:16 Speaker 1: curious how how that's been for you. Does anyone ever

19:20 Speaker 1: give you a hard time about doing what you do

19:22 Speaker 1: without a band or are people generally accepting or not

19:26 Speaker 1: even so much audience members but other musicians, how do

19:29 Speaker 1: people react to it?

19:31 Speaker 2: I've never had any problem with that, you know, And

19:34 Speaker 2: I think it's a lot more, like you said, widely

19:36 Speaker 2: accepted because of the day and age we're in. Because

19:39 Speaker 2: had I did this twenty years ago, I would have

19:41 Speaker 2: never got a show or I got canned on this page,

19:43 Speaker 2: you know what I mean. Yeah, But I think now

19:46 Speaker 2: the way everything is and everything's more streamlined, and how

19:49 Speaker 2: technology is more involved with it, you know, I think

19:52 Speaker 2: it's a lot more acceptable. And I've never had, like

19:54 Speaker 2: I said, any issues with any of the bands that

19:55 Speaker 2: I've played with, withever if anything. You know, I'm an easy,

19:58 Speaker 2: quick tear out, you know, set up and tear down,

20:01 Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So giving somebody else more time,

20:03 Speaker 2: or I don't need as much time to do all

20:06 Speaker 2: the stuff, you know what I mean. It's just soundcheck

20:08 Speaker 2: the backing tracks, sound check the guitar, soundcheck, the microphone.

20:11 Speaker 2: I'm ready to play. Yeah.

20:12 Speaker 1: Well that's a great point too. Whoever is on after

20:15 Speaker 1: you at these shows probably loves you because you don't

20:19 Speaker 1: have like you don't have a drummer up there with

20:22 Speaker 1: a full kit and who's gonna take you know, twenty

20:24 Speaker 1: minutes to tear down and all of that, and you know,

20:28 Speaker 1: you're you're, you're just you know, yours. It sounds like

20:30 Speaker 1: yours is pretty easy. Uh so that must be nice

20:33 Speaker 1: for so Actually, so a lot of musicians you play

20:36 Speaker 1: with probably really appreciate you. They probably like being on

20:38 Speaker 1: a show with you because, you know, because I don't.

20:42 Speaker 1: I don't do it anymore. But I used to play

20:44 Speaker 1: in bands, and I I just you know, sometimes the

20:46 Speaker 1: frustration of you know, when you're waiting to go on

20:50 Speaker 1: stage with your band and the previous band is taken

20:52 Speaker 1: forever to tear down, and it's like, oh, you know,

20:57 Speaker 1: but but you obviously don't have that problem. I'm sure.

20:59 Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of bands appreciate that.

21:02 Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I don't have a problem with that. A

21:03 Speaker 2: lot of times too. They'll be able to set their

21:06 Speaker 2: full kits up and everything, yep, while I'm putting my

21:08 Speaker 2: stuff together, and they'll have it all ready to go

21:10 Speaker 2: by the time I'm sound checked, yeah, or at least

21:13 Speaker 2: mostly all together. So the heavier equipment they're already have

21:16 Speaker 2: wheeled up there. So they're a lot closer to gets

21:18 Speaker 2: you know, sound checked than they would if I had

21:20 Speaker 2: people that had to tear down too. So I'm sure

21:23 Speaker 2: they do appreciate that.

21:24 Speaker 1: Oh, no doubt, no doubt. Does anything ever go wrong?

21:28 Speaker 1: You know, because again when you're using technology. Obviously technology

21:31 Speaker 1: enhances everything that we do, but with technology things can

21:35 Speaker 1: go awry. Sometimes anything ever go wrong in a live show.

