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 documents 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 fuck 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.
Ok, thanks to Dan from Gravelltrap for that interview which was done by e-mail, I look forward to the Maidstone gig in November when they play with Solabeat Alliance, Zen Baseball Bat, DumpsterPop and local support band Morgans Puff Adder.
Related Links:
Graveltrap Official Site
Graveltrap – Concrete & Udder Chaos Review