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Taken
from Issue #2 of The Skammunicator Fanzine
For
people yet to discover Grimace, describe the Grimace set-up.
The 'grimace' set up is essentially a four piece - vox, guitar, bass and
drums. However the 'extended' grimace involves many more musicians. We
have a trumpet player, trombone, flugel horn, sample/programmer and keyboards.
We take influences from bands such as sublime which have a core but also
many other people doin' their thang! We don't like to label ourselves
as it is
restricting yourself straight away but there is a general consensus on
'Ska-Punk'. Sometimes more punky, sometimes more ska(y) and most of the
time a happy medium.
What
could people expect going to their first Grimace gig?
To see a band they will either love or hate. Yelpy female vocals backed
up with ballsy music. We have found that the people who don't like us
after seeing a gig usually have jealousy issues or bitterness for some
reason. We'd like to think most people would really enjoy a Grimace gig
if they'd never been before.
If
you were touring England, what bands would you be listening to in the
van?
Its usually up to the driver Andy but the only band he likes we like is
op ivy so that gets a lot of play. A lot of the vans we hire don't have
tape players incase they get robbed so its classical fm a lot of the time
to!
What
1 band would you give your right arm to play with and why?
Probably the bosstones because they are so mighty (mighty). There’s plenty
of bands we'd like to play with but probably not enough right-hands to
go around.
The
UK/Europe scene is in a bit of a purple patch, how is the scene in your
county of Greater Manchester going?
The scene in Manchester is 'alright' the skapunk scene is quite confined,
but still enough support. If your talking ska as a whole then there are
plenty bands touring. We like to play in as many places as we can and
have found that the best places are the not so big cities because they
don't get a whole load of ska bands playing.
 You've
got your own record company, Face Boy Records, how did starting that come
about? What other bands are on the label?
We basically invented faceboy records so we didn't seem like a dodgy 'unsigned'
band. It just seemed like a fun thing to do and is just something to stick
on releases and posters for gigs etc. Its not so much a 'company' but
'label', we're the only band on it but it would be great if had other
bands.
What
football team do the Grimace members follow?
Man Utd but its justified because we all live in walking distance of Old
Trafford Stadium.
Do
Grimace get many rudies at their gigs or is their more of a variety of
punters?
It depends where we are playing, I suppose its a total mix we've had rudies
& mods but the majority of the audience is baggy skate-punk kids.
We'll play to anyone, and have (recalling early memories of playing numerous
manchester gigs with 'Oasis' wannabes)
Favourite
ska web site?
Don't know there are loads of cool ska sites and I think its really good
that ska has such strong presence on the web. This whole interview says
it all, you being based in oz and us in the Uk. I know its not a specific
ska site as such but I'm really into Napster at the moment.
What
was it like playing with [SPUNGE], Bad Manners and Voodoo Glow Skulls?
Brilliant, its opened up so much. Its great that already established give
bands like us a shot and we really appreciate it. [spunge] are great guys
and
anyone who hasn't heard them I would suggest they check them out. Bad
Manners
was good. Buster is still the same guy but hes getting bigger. VGS was
great
too as that was probably more our audience
I
notice you used a brass section called The Cornwall Horns for a time.
Was that just a temporary arrangement or are there plans for a permanent
addition of a horn section?
We usually play with at least trumpet or trombone if not both but when
there so many people its hard to do gigs everywhere with them when they
have other things going on in their life. We have a new trombone player,
justin and are hoping to recruit a sax player permanently
What's
in the pipeline for Grimace in the way of gigs, recording and Face Boy
records?
The only way is up baby. We've got plenty of gigs coming up, more with
[spunge] and hopefully with less than jake. We have plenty lined up of
our own to. We are currently demoing for a 6 track EP which will be called
'Six Numbers' that has a track on it of the same name about the lottery.
The EP will be recorded as soon as the demos are finished, hopefully released
later this year. Face boy records, well like I said its just our own little
label but it would be cool if it expanded to include more bands.
Hopefully
one day we'll see you come to Australia!!! Thanks for the interview!
Damn right
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