21:40 Speaker 2: I have little quirks every once in a while, you know,

21:42 Speaker 2: because of the backing tracks are on a tablet, I

21:44 Speaker 2: don't have a way to actually physically like like a

21:47 Speaker 2: footpetal or anything to start to stopping. Oh okay, And

21:50 Speaker 2: plus I have to go through and like if I

21:52 Speaker 2: have it, depending on the crowd how their mood is,

21:55 Speaker 2: I might skip around. So sometimes I'll hit the button

21:59 Speaker 2: and it won't show off and it'll start the next

22:01 Speaker 2: track by accident or yeah, you know, or I'll something

22:04 Speaker 2: will happen like that. You know. I've had it where

22:06 Speaker 2: my tablet, and I didn't realize this when I first

22:08 Speaker 2: got my tablet. I had everything set up and I

22:09 Speaker 2: went into play I think it was Brandy's Basement in Irwin,

22:13 Speaker 2: and the track played fine, but then it kept repeating

22:15 Speaker 2: the first track, and I'm like, what the heck's going

22:17 Speaker 2: on with this? And here I just all I need

22:18 Speaker 2: to do is restart the tablet. But I ended up

22:22 Speaker 2: tearing down to give the next people, you know, a

22:23 Speaker 2: thing until I could troubleshoot it, you know what I mean.

22:25 Speaker 2: By the time, I just I brought somebody's acoustic insta

22:28 Speaker 2: a quick acoustic set, you know, so it wouldn't be

22:30 Speaker 2: a waste of their time, a waste of my night,

22:32 Speaker 2: you know.

22:33 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, oh that's cool. Yeah, how do sound guys

22:36 Speaker 1: react to that?

22:39 Speaker 2: I think they are all right with that because my

22:43 Speaker 2: I run through a d I box that can be

22:46 Speaker 2: active or passive, so and I have an internal preamp

22:51 Speaker 2: in or two, so it will convert all that stuff

22:54 Speaker 2: over and I can kind of give them what's kind

22:56 Speaker 2: of signal they want, just like you would for a

22:57 Speaker 2: guitar amp. And I think it's about easier to tailor

23:01 Speaker 2: with with the box that I got, you know.

23:03 Speaker 1: So Yeah, now, before before you were doing this project

23:08 Speaker 1: h grim Rock as you know, just a solo actor.

23:13 Speaker 1: Were you in bands or what was what was your

23:15 Speaker 1: experience leading up to leading up to the Grimrock.

23:19 Speaker 2: OZ and bands? A long time ago, I did some

23:23 Speaker 2: you know, I played cover bands, I played you know,

23:25 Speaker 2: original stuff. You know. I actually went to a studio

23:28 Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh called Audiomation Studio at one time to record

23:31 Speaker 2: tracks with the band from a local area. You know,

23:36 Speaker 2: I've done all kind of different things and I just

23:37 Speaker 2: kind of gave it up. And a buddy of mine,

23:40 Speaker 2: Mark Kushak, he actually brought me out of musical retirement

23:43 Speaker 2: and I actually did a small project with him called

23:45 Speaker 2: The Model with Cage right before grim Rock, and actually

23:49 Speaker 2: the first three tracks from the first grim Rock EP

23:53 Speaker 2: with the last three tracks that we did together as

23:55 Speaker 2: the Model with Cage, So it kind of rolled.

23:56 Speaker 1: Over, okay. And then what was it that caused you

24:01 Speaker 1: to start the grim Rock project and to do it

24:05 Speaker 1: on your own? I mean, were you just tired of

24:08 Speaker 1: you know, and again, as someone who's been in bands,

24:11 Speaker 1: I know the struggles. Were you tired of being in

24:14 Speaker 1: a band with other people or did you just want

24:17 Speaker 1: to do something different? Or was what was kind of

24:19 Speaker 1: the genesis of Grimrock?

