Interview with The Grinds at the Beachcomber
By Jim Slimedog
The Grinds are a fairly new, exciting band that takes their style from Garage rock of the sixties but put their own modern twist into it. With members from The Spoilers, Acro-brats and Tenafly Vipers, their secret weapon is their lead singer, Erin Wickens, whose very first band is this one.
Daniel (Bass)- Erin is our band virgin.
Slimedog- I saw her very first performance at the Midway. And I wrote about it, too.
Erin (Vocals)- It was our cherry poppin’ show.
Slimedog- So how did you get started?
Erin- Well, all my friends were in bands. I’ve been a big fan of music for really a long time, being from a town that’s got a lot of music happening.
Daniel- Like Cambridge, Massachusetts?
Slimedog- She’s from Detroit, Michigan.
Erin- No, well, I’m from a suburb, north, to be honest, I’m from Mount Clemens. So like I was saying, I wanted to be in a band so I contacted all my friends that were awesome.
Chrissy (Guitar/Vocals)- That already shared a room.
Erin- That already shared a practice space and we started a band.
Slimedog- Do you guys have any recording plans?
Daniel- Well, we actually had a cd release party, tonight.
Slimedog- Oh, am I gonna get a cd? I’ll do a review. (He says, pandering pathetically).
Daniel- Only if you write nice things about us.
Slimedog- Who writes in the band?
Erin- All of us, everybody.
Chrissy- It’s pretty collaborative.
Nate (Lead Guitar)- Yeah, we bring in ideas and we all work on them and they come together.
Slimedog- How about the lyrics?
Erin- Everybody does.
Daniel- They just come fully formed.
Erin- No, No.
Daniel- It’s like birthing an eight year old child.
Erin- No, sometimes one person will bring the lyrics, and another person will bring the music. And someone will say, “I have words for that,” or someone will say, “Let’s write a song about XYZ.”
Nate- For me, I’ve played in punk bands for as long as I can remember. With the Grinds, we’re kind of like a concept band. Like, let’s do something dancey, kinda almost Motown-y. It’s like a theme band where the theme is- Let’s just have a fuck’n’blast! Let’s have more fun than anybody else in the room.
Chrissy- I think that translates as well, because everyone says that when they see us they say, “It looks like you guys are having so much fun,” and I was saying to someone, “Yeah, I love playing in this band,” ‘cause everything is collaborative and we work together and stuff but it’s like fun.
Slimedog- Do you think of Detroit as an influence?
Daniel- We talk a lot about sports and about how Boston is awesome and Detroit sucks. Oh, my God!
Slimedog- Well, their teams do. I hear downtown Detroit, late at night, is not the place to be.
Erin- Hey, Hey (becoming antagonized) If you wanna fight- keep talkin’.
Slimedog- Okay- he started it (he says, cowardly, pointing toward Daniel).
Erin- I don’t play any instruments. I play a really bad tambourine. I have zero musical background. My dad, actually, listened to a lot of Doo Wop and Buddy Holly. When I started getting into my own music and the Detroit scene it was more garage-y stuff. It’s what I used to go see when I lived back home and its part of who I am.
Daniel- I think what Erin brought to the table is like, let’s do something garage-y and fun.
Erin- If we ever stop having fun that’s when we’ll probably stop being a band.
Slimedog- How did your first recording session go?
Daniel- We recorded in my parent’s barn in Western Massachusetts. So, we were in a barn in the middle of nowhere.
Chrissy- I remember all the chili we ate.
Daniel- We were in a room for a weekend and it was like 20 degrees below zero, this is in February.
Nate- It was the end of January, setting record colds by being minus fuckin’ colds.
Daniel- It was like cold as shit and we had a wood fire in the stove and Nate is tracking guitar solos and these two girls (Erin and Chrissy) are cuddled up like dogs in front of the stove, (Laughter) they’re like totally sound asleep. We went there with no expectations and I was surprised how good the recording session turned out.
Erin- And we came back and we’re like-
Daniel- This actually reflects who we are. It was cool. (20 degrees below zero).
Slimedog- Who drinks the most in the band?
Chrissy- Ah, depending on the night….
Nate- Who’s driving home tonight? That’s the real question.
Slimedog- Who’s in mostly likely to be a serial killer in the band?
Everybody- (All different names being said).
Erin- (Laughing) Everybody’s pointing fingers at everybody else. How come no one points to me?
Nate- All right, I change my answer to Erin.
Slimedog- She is from Detroit. Is there any question that I didn’t ask that you wished I did?
Daniel- Yes. What kind of beer would you like me to buy you now?
Chrissy- Yes, that’s an excellent question.
Daniel- And I would say, “What ever’s cheapest.”
Slimedog- The tube shots are two dollars.
Chrissy- Naw, I wanna beer.
Erin- I have to use the ladies room.
Check out The Grinds new cd, “Whatcha Lookin’ At” , and check them out at their lively live shows. They are a helluva live band to see.
