GRAYtheband answered our questions about their music and their songwriting process. Let’s see what they have to say!
First off, What’s up with your name? Is there a story behind it?
Way back, half of the current members were in a group called Our Sound Machine. Two members from that project married and moved to British Columbia, leaving me and drummer James O’Neill. Given my name, Gray Ford, I loathed the idea of being the Gray Ford Project or Band with its seemingly misguided association with country music. Also, it felt simultaneously cheesy and overly exposed, embracing my whole name in the project. So, for a time, we were simply GRAY, which aided in feeling separated from the name, though it became apparent that other artists are employing that title. Over time, we found that people would routinely introduce us at shows as “Gray the band,” which I surmised was a direct result of our social media handles. Initially, it felt laughable referring to ourselves as GRAYtheband, though not only has it worked as a unique name, it has spurred conversation by way of creating confusion such as, “Why does it seem like just one guy, but ‘band’ is in the name” and “is he just some sort of one man band?”. I am certainly not and heavily rely on my incredibly talented found family.
Tell us about your musical past, would you tell us about your early years?
The most musically influential part of my childhood was that the radio was always on in our home throughout the day. I was constantly exposed to an eclectic mix of music from my parents, and my father made sure to pass on his love for new wave, punk, reggae, and classic soul. I grew up always wanting to play the drums, though my mother wanted me to learn piano first, except that never happened. In junior high school, I enrolled in a unique traditional Scottish pipe and drum band program and immediately dove into learning my basic rudiments on a drum pad. We performed all around, clad in kilts to boot. Next, I was graciously gifted a drumset one holiday season when, serendipitously, my best childhood friend received a guitar. We were absolute junk, but we learned some classic rock covers and were on our way to forming a garage band. After a few years of me singing being the drumset, I was determined to start channeling my teen angst into song and learned some basic chord progressions on guitar from my best pal. Writing and eventually recording and producing became part and parcel of my adolescence.
With one of our inaugural projects, Our Sound Machine, along with the aforementioned married couple and James O’Neill on drums, we sat down at a park bench and scoured the classified for an open mic at a local pub for bands. We had our first performance and were booked by the manager for the next week for pay! It was exhilarating and spawned what seemed to be monthly gigging around Edmonton in various evolving projects for nearly ten years.
How would you describe your sound?
This might be one of the most difficult questions, given that I find it hard to separate what we objectively sound like relative to what I would like us to sound like! Generally speaking, I’d say we could be categorized as alternative R&B, Neo-Soul – and apparently – “anthemic folk,” according to some lovely listeners. The debut album is bookended by rather folky anthemic tunes signaling death and rebirth, while the bulk of the project is more R&B forward concerning love and disparity.
Which artists have the biggest influence on your sound?
My answer to this is ever-evolving, though I suppose grounded in a certain foundation. Suppose one licks their finger and attempts to determine the direction of the wind while on the open road with no agenda, free to go wherever they please – I’d like to think that influence on my sound is comparable to liberating fantasy. While on the other hand, my bandmates might say my influence and taste quite the contrary! For years and years, when I first began writing, older Wailers material made an incredible impression on my general musicality alongside The Clash, The Specials, The Heptones, Junior Murvin, Toots and the Maytals, Simply Red, and XTC. Erykah Badu’s Mamas Gun and Stevie Wonder’s whole discography are other pillars that shifted my writing and general feel. Then we cannot forget Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, Dionne Warwick, Al Green, Rufus, and Prince. Moving along, J Dilla changed my life, as well as A Tribe Called Quest. More contemporarily, I am a huge admirer of SZA, Twin Shadow, Little Dragon, Dijon, Charlotte Day Wilson, BADBADNOTGOOD, Snoh Aalegra, Leon Bridges, Miguel, Ravvyn Lenae, Free Nationals, Jordan Howard, Kendrick, Ari Lennox, and all things Dreamville. My most recently added albums are from Jidenna and Janelle Monae. Locally and more immediately, I would have to say K-Riz has a great influence on my sound through his unrelenting support and championing of our vision.