24:21 Speaker 2: Well, we kind of I kind of felt like the

24:23 Speaker 2: music was good, but we couldn't get any traction at

24:25 Speaker 2: all with it. Yeah, and about I don't know, it

24:28 Speaker 2: was like fifteen months or so we will like plug

24:30 Speaker 2: that and plug out and plugged that, and I eventually

24:33 Speaker 2: just got frustrated with it, and I was like, look,

24:35 Speaker 2: I said, I'm gonna take a break from this for

24:36 Speaker 2: a minute. I'm gonna rebrand this whole thing, and then

24:39 Speaker 2: we're going to see what happens, you know what I mean. Yeah,

24:41 Speaker 2: And I ended up, and I ended up coming up

24:43 Speaker 2: with the grim rock thing, and believe it or not,

24:46 Speaker 2: for about eleven months, I was sending stickers out everywhere,

24:49 Speaker 2: selling T shirts, sending bandanas out, all with a promise

24:53 Speaker 2: of music, like I didn't even have any music set

24:55 Speaker 2: up for this yet for eleven months. And a buddy

24:58 Speaker 2: of mine, Mike Sussa, came over one day and he

24:59 Speaker 2: was like, He's like, you have the greatest scam going

25:02 Speaker 2: on in your life right now. He said, you're you know,

25:04 Speaker 2: you got this band, You're promising this music, and you

25:07 Speaker 2: don't even have to put it out there. People are

25:08 Speaker 2: still buying your stuff. And then I got nervous, you know.

25:11 Speaker 2: I was like, well, you know, I might put something

25:13 Speaker 2: out and they're gonna be like let down, like it's gonna

25:15 Speaker 2: stink or something. You know, right, but it really did.

25:18 Speaker 2: It picked up a lot better that way, you know.

25:21 Speaker 1: So do you feel like that was that was an

25:25 Speaker 1: advantage for when the music when you did start to

25:27 Speaker 1: release music that you kind of you know, uh, because

25:31 Speaker 1: that's a long excuse me, that's a long runway right

25:35 Speaker 1: to getting to where you're actually putting out music the

25:37 Speaker 1: way you did it by by so so early already

25:42 Speaker 1: kind of building the image and the marketing and the

25:46 Speaker 1: you know, all all of that. I mean, that's a

25:49 Speaker 1: that's a really interesting approach, and I I didn't realize it. Again,

25:52 Speaker 1: you've been on the show a number of times, we've talked.

25:54 Speaker 1: I didn't realize how far in advance you started really

25:58 Speaker 1: sort of developing rock as a concept before you actually

26:03 Speaker 1: started releasing music. That's really interesting, but it sounds like

26:06 Speaker 1: it sounds like it worked out well for you.

26:09 Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean I was I was wanting to build

26:11 Speaker 2: a brand, yeah, identity and something. They can recognize that

26:15 Speaker 2: logo it's on a T shirt. People can see that

26:18 Speaker 2: and it's different. Yeah, you know what I mean. Yeah,

26:20 Speaker 2: when they look at they look at my picture and

26:22 Speaker 2: they see the pain, it's different. Yeah, And they can

26:24 Speaker 2: they can piece it all together, you know, I feel

26:26 Speaker 2: like a lot easier that way. But yeah, it took

26:29 Speaker 2: a long time for me to get to, you know,

26:31 Speaker 2: releasing the first track to where we're at now.

26:34 Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, absolutely absolutely Now, So what's kind of the Obviously,

26:39 Speaker 1: you know, we're gonna get to see you in May

26:41 Speaker 1: at the end of May, and we're really looking forward

26:43 Speaker 1: to that. What's kind of the trajectory right now leading

26:47 Speaker 1: up to that for you? Are you? Uh, I mean,

26:51 Speaker 1: what's your first priority is it? Is it working on

26:53 Speaker 1: the album or are you still going to be playing

26:54 Speaker 1: a lot of shows while you're working on the album,

26:57 Speaker 1: or what's what's kind of the short term trajector for you?

27:01 Speaker 2: It's gonna be kind of a mixed bag. I got,

27:03 Speaker 2: I got some studio time scheduled, and I'm gonna I'm

27:05 Speaker 2: gonna work with that. I put in for some festivals,

27:08 Speaker 2: you know, one in April that hope, hopefully i'll hear

27:10 Speaker 2: back from that. I actually played two years ago and

27:12 Speaker 2: I'm hoping I get to play again this year. And

27:14 Speaker 2: I actually put in for a festival in Connecticut for July,

27:20 Speaker 2: and just like a lot of there's like a lot

27:23 Speaker 2: of places that I just kind of I got my

27:25 Speaker 2: feelers out, and I think there's gonna be some repeat places,

27:29 Speaker 2: you know, especially this year, especially with like mister Paul,

27:33 Speaker 2: you know, his Carnival of Screams and stuff is gonna

27:35 Speaker 2: be a repeat. I'm hoping to play Metal Fest in Cleveland,

27:38 Speaker 2: Ohio again this year.

