‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.
A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.
Today’s guests are Robin & Penelope from Wellington-by-way-of-Dunedin indy-folk band Grawlixes.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music.
We are Grawlixes, from Wellington (by way of Dunedin). Our music is indie pop featuring accordion, guitar and a violin run through pedals (in the live version at least). We write songs about various forms of relationships mainly – the highs and lows, the ins and outs, increasingly the weird or off kilter. However, they still usually start with a verse and finish with a chorus in the good old-fashioned way.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
Yes! We’re about to release an album through Home Alone Records in February, which we are very excited about. We’ve got a lot of new songs too, which we’ll start thinking about recording in 2017. And we are releasing a couple of videos in the not too distant future too.
Where is the best place people can follow you and find your music?
You can find us via Home Alone Records, or we’re on Facebook,
Twitter and we have a Website.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
Penelope: Tough choice. I had fingers in musical pies growing up – lucky to have a Dad who had a music section in his store. I was pretty obsessed with all things Beatles, then Smashing Pumpkins ‘Gish’, and Incubus ‘Science’. Fairly male oriented stuff oddly.
Robin: Mine were probably Rage Against the Machine’s first album, Songs For the Deaf, and Aenima. Gaggles of angry white men paving the way for mopey relationship folk a decade late. It’s funny how influences can work isn’t it?
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
Penelope: All of them – eventually if not immediately.
Robin: I would love to work with Wellington’s fanciest classical, jazz and rock arrangers – whoever they are, I’m new to the city – to try and pick up a few tricks! Pipe dreams abound.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
We’ve played a couple of times at Moon and those shows have gone the best so that’s a tick in our book!
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
Robin usually writes the songs, then he comes to me and we scalp it into something we’re mutually happy with.
Where/when is your next gig?
We’re going on a NZ tour in January with the Prophet Hens (Jan 12th @ Darkroom in ChCh, 13th @ Dog with Two Tails in Dunedin, 20th @ Meow in Wellington & 21st @ Freida Margolis in Auckland) and then we’re going on our own nationwide tour in February (confirmed dates to come – watch our Website or Facebook).