Graveltrap

Over The Moon (part 2) – Maidstone Corn Exchange 16.11.03

June 6, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Ok, Maidstone isn’t exactly the sort of place that you would expect one of the finest bands in the country to be coming to at the moment but there you go – they did and I’m sure they gained many a new fan. If you don’t know what band I’m talking about here then it is none other than the mighty Solabeat Alliance – a band that have managed to put on one hell of a show every time that I have seen them.

The first band to take to the stage were ‘Shittingbourne’s very own Morgans Puff Adder – the local Ska Punk favourites who went down a treat in this Maidstone crowd. They put on a set full of songs both new and old and the crowd really seemed to be lapping it up – a few at the front showing their appreciation in a big mosh pit. I however felt that on this particular Sunday night – the band in question were somewhat average as they just didn’t seem to be able to get in to the full swing of things – this was probably due to the fact that they had the ever hard job of being the opening act so it was not really their fault, was just down to being placed at the bottom of the bill. (3)

The next band up were the home band – One Day Elliott, a band who once went to MGS, a school in Maidstone but now have long since left – yet still carry around the spirit of their youthful pop punk band to wherever they are wanted (based on this performance – probably nowhere!) They really were quite terrible on Sunday night but the Maidstone crowd still seemed to be eating out of their arses – they couldn’t seem to step a foot wrong but with me not being a fan of the band I just found it all to be a bit…well – SHIT! Their music just doesn’t seem to click and as a result comes out sounding awful – they are just one of those bands that are going to be playing the same venues for the rest of their careers if they keep it up as in a crowd they are the sort of band that would go unnoticed. (2)

Dumpster Pop were the first Moon Ska band of the night to grace the stage with their presence and came in with a really odd performance – I cant really think of a word to describe their performance or their genre for that matter but it was pretty weird anyway! I have to hand it to them – they did up the level a bit after the One Day Elliott performance but I think that if Busted had come onstage after them I would have been pleased to be honest! I don’t really think anyone knew what to do when they were on stage as it was so bizarre and left everyone pretty puzzled really – bar the few drunks at the front moshing around crazily. The performance was quite solid and you could tell when one song ended and the next one started but still they weren’t really anything special and failed to really make a big impression. (5)

The first decent band of the night finally took to the stage at 9:30 when it was Graveltrap’s turn to give it their best shot – and give it their best shot they did indeed! Graveltrap put out a fine performance on this cold November night playing great tracks off of their album such as Getaway, Kickin’ Chickens, Primal Fear, What About The Marigolds and the Scuzz TV classic – SRJ. They had a warm reception from the crowd for this track – most of whom had obviously never seen the band live before but just glimpsed them on TV a few times. They put on a crazy gig and I enjoyed myself quite a lot – and that was before the alcohol intake! I became a skanking and pogoing fool for this half hour set and by the end of it had a grin pinned on my face. (9)

Solabeat Alliance was the last band to take to the stage, and it was brilliant to listen to their amazing brand of Ska. I really love this band and that is why it was the fifth time that I have gone to see them live – I really think that they have a lot of chemistry going and are one of the best bands in the UK right now. Their new material from the ‘Island Fire’ album was sounding better than ever and I am sure that they revealed even more songs from it on this particular occasion – last time I saw them in Herts Showground they played ‘All Or Nothing’ and ‘People of the World´ and they were sounding amazing but this time they were sounding absolutely phenomenal and really did put on the performance of their life time! I was really pleased with what the guys had to offer me as after seeing in 12 months, 4 shows of extremely high quality they had a lot to live up to in my eyes and managed to pull it off with flying colours. I will definitely be going to many more Solabeat shows and will hopefully get a chance to go and see them live in the very near future – the Carling Academy gig is a definite possibility for me and I will be trying my hardest to get along to it for a Solabeat Alliance experience. (10)

Big thanks to Tom for bringing the rock to Maidstone by putting on a Solabeat Alliance show – it was a great experience and hopefully more bands will start coming to Maidstone as there is definitely a good scene going down here and we need a few more bands to fuel our addictions!

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Graveltrap – Concrete & Udder Chaos

June 4, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Milton Keynes – best known for its concrete roundabouts and…cows. So a pretty fitting album title from the MK pop punk band that is Graveltrap. The town is home to many great bands such as Capdown, Odd Man Out, and Phema – and Graveltrap are no exception to the trend. They play neat Pop Punk with a distinct English sound and play it a lot better than most of their American counterparts. This four piece only have an average age of 19 yet already have a large fan base and it doesn’t take a genius to see why. Graveltrap are an extremely talented young band that play infectious pop punk that gets stuck in your head – getting you singing along and jumping around manically.