27:40 Speaker 1: So yeah, festivals are the greatest thing you can do.

27:44 Speaker 1: You know. We this comes up a lot on the

27:45 Speaker 1: show too. It's like, uh because festivals not only does

27:48 Speaker 1: it get give you a chance to get in front

27:50 Speaker 1: of an audience that would an otherwise see you. Uh,

27:54 Speaker 1: So you know, you get that remarkable exposure because you know,

27:58 Speaker 1: people have no idea about you will see you, and

28:02 Speaker 1: you'll make a lot of new fans very quickly. But

28:04 Speaker 1: also it's such a fantastic networking opportunity. You're going to

28:07 Speaker 1: meet so many other artists and industry people and make

28:11 Speaker 1: all kinds of connections. And you know, every time you

28:13 Speaker 1: play a festival, So it's it's great that you've been

28:16 Speaker 1: doing them and you're going to do more. I mean

28:17 Speaker 1: that's really especially with what you do again, you know,

28:21 Speaker 1: in terms of building a brand and and the visual

28:23 Speaker 1: aspect of it, that's that's great. So I'm glad that

28:27 Speaker 1: you've done festivals and then you're gonna be doing more

28:28 Speaker 1: because I think I think it's probably the single, the

28:33 Speaker 1: single best opportunity for an independent artist is to get

28:37 Speaker 1: on as many festivals as possible. That's what I think.

28:40 Speaker 1: I mean, there's so much value in that.

28:43 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, there definitely is. I mean, you get new

28:45 Speaker 2: groups of people, different areas, like I'm trying to get

28:47 Speaker 2: more East Coast you know, exposure now worth coming out

28:52 Speaker 2: your way into the Connecticut one and some different places.

28:55 Speaker 2: And you know, I'm hoping I get to go up

28:57 Speaker 2: and down the East Coast a little bit this year

28:59 Speaker 2: and just kind of broaden everything. And You're right, the festivals,

29:01 Speaker 2: you know, was the connections and the bands and stuff.

29:03 Speaker 2: You know, you put on a pretty you put it

29:05 Speaker 2: on a decent show, you know, and you might be

29:08 Speaker 2: in that area again another band by like oh you

29:10 Speaker 2: can hit him up and like, hey, I'm gonna be

29:11 Speaker 2: in your area. You got anything right going on, you

29:13 Speaker 2: might be able to piggyback off that, or you know,

29:16 Speaker 2: like in the case the case of Terminus, hopefully you know,

29:18 Speaker 2: when I when I play there, everything goes doesn't go haywire.

29:22 Speaker 2: With the electronics or anything, you know, or crazy, and

29:25 Speaker 2: I put a good show on the next time I

29:26 Speaker 2: come up that way, hopefully maybe I can get on

29:28 Speaker 2: another one again, you know, so and and and I'm

29:31 Speaker 2: sure people will talk up there, you know, so it'll

29:33 Speaker 2: get around and be like, oh this grimrock guy, you know.

29:36 Speaker 1: Yeah, so andus Terminus is a great place to play.

29:39 Speaker 1: It's such a cool venue. And uh, Andre does a

29:42 Speaker 1: fantastic job with the sound. And you'll I think you'll uh,

29:46 Speaker 1: I think you'll really enjoy it there. So, like I said,

29:48 Speaker 1: we're looking forward to seeing you. Well, uh so, grim

29:52 Speaker 1: Where where should people go online? Speaking of branding, where's

29:55 Speaker 1: the best place for people to go online to keep

29:57 Speaker 1: up with everything that grim Rock is doing and and

29:59 Speaker 1: to get your music?

30:00 Speaker 2: Of course, well, you can go to grimrocknroll dot com.

30:04 Speaker 2: I'll spelled out grim rock and aand roll dot com, okay,

30:07 Speaker 2: and you can go to all my socials from there,

30:10 Speaker 2: I mean there's a video preview from YouTube. You can

30:12 Speaker 2: go to I have Apple Music, Spotify, I think Amazon

30:16 Speaker 2: Music's on there. You can hit links for those you

30:18 Speaker 2: can preview them on my website and then go to

30:20 Speaker 2: where wherever you have a subscription to see with my events.

