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Grayscale is a young Philadelphia based pop-punk band that just signed to LA label Anchor Eighty Four and will be releasing their sophomore EP Change, on April 14th. Their raw, emotionally-driven sound connects with fans and sends out good vibes that get you movin’ on your feet. GroundSounds recently caught up with the 5-piece to talk about their musical inspirations, upcoming projects and more, check out the exclusive interview below.
Grayscale’s debut full-length What We’re Missing, is expected to drop this summer.
For those just discovering Grayscale, could you tell us about the formation of the band and how you guys started making music?
The early stages of Grayscale formed after our (Nick and Collin’s) first band with Dallas broke up. The three of us started this new project and demoed some new material at Dallas’s house shortly after the other band broke up. We knew Andy and Derek through other local bands and had been friends with them for a while, so we invited them to hang out and jam. The five of us just clicked right away. Each of us brought different musical influences into our writing process, and that’s what makes our sound the way it is. Grayscale wouldn’t be the same without any one member.
How did you guys come up with the band name Grayscale?
We could tell you some deep and elaborate story about how we all experienced this tell tale moment together, how all the stars aligned and how the band was meant to named “Grayscale” for overwhelming reasons out of our control. The real story isn’t as exciting, though. The truth is, that we all just have a huge appreciation for the band Basement, and they wrote a song called “Grayscale” that we really dig, so we decided to name our band after it. That’s really all there is to it. The name felt right immediately. Shout-out to those British dudes for inspiring us to rock!
Congrats on signing with Anchor Eighty Four Records, how did it feel to finally reach this point in your musical journey?
Thank you! It is really an awesome feeling. This is something we’ve been working toward since the inception of the band. The opportunity to sign with someone as hard working and down-to-earth as Cody from Anchor Eighty Four is exciting and has us very optimistic about the future. A84 really is a perfect fit. We share the same goals, values, and vision as him, so everything just kind of fell into place. We all share an incredible passion for music, so the whole process has been a blast for everyone. To have Cody in our corner supporting us is an incredible feeling.
Can you tell us about your EP ‘Change’ what has it been like bringing this project to fruition?
Change is an EP that features four songs; some of which are exclusive to the EP itself, and a couple will also be found on the upcoming album What We’re Missing (both via Anchor Eighty Four Records) later this year. After we recorded and released our previous album Leaving, the band went into the writing process for a very long time. Leaving was the first album we wrote together as a band, and although it was an album we enjoyed writing, we wanted to really focus on developing and growing our true sound for the future.
Two years or so have gone by, and quite a bit has happened. We signed to Anchor Eighty Four Records, started working with our new producer Gary Cioffi (Transit, Misser, Giants at Large), and started really focusing more on our music. The Change EP, as well as our upcoming record What We’re Missing, are the result of us writing during a redevelopment era of Grayscale. The product of this redevelopment phase (after the release of Leaving) has shaped what the band is today, gotten us to where we are, and set us up for what is coming. We cannot wait to release these songs after all this time.
Shout-out to anyone who has been with us since we got together and wrote Leaving when we were young lads!
What was the inspiration for your track “Bloom?”
“Bloom” was a breakup song, and the reflection of myself (Collin) afterwards. I think it is important as people to analyze ourselves sometimes; it is definitely a process that is overlooked.
What do you guys enjoy most about Philadelphia? What is one local spot that every visitor should check out?
All of us grew up right outside or in the city, most of the band lives in the heart of the city now. Philly is our home and the best place ever for a lot of reasons. Truthfully we could go off about the cool things, but if we had to give top 3, it would be as follows:
1. Sports. If you have the chance to check out a game on Broad Street, do it. Flyers/Eagles are especially a good time, there is no city with as much passion for sports; the fans here are crazy.
2. Food. DiNic’s Roast Pork won the best sandwich in America a few years back. Head to the Reading Terminal market for this guy. Another serious one is Joe’s Pizza (S 16th Street).There are so many other good food spots, but thats part of the fun, finding them.
3. Culture. The history, art, and local music scene are unbelievable. You could run up the Art Museum steps (Rocky Steps) and take a picture at the top with your hands above your head, it’s a great way to get the “check out that tourist nerd” look from the wonderful people of Philly.
We are definitely diggin’ your track “Change,” could you tell us about the creative and writing process involved with this single?
Glad you dig it! “Change” was actually written in a pretty unusual way for us. Nick came up with several drum parts for a song while he was at school in Nashville. He worked them out on his kit in his dorm and then wrote them out in midi on his computer. He sent them to Dallas back home in Pennsylvania, who then wrote the guitars and vocals around the drums that Nick sent. So the core of the song was written between Nick and Dallas while they were like 800 miles apart from each other. Talk about a couple of millennials…
Anyway, when Nick came home for break, we worked on the song some more at practice together as a band to make some final tweaks before hitting the studio to record it with Gary Cioffi. Gary made some suggestions to improve the song while we were in the studio which really helped to give the song life and bring out some of the highlights of the song more. He definitely played a big part in crafting the final structure of the song.
Can you tell us about shooting the music video for “Change” what was this day like?
“Change” was shot on the rooftop of Derek’s apartment in West Philly, as well as his surrounding neighborhood. It was shot in the last spring/early summer of 2014. “Change” was the first song that we showed the world after we redeveloped our sound. The goal of the video was to release a visual representation of the song’s story in its truest form. In other words, to tell the story of how the song should be, to give it a more “tangible” visual feel with a setting and plot.
“Change” is a song that reflects some of the band members’ childhoods as they can remember. We wanted to reflect on the specific time in our lives properly, so we collected every aspect of our childhood that we could remember and put it into the video. For instance, since our childhoods took place in the 90’s, we went to furniture stores and thrift shops all around the city to collect 90’s relics. You will notice the house phone, VCR tapes, old style TV, and worn wooden hardware. We thought these elements would bring the story to life from our perspective. The day was awesome. It was a beautiful summer day in Philly, eating burritos (check out Honest Tom’s on 44th if you’re ever in Philly), and hanging/jamming together (which is not much different than any other day) besides the fact that we were on Derek’s roof.
Something nobody else knows was that we did not have any sort of permission by anyone to play live music in the middle of the day. This resulted in noise complaints, and eventually the police being called. We were able to continue our playing for quite a bit of time because it took the cops an immense amount of time to figure out what building the sound was coming from (because it was coming from the roof, which basically propelled the noise all over the neighborhood and made it nearly impossible for anyone to pinpoint which of the hundreds of apartments it was coming from). They never found us, it was a pretty cool day.
What can you reveal to us about your upcoming debut full-length ‘What We’re Missing’, what can fans look forward to? What has it been like bringing this album together?
We can’t reveal too much about the full-length right now, but what we can tell you is that these songs are above and beyond anything else we have ever written together. We couldn’t be more excited to share them with you all. Each song tells a story about a certain person or situation or experience we have encountered since we released “Leaving”, and they really do portray the way we have matured as individuals and as musicians. Musically, we have kept true to our roots while still growing and adding new elements to our songs that give them a whole new dynamic and vibe. Straight up, these songs rock. We hope all of our fans are excited to hear the new era of Grayscale.
The process of putting What We’re Missing together has been totally awesome. Everything from writing the songs in Nick’s basement and Dallas’s studio, to recording them with Gary in Boston, to coming up with artwork concepts and designs has been such a fun and creatively stimulating process. We put our hearts and souls into this record, and we only get more and more excited about it every day.
