Rob Grad | Kik Tracee | Superfine | October 2000 |
This months interview was a little different.. It's with Rob Grad x-bass player for Kik Tracee.....
but the only problem is.. he didn't want to answer any Kik Tracee questions..
but I guess we all know most the info about Kik Tracee from last months interview..
So anyway.. Rob is now in a very successful up and coming band Superfine.
Even was on Buffy the Vampire Slayer....how many people can say that...lol..
So here he is...
Rob Grad......
You know I had to throw in some oldie but goodie pictures.......maybe some more at the end..LOL....Rob is going to kill me!
J-Now..your in your new band Superfine. how did you guys hook up?
R-I was playing with a long time drummer friend named Kane.
then I met Matt (guitar player) at a party through a mutual
friend. He was literally sitting in a chair playing guitar
when I met him. It was classic. I casually listened to him
for a couple of minutes, then sort of inquired as to what he
was doing. it was like getting a girl's phone number. I
guess bands are like that to a certain extent always.
we met Kevin (bass player) through our producer (Barry
Goldberg.....Smashing Pumpkins, Marilyn Manson). our
original bass player quit in 1997 to pursue stand up comedy.
not sure what happened with him....but he was a funny guy.
matt and I were working on new material, and had to go in
the studio to rerecord "Already Met You" for the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer soundtrack. Kevin came down to help us get
the recording done. He played so well, we asked him to join
the band permanently.
J-And your the singer now.. how did that come about.. did you always want to sing...?
R-From the first day I ever tried to write a song, I've written melodies. I think when I was younger I just never believed in myself much, so I played bass, and looked for some singer to play with. As my songwriting abilities got better, I became progressively more attached to the ideas I
was having, and eventually realized I didn't want anyone to sing these songs except me.....I felt like I was missing my own boat. I also became frustrated with the guitar players I was playing with. I wanted to experiment with feedback and alternative tunings, and it was difficult to find people that understood there is an art to it. so...I started over. I'm more comfortable now singing and playing guitar than I ever was with a bass in my hand.
J-Who writes the songs?
R-I write the songs.....usually what happens is I'll put a song together, then Matt will come over and give it a listen. he's my sounding board. sometimes a couple of things will change, sometimes they won't. I pretty much like to sketch things out for the band, but I count on them to bring their own style to every part. ultimately, this is a band, and they are the ones playing the parts.I mean....Kevin makes me look ridiculous on the bass. so I'll write a part and say something like....."these are the notes, and groove I had in mind....play it however you want" they always make everything sound better.
J-where do you get the ideas for the songs?
R-I get them everywhere. most of the time I'll just be noodling around on a guitar, and come up with the main idea.....maybe a lyric, or melody....then I'll sit down and put a demo together and see what happens. it seems like the ideas already exist....I just have to notate them somehow. with lyrics, I almost never know what a song will be about until I'm half done with them. pretty telling as to my state of mind. sort of therapeutic.
J-How many cd realeases do you have with Superfine?
R-Wwe did a 7" inch vinyl single on fish of death records in
1996. We rerecorded "Already Met You" from the episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" we were on, and it was released in October of 1999 on TVT records. both are still available.
If anyone is interested in the single, they can go to our website and contact us. www.superfineband.com
J-You guys got a spot on Buffy the Vampire..show? cd? how did that come about?
R-Guess I've talked about Buffy already. We were on one of the episodes of the first season. In fact, the day we filmed, it hadn't even aired yet. Who knew it would be a hit? We didn't. Our lawyer had heard about the show, and we sent them one of the fish of death singles. They liked it and called us.
Then when talks for the soundtrack began last year, the staff of the show really went to bat for us because they liked the song so much. thanks to them, and Barry our producer, we got on. That soundtrack has sold about 200,000 copies to date as far as I know.
J-How would you describe the new music to someone who hasn't heard it yet ?
R-Hmmm.....there is a cleverness and a quirk to the lyrics and the overall attitude. Ever seen "Kingpin"? We're like that.....funny but not really.I love Sonic Youth. You'll hear more of that live than in the recordings. You can sing along, but it's a mess.
my internal life is difficult at best, but I have a sense of humor about it. All the songs deal with that
J-What do you see for you musically in the year 2000?
R-My goal in 2000 is to get our cd released, and get some of this new material out of my head for the next record. The new songs are driving me crazy. Songs are like that with me. They won't leave me alone, until they've had a chance to breath.
J-Any touring plans?
R-We plan on releasing some sort of cd before the end of the year.
Once that is done, we'll start on the west coast, and see what happens from there.
J-What would you say is your favorite recording you have
done so far.. old or new?
R-I have 2 I think. Unfortunately, no one has really heard
them.....so I don't know how much this will mean. There is a song called "Found Your Tongue" that will be either on our upcoming release, or the next one. right now it is in a rough mix format. I just love the song, and how it came out.
another is a song called "Never Hear". Just found it this
week on a tape we did probably 1 year ago. I hated the vocal
when we first did it. in fact, I rerecorded the vocal later.
This is the first recording of it. it's great. Don't know what the hell I was thinking.
J-And which one do you not care for.. or wish turned out better?
R-I think the version of "Already Met You" that is on the Buffy soundtrack came out a little weird. They did a strange mastering job on it. We remastered the
song, and it sounds a whole lot better.
J-The internet has become a great way to reach the fans..do you mind getting fan mail?
R-I love fan mail, and the internet. In fact I think the internet's influence is still being far underestimated in the musical world. When did music become so safe? I get a lot of email, and I always welcome more. It takes me a little time to respond sometimes, but I always do. We've had our rough mixes on our website for some time now. Plus a girl in Hollywood started a fan site on Yahoo. It's the 3rd or 4th largest alternative music club they have.
it's an amazing way to communicate directly with people.Takes the middle man right out of the equation. I wouldn't be doing this interview without the internet.
J-How do you feel about mp3's being downloaded.. for free.. like on Napster?
R-I have mixed feelings about this one. bottom line is.... Superfine has benefited from Napster, but I think people take advantage of it. if I like a band I make it a point to support them. I bought the last Sonic Youth album even though I could've downloaded it for free .Here's the problem. I get email almost everyday from people asking when our album is going to be done. We work as much as we can, but Superfine doesn't pay my rent right now. So time is an issue. Plus we don't have the money to pay people to work on the record, so we're subject to their schedules. I barely sleep now as it is. If no one buys our cd we'll never do it full time. No matter how many people like it. that makes for no tours, and long lag times in between albums, if they get done at all. a band could get a million downloads on Napster, and have to work at Burger King.
the reality is, Napster (or any service like it) can't survive without making money. Eventually they're going to
have to figure something out. You think that guy going to keep making that software for free? He wants to eat also. Eventually the $15 million investments will go away. So what's going to happen? It's a pretty interesting subject to me.
We may have to pay for that service soon. If so....how many
people do you think will really pay?
J-Do you have a website fans can be updated..and buy cd's etc?
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/superfine
Our cds aren't for sale yet, but you can contact us there, hear some music, lyrics, see pictures, etc. if you're so inclined.
J-Well that's about it Rob..thanks for taking the time..What would you like to say to your fans reading this?
R-Hello.
Buy all releases.. Here..