30:25 Speaker 2: There's a shop on there you can get T shirts

30:26 Speaker 2: or whatever.

30:27 Speaker 1: Yep.

30:28 Speaker 2: And you know I got a press kid on there,

30:30 Speaker 2: so you know, if anybody is listening that has something

30:33 Speaker 2: out there, you can go check my press kid out

30:35 Speaker 2: there too as well.

30:36 Speaker 1: So outstanding, outstanding, well Grim, thank you so much. I

30:40 Speaker 1: think we're gonna close the segment. You know, we did

30:42 Speaker 1: play Cast a Shadow and always thrilled to be able

30:47 Speaker 1: to do the radio premiere of it on the show

30:49 Speaker 1: whenever you release something new. I think we're gonna close

30:52 Speaker 1: out the segment with the first song of yours that

30:55 Speaker 1: we ever played on the show that I still love,

30:57 Speaker 1: don't you such a great track? But for those of

30:59 Speaker 1: you listening live, we will play if you missed it,

31:03 Speaker 1: we will repeat in the second and third hour of

31:05 Speaker 1: the show today. We will play cast a Shadow again

31:08 Speaker 1: in the second and third hour. Uh so if you

31:10 Speaker 1: miss it in the first hour at the top of

31:12 Speaker 1: the show, you will be able to hear it later.

31:14 Speaker 1: And of course obviously it's available. I assume it's on

31:16 Speaker 1: all the streaming platforms too, right, not yet, not yet? Oh,

31:21 Speaker 1: so you've got to you've got to hear it here. Ah,

31:23 Speaker 1: I love it.

31:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, you got it, that's it.

31:26 Speaker 1: Fantastic, fantastic. Do you do you know? Uh, do you

31:28 Speaker 1: have a release date for when it's gonna be on

31:30 Speaker 1: the platforms yet?

31:31 Speaker 2: No, because I haven't even given it to the label yet.

31:33 Speaker 1: Oh wow, you see this is even more exclusive than

31:36 Speaker 1: I realized.

31:37 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, no, you got it. That's it. Oh, thank

31:40 Speaker 2: you to get it to them, to get it to

31:42 Speaker 2: them now.

31:42 Speaker 1: We love it. So when I say you heard it

31:46 Speaker 1: here first, I'm not being hyperbolic. You you all are

31:49 Speaker 1: literally hearing it here first. So that's wonderful. So you

31:51 Speaker 1: know what I think I'm gonna do. I think I'm

31:53 Speaker 1: gonna play Don't You to end the segment, But then

31:55 Speaker 1: I'm also going to play cast a Shadow again right

31:57 Speaker 1: after Don't You? And then of course I will repeat

31:59 Speaker 1: it in the second and third hour or two for

32:00 Speaker 1: our live listeners who might have missed it. But uh,

32:03 Speaker 1: that's that's wonderful. Thank you so much, and uh grim

32:05 Speaker 1: Rock again, thank you, my friend. It is wonderful to

32:08 Speaker 1: speak with you. We will see you in May, and

32:11 Speaker 1: if you have another single, we you know, we might

32:13 Speaker 1: have you back on even before then. But uh, you

32:15 Speaker 1: know time time goes fast, that's for sure. But uh,

32:18 Speaker 1: we're gonna hit. We're gonna hit, don't you. But again,

32:20 Speaker 1: grim Rock, thank you so much, my friend, and we'll

32:22 Speaker 1: talk to you soon, I'm sure.

32:24 Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I really appreciate being on and and

32:27 Speaker 2: you know, being on your show. So absolutely see.

32:29 Speaker 1: You absolutely oh same, same, all right, all right, take

32:32 Speaker 1: care of grim.

32:33 Speaker 2: All right, thank you, you got it, Bye bye.

32:36 Speaker 1: All right. That is grim Rock from the great state

32:38 Speaker 1: of Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh area. And but he's gonna

32:40 Speaker 1: be up our way at the end of May, and

32:41 Speaker 1: really looking forward to getting to meet him and see

32:43 Speaker 1: him live.