This twelve track album proves to be something special with pounding bass lines, loud guitar playing, fast drumming and awesome vocals. They have already had success with tune ‘S.R.J’ on P-Rock TV and are now moving on to try to conquer Scuzz with the same song with the video that can only be shown after 10pm due to its content. It is no surprise that they are gaining new fans with this track being on Sky TV as it is a catchy Punk Rock track with an awesome outbreak of Ska in the middle of it. It is a really infectious tune with some strong drumming, fiery bass lines and great vocals. This tune is good but there are some other tracks that really stand out on this CD such as ‘Primal Fear,’ ‘Kickin’ Chickens,’ and ‘What About The Marigolds.’

‘Primal Fear’ kicks this CD off and is a great track, kicking it all off musically sounding like a cross between Nerf Herder and Bad Religion but with their own very unique vocal style and making them stand out from the pack as they are not just another American Pop-Punk tribute band, they have their own flair that makes them Graveltrap, and no one can ever take that away from them. The lyrics are also cool on this one – just the all round feel to it is great as it is so energetic with a great beat to it and awesome guitar licks. ‘Kickin’ Chickens’ kicks off with a Ska feel to it before moving into a more Punk Rock tune that is catchy, and full of fun. The drumming is fast and furious – I always listen out for the drumming as I have a soft spot for the drums and the drummer here really puts his all into it, pulling it off marvellously, creating a really cool beat. This song is vocally slick with a chorus that sticks in your head and for all the right reasons! ‘What About The Marigolds’ on the other hand is a great tune that sees the band take a more hardcore stance and a heavier approach. You can feel that the vocals are building up to something from the very beginning and about two and a half minutes into the record the band seem to explode and come out with some extremely heavy vocals. The feel to this one is extremely different to the feel on the other songs but the band still pull it off with flying colours and show that they have not pigeonholed themselves to any one particular genre. They can play Ska, they can play Pop-Punk, they can play downright Punk Rock – yet with this one they show that they can also play Hardcore and play it extremely well I must say!

There you have it, that is Graveltrap’s ‘Concrete & Udder Chaos’ and what a fine little album it turned out to be! The drumming was amazing, played with great speed yet full of rhythm, the guitars were played loud, the bass was fiery, and the vocals were superb with very meaningful lyrics that you will find yourself singing after a couple of listens (trust me, I should know!) Once again, a Milton Keynes band have left me gob smacked and the reason for this is their catchy Punk Rock that is sure to impress. Check them out if you have any sense and try and get along to one of their shows if you can as I’m sure that it would be a blinder!

Rating:

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.

Interview with Dan from Graveltrap

May 15, 2004 by Rich Leave a Comment

Hey Dan, so how did you come up with the name of Graveltrap?
It was a completly random pairing of two words that we thought sounded good when we were 15! We were down the pub (like you are at 15) and were trying to come up with another tag other than ‘placid’ or ‘kneedeep’ both of which suck ass big time and didnt sound right…so we kinda liked the sound of two random words…radiohead…terrorvision…greenday etc etc. We only ofund out that it meant a formula 1 sandpit about a year later!! I wish we had a better reason for our name but it just kinda stuck…I was thinking of changing it to Trapt about a year ago but lucky i didnt what with that shittty new metal band and all!

You come from Milton Keynes, that town seems to have churned out a hell of a lot of great bands – is it a pretty friendly scene and do you all get on there?
We have loads of good friends in MK bands…Phema, Lupa & OddManOut are some of our best friends. When we first started gigging there wasnt much of a ‘scene’…just two venues in the whole city but one of them was run by our friend Paul who gave bands like us a stage to play on at the Pitz Club which was really when it all started. Bands like us and phema started playing regularly at the Pitz and started to gain a little following. We all came from the same school so knew each other but it was really when an ex-clown called Lee opened up ‘Blinding Music’ practise studios (RIP) that bands started to meet and hang out. That place gelled the whole scene together and we used to go up there all the time for a smoke and just chill out with other bands…and learn backgammon!! Thats my lasting memory of Blinding – a hell of a lot of skunk and backgammon…oh and a bit of music now and then…! I think because of these people and and a supportive rock journalist in the local paper we were able to help carve out an alternative rock scene which is now overflowing with new bands and fans which all centres around the Pitz…without The Pitz it would never have happened.

You have a lot of talent and seem to have an extremely refined sound for a young band with an average age of 19. So what’s this down to?
We’ve all been playing our instruments for fun for years…not just to be in a band, and although its taken on more responsibility recently weve always enjoyed practise and got a buzz off of progressing musically.If things start to get a bit stale and boring it usually means we’ve been slacking and not putting enough effort into the music and although we’re still predominantly 3 chord punk, every new song we do we’ll try something new for us and if everyone picks up on the vibe and buzzes from it then we know we’ve done a good song. Its the only thing that keeps it interesting as although playing live is amazing too, I really like that feeling of ‘wow – that rocks…lets do it again!’ that you get when doing a new song.

