Hailing from Red Deer, Alberta is the explosive rock collective Grim. They frantically threw a band together back in 2016 so they could play a Dusty Tucker Christmas Bangover. Soon after, they began creating their debut album. If they're not in the studio, you can find Grim playing live shows throughout the central Alberta area spreading their infectious classic rock n roll.
“The Old Saloon” kicks off with a tasty guitar riff that serves as the basis for the whole song. All of the other instruments join in relatively quickly, and before you know what’s hit you, there’s a big- band full soundscape surrounding you. Things settle down for the verses where the unmistakable classic vocals come in. This leads the listener into an anthemic chorus flooded with gritty rock vocals that are authentic to Grim. The bridge of “The Old Saloon” is arguably the most diverse part of the song. It breaks away from the established vibe and introduces a completely new melody to the track. This is the point in the song where the musicians really let their talents shine, and it takes the song to a much deeper level. A large reason Grim is so successful in what they do is because the musicianship of the band is absolutely fantastic. “The Old Saloon” is a prime example of all of this, combining elements of hard rock, classic rock, and contemporary elements making for a song that has the ability to appeal rock fans, both old and new alike.
Check out “The Old Saloon” here and read more with Grim below!
Welcome to BuzzMusic Grim! Who are the members of the band? How did Grim come to fruition?
Thanks, its nice talking to you guys! So, I'm Alex, I sing and play guitar, my little brother Ryan is the other guitarist and our long time buds Dane Williams (Drums) And Jackson Rowthorn (Bass) have teamed up with us to start this band, we've also recently added a new member, Eric Doucet who plays keys. How the band started was basically just me with a bunch of Rock riffs that, at the time I wasn't really too focused on until this one time I was at a show in Red deer and the singer from a really awesome local band asked me if I had had my own band and if we could come play at their annual Christmas Bangover, which is a great show that id seen many times. So, having just dropped out of music school I pretty much decided that I should play Rock & Roll and assembled the band as fast as I could, and for the most part the same line-up has stuck around.
“The Old Saloon” feels like 2-3 brilliant songs packed into one! What was the writing/recording process like for a song with so many elements at work?
Well, this song pretty much just started as a series of riffs that I had written, I messed around with the arrangement for quite a long time before I could get it how I wanted it. Finally was happy with the song and when it came time for the rest of the band tome come do their parts I pretty much gave them free reign to do whatever they felt was right, each member brought in great parts, we'd had a bit of producing to do but in the end the instrumentation of the song turned out great.
The lead singer has an incredibly versatile voice! Have you had professional training? Do you have any advice for aspiring rock vocalists?
Such kind words! Thank you. I briefly took lessons from the singer of a local hardcore band called Dusty Tucker he gave me tips on screaming and also cleans, pretty much just showed me vocal scales and that's it, we didn't really do the lessons very long and I'm really hoping to get in for some more professional vocal training before we begin to record our follow up album. But for anyone out there that wants to learn how to sing all you really need to do is look into vocal scales. It's pretty much just an audio file that you sing along too, Zen of screaming or Teach yourself to sing from Chapters are both good.
What’s the overall concept of your self-titled album? What do you hope your listeners take away from it?
This was my first real attempt at song writing so at the time this stuff was all being recorded I think I was still pretty much just figuring lyrics out as I went along. Trying tons of different things and just seeing which comes out best. Theres no real orginzed lyrical theme that is consistent throughout all of the songs, they're all pretty much just seperate little stories. I just hope the listeners become interested in the stories and like the tunes!
We really appreciate you chatting with us about your incredible music! What’s next for you artistically? Does your creativity manifest itself in other ways?
Yeah! Well, in two days we hit studio again to do a new single called Blood, which is being recorded in the Rolling Stones mobile studio down in Calgary. We also have a few songs written for a follow up album that we hope to start recording soon. I feel like, creatively the new stuff will totally be on another level. Musically we're beginning to write together as a group and lyrically the album will be a concept. But yeah lots of exciting things happening, its been great talking to you guys, we can't wait to hear from you again!