What’s the last song you listened to?
Lipstick Lover – Janelle Monae followed by Hours Make Ours – Emmit Dupree.
What’s your source for hearing new music?
Listening to locally-funded and operated radio stations, as well as our publicly funded national broadcaster turning out shows like “The Block” and “After Dark.” Not to employ product placement, but I love using Shazam to flag tracks that speak to me. I save them up for weeks and then play my recently marked tracks. When I saw that a few folks took the time to reach their phone to learn about my first single, I felt that was the greatest honour. Besides that, social media, local artists, and ‘new music’ playlists tailored to the algorithm on one of the major platforms. Paradoxically, I do not seek out and engage with new music as much as I would like others to do so for my music. It feels like an imbalance, and yet, honing in on writing, creating, and performing is seemingly our side of the collaborative artist-listener partnership.
Who is your dream producer?
Arnel Ethier from Royal Studio, and the dream has come true. Other than that, I would love to sit down and collaboratively construct tunes with Timbaland – his masterclass was invaluable with respect to production. And then, of course, Kenny Beats himself. I should say the last two responses are muddied by my self-acclaimed basement producer status and fondness for making music, much unlike GRAYtheband’s. Shameless plug, I worked on two tracks, “Ooh Yeah” and “Mirror,” on the incomparable Janette King’s 2021 album What We Lost.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
Shooting for the stars, let me write and sing a duet with SZA, please. If people know people, pass on that I have a few duets in the back pocket saved for the occasion. I would also love to work with Charlotte Day Wilson, be featured by BADBADNOTGOOD, and though seemingly at odds, I have always been compelled to work with K-os – I just have some intuitive feeling that we would have a blast singing and writing some tunes.
What led you to music, and what motivates you to keep making it?
For me, everything involved in listening and creating music is a multisensory, all-encompassing, and embodied extension of being human. I don’t feel I make music as much as music makes me. Music gives me a sense of purpose outside of being a human commodity in the workforce because I will continue to express myself musically, devoid of monetary compensation.
Tell us about the songwriting process. How does it all come together?
Initially, it was always me and a guitar – a melody informed a chord progression or chord progression spurred melody. With my development as a basement producer, sometimes ideas start from beats, bass lines, or interesting soundscapes. I use mobile-recorded voice notes often to capture fleeting thoughts and then bring them back to the space to wrestle with. The first single, “All Done,” was fully realized on my garageband phone application in my car on break at work. I suppose I don’t have a rigid method to approach songwriting. I will say that I have become better at capturing anything that feels good at the moment as much as I can. One of my favourite things is to sit down and start creating a track from scratch to see where it takes me, even if just to instill a surge of dopamine.
How do you connect with your audience? What is the easiest way for them to
connect with you?
I am beyond excited to more meaningfully connect with our audience again following a rather long hiatus after hiding in the studio and tending to the behind-the-scenes work during the pandemic. Presently, we have been engaging with our folks via social media and intend to continue releasing two singles and videos over the summer. We will be inviting the audience out to participate in a live performance event taping that will notably feature the audience and be edited more so like a feature film. I am eager for us to begin performing live; I miss it dearly.
The best way for folks to connect with us is through our website, GRAYtheband and at this link alongside the major social media platforms.
https://www.facebook.com/GRAYthebandd/
GRAYtheband (@GRAYthebandd) / Twitter
What’s next for you?
Get this album out, write a grant to tour the music, and finish grad school.
Bio:
GRAYtheband is an Edmonton-based alternative R&B project fronted by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Gray Ford.
GRAYtheband results from traditional instrumentation mingling with modern production, forming an unfiltered yet refined take on the genre.
A consistent contributor to the Edmonton music scene, Gray has recently recorded a long-awaited debut album, ‘All Done’- a reflection on social disparity, love, and the intricacies of relationships.