The album, ‘Concrete & Udder Chaos’ sounded great to me – were you happy with it as a band or do you think that you have a lot more to offer than that?
For us the album do*****ents where we’ve been for the last 5 years. We’ve got together the best songs that we’ve made since our first demo and rounded them up onto one CD, and that mostly inlcudes songs about growing up and being at school. Songs like ‘Kickin’ Chickens’ was written in 98 and was one of our first songs write up until ‘What About The Marigolds’ which we wrote just before the record. We are definatly happy with it in all respects, especially the production that Iain Wetherell did for us, but at the same time i think the sound of our newer stuff far exceeds the formulaic pop-punk of old. We’ve had a few slatings from various magazines about it being a pop-punk record…and it is! It sums up our experience of going against the grain of school authorites and our various encounters with girls and heartbreak and not fitting in…because thats what we felt at the time and what we wrote about. So we wanted our first album to sum up graveltrap as its been and what we’ve encountered as hopefully other people can relate to the same things. As regards what we have to offer i think we have a lot more…we’re taking what we’ve learnt from pop-punk and mixing it with a lot more riffs and time changes/breaks. All our new stuff excites us musically and is also a lot darker in sounds and lyrics. I think we’ll always be the punk rock band with the sing along chorus’ but we’ve learnt a lot from other bands about build-ups and breakdowns and how to shape the music to take you to different places. We’ve learnt that rocking out has more impact if you throw some slower bits into the mix and that more can be done on guitars than just thrashing on power chords…although nothing beats it 😉

What was it like touring with Solabeat Alliance, Whitmore, and Mixtwitch on the Over The Moon Tour?
We had a great laugh man. We learnt so much from them guys and as we played first we could just sit back after our set and watch a class punk show every nite!! We’re gonna hook up with them all agin in the next few months as we’re touring with each of them in succesion, so its gonna be like Over the moon part two for us…just extended over thee months! They all really nice guys and we got on well with all of them…sola beat let us sleep in their luxury van for a few nites and glen from whitmore put us up almost every other nite, and his mum did our washing! Mixtwich are just a constant barrel of potatoe twinged humour…even hearing one of them say ***** creases me up. When we first met the bands everyone was polite and quite reserved (until that nites party) but when we picked mixtwitch up from luton they’d been drinking all day and were wasted!! that was our first and last impression of them!!

I was actually on the boat for the first gig on the Thames, you didn’t play – what was the story behind that?
Well john had decided to make his own way down to London for some reason rather than coming in the van. It was about 20 mins before it set off and there was no sign of him…then i finally get through to his fone and he’s on the underground about six stops away. So with 10 mins to go I decided to run down to the nearest tube station to wait for him and show him the way to the boat…i waited for ages then got a call from Jon at Moonska (on the boat) that it was about to set sail and to get back. I just remember pegging it down the peir to see the boat just pull away from the harborgh and everyone on top waving at me…i felt like such a dick!! Then to top it off i saw Muzz (with his broken arm) and Alex pissing themselves and giving me the finger from the top deck. I was gloriously gutted and suitably embarresed!! So i did what anyone wud do…went straight to the offy and got a quart of vodka, sat in the park and got pissed!! I found some other mates who had missed the boat too and we got heavily sloshed and tryed not to think about how much i wanted to kill john!!

Where do you see yourselves as a band in three years time?
With the same three people playing our music to hopefully a bigger audience. You can never tell where you gonna end up in the music industry but as long as we keep doing it for us and people dig it then thats all that matters to me. I never want it to grow stale though and we’ve been lucky enough to feel as though we’ve progressed consistantly over the last few years so hopefully we’ll continue to do so. Whether we get another lucky break and reach the point of major label sucess or whether we keep playing the clubs and releasing records on Moonska, we’ll continue to do it as long as its fun and people are enjoying our music.

Do you have any advice for young people looking to form bands of their own?
I dont really have any advise for people looking to form bands as i think if they want to do it they shud already be in one. A lot of people i know talk about being in bands and forming bands and it never happens. If you enjoy playing your instrument and writing your own stuff then you will find other similar minded people if you stick to your music…just hang round the music block at lunch, take music GCSE, whatever it takes to get in with other musicians then just do it. Write a song, show the others it then play play play play play and play. You gotta practise at least once a week if not more. Cover other songs to make you tighter if you want, but just play. And when you good enough (and not until) record a basic demo and send it to your local venue. Practise and gig when ever you can, thats all id say.

Rich

UK based film graduate with a huge passion for music, sports and video games.