Band Of The Week #179 - Grandmas House

Bristol based punk-trio Grandmas House have just released the self titled debut EP via Brace Yourself Records. Their powerful debut EP is packed with all the ingredients that have led to their rapid ascension. From the uplifting and empowering track, ‘Girl,’ which preaches queer women and women in general, to ‘Never Out Of Luck’, written from the perspective of a powerful, cocky man, to ‘Pasty’, which was written about a woman who runs a pasty stand in Bristol, to ‘Feed Me’, which finds them asking to be taken care of while utterly hungover, this EP balances serious and important messages with a playful dose of wit and humour. They took a moment to talk to us about how the EP came together.

Hey there Grandmas House, how are you? So the debut EP is finally here, how does it feel to have it out there in the world?
HELLO! It feels incredibly rewarding, we wrote a lot of the songs on the EP when we first started out as a band so finally having them out in the world is so exciting. It’s also been a dream to have our own music on vinyl so we feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to have our very first EP released as a physical copy.

Where was it recorded? Any behind the scenes stories from the creative process you are happy to share with us?
The recording process was in between two amazing studios. We recorded most of the instrumentals at Factory Studios here in Bristol with Nathan Long and finished the EP with Scott Barnett at his studio just outside of Bath! It’s been really nice to have input from two different producers as it’s definitely added to the overall sound and feel of the songs. We are a very live band so really wanted the EP to capture our live sound! The creative process definitely involved a lot of crazy playing to try and squeeze everything into a day of recording, and lots of snacks!

What are the key themes and influences on the EP?
The EP explores quite a range of themes – from us criticizing the government’s position of power to singing about queer relationships, as well as light-hearted songs about being hungover and pasties. We write about what’s important to us and things that just happen in our everyday life, so we think it’s a nice mix!

The track ‘Girl’ on the EP, while an upbeat tune - touches on the struggles queer people experience with coming out. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Coming out as queer is something that never really ends and is a constant reoccurrence in life and being queer women, we have all experienced coming out in many different ways! ‘Girl’ touches on that but also focuses on a relationship that has its ups and downs. It was such a fun song to write and is also about celebrating love between queer people. It’s just nice to have a love song about girls sang by girls!

Do you feel the music industry is a safe space for queer artists?
We can obviously only talk from our own perspective, but we feel that there’s definitely a long way to go. There are some really amazing gigs being run by queer folk that are always so inclusive. Creating a special place where queerness is celebrated within music is amazing, but inclusivity needs to definitely be pushed more all across the board, and we all (but especially people in positions that could bring about real change) need to be making active choices to help create a more equal music industry.

The track ‘Pasty’ is about a lady who runs a pasty stand in Bristol - so what is your go to when it comes to a pasty?
Poppy’s go to pasty would be a classic vegetable pasty. We’ll probably get in trouble for this but Zoe and Yas aren’t actually big fans of pasties. The new vegan sausage, bean and cheese bake from Greggs is a game changer though – does that count?

Do you have a favourite lyric on the EP? If so, which one and why?
Ooooo favourite lyric would probably be ‘Come sun, come rain, I’m still gonna shine’ from our lead single ‘Golden’! It’s just so simple but really captures what the song is about.

Now the EP is out there - what next for you?
We’re going on our first ever headline tour today!! We’re finally getting to play up north which has been something we’ve wanted to do for ages and also getting to play our first ever headline gigs in some amazing cities such as London and Brighton. We’re going on tour with Egyptian Blue, TV Priest and Pigs x7 this year so can’t wait for that! We’ve also been writing some new material, which we’ll be recording soon so more music is on the way! :)

Tour Dates

2022
Jan 7th | Bognor Regis, UK - Rockaway Beach

WTHB OnlineOctober 17, 2021Features