Interview: grandson
Download saw grandson back on UK shores for the first time since 2019, and boy had we missed a lot. Death of an Optimist, Deftones, and microdosing on ‘shrooms were barely scratching the surface – but grandson was more than happy to fill us in.
What’s it like being back in the UK?
So good. I was on a creative sojourn here at the end of last year – I didn’t plan shows, I didn’t meet fans, it was not a work trip – for the first time in my life I took a vacation. Came, looked at some old shit, saw some castles, got some tattoos… it was a great time. I’ve always loved coming to England and I can’t imagine a better way to come back than a sunny Download fest. I figured you can either have a sunny England day or come to Download – I didn’t know you could have both!
I think you’ve brought the sun over with you!
A little California sunshine!
UK have missed so much – what’s it going to be like playing… even modern tragedy 3 we haven’t seen yet! There was going to be that tour with A Day To Remember but obviously Covid.
Wow, I hadn’t thought of that! So, here’s what happened: I was originally planning on coming in January of 2020 for my own headline Europe run but then at the last minute A Day To Remember offered us the opportunity of a lifetime… we cancelled that tour and were poised to come out. BAM. Covid happened, cancelled. So yeah, it’s been a while! We have a lot of new music we haven’t played here. I also think I’ve grown up a lot, I’ve changed a lot. So, I’m looking forward to being this version of myself and playing music that the ‘kids have already built this relationship to.
It’s quite a strange feeling as a songwriter. You go through these life events, you write about them, you put it out, you go live some more, you write some new songs; those old ones – you still have some connection to them but it’s like childhood memories or something, it’s hard to remember that you’re that same person. But when you haven’t been in a city before or in quite some time, part of you is still frozen in that moment. People are still having those first experiences. Just the other day we were in Austria for the very first time, and there were fans there that had been waiting patiently since 2017 to connect with these songs and so… playing these songs that I’ve already sang 200, 300 times, and here we are doing it for the first time all over again. It’s a cool experience I’m looking forward to.
These 200, 300 times – have you ever felt a little bit jaded?
You know what? I feel really, really lucky that I love singing these songs. I really do. I don’t know that everyone can say that and mean it. I will say that some songs give me anxiety – they’re quite technically challenging, especially when I’m in the middle of a tour. When I’m recording an album, I have a whole week to hit that one note that one time. But when I’m on tour singing it night-in night-out, there are certain songs that I see in the setlist and just think “Oh God, I better get that one right this time.” I don’t want to look at my Instagram stories and hear myself butchering it fifty times. But as far as do I get tired of the song, the message… maybe it’s because I found success in my mid-twenties rather than as a teenager, maybe if I’d had my first song be my biggest song. But I’ve been through it man. I’ve been dropped by record labels, I’ve questioned my place in the world so many times. Just being able to be here, singing these songs and have anyone care or connect with them… I can find something to be stoked about every single time.
You say about the setlist – what can people expect later on?
About half an hour of power, just kind of a piledriver to the ears. Heavy set, very little time to breathe. We’re going to sneak as many songs as we possibly can into half an hour and it’s going to range from some of my earliest songs to some of the modern stuff from my album – it’s going to be really fun.
Speaking of modern stuff and new songs – how do all of the collabs come about? You seem to have one every few weeks!
I think it just comes from the internet. I’m not scared to let artists know I’m a fan. I’ve always been a fan first; most of my collaborations come from reaching out to the artists of our time that I’m influenced by, with no agenda, not doing it to get anything. I just reach out to let them know I’m a fan. And if there ends up being an opportunity to hop on a song together or hang out and talk about music, life… I’m all for it. I’ve been able to work with some pretty cool cats.
In terms of collabortions, I’ve got to ask – you collaborated with Jessie Rayez for Rain for Suicide Squad. What was the premiere like? I saw on your story that you went as X!
Very strange. I was uhh… I was microdosing on mushrooms so I was a little out of it. But also I think that that helped – if I was too into it I might have gotten too overwhelmed by the moment: the red carpet, the press. I had a blast man. It was a surreal opportunity. Especially because it was one of the first events that I attended post being vaccinated. To see people back in person, be able to celebrate an accomplishment like hearing your song on a big movie like that with my co-writers, my manager, my team, my girlfriend – it was just a really fun highlight of last year. It’s important not to take those kinds of things too seriously; we were able to just shoot the shit and have a good time.
A few more, just conscious of your time! How did Monday come about with Deftones?
Oh boy! You know what? I really don’t know. I’ve been able to open for all kinds of artists this year, ranging from pop-punk icons like Avril Lavigne to bands like Deftones, and I’m going on tour with Bring Me The Horizon later on in the year. I think I just fall in a sweet spot, in this comfortable little Goldilocks zone of being an established artist but still looking to grow and take these opportunities to play bigger crowds. Deftones were kind enough to invite me on for a little run – we’ve booked a lot of festivals and some headline shows around it. They’ve been cool. I got to hang out with Chino before our first show in Switzerland, he was a super nice guy. And their fans are pretty tight.
Any bands you’re excited to see today?
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch Cassyette’s set earlier, but she’s somebody that I’ve connected with on the internet who I’m a big fan of. Ice Nine Kills, Deftones – seen them pretty much every night and still getting a huge kick out of it – there are just a lot of really good bands here at Download this weekend and I wish I could catch them all.
One I always love asking – any bands you’ve just generally recommend for people to check out?
Just in general? Yeah… I always take the opportunity to shout out my friends in Cleopatrick. They’re a couple of Canadian kids like me making some inspired rock music. Badflower, incredible American rock band. Wargasm, up and coming UK band… the list goes on and on!
Final question, which is probably a bit deeper than you’d want to end on. Other than Blood // Water, which song has most changed your life?
That’s a great question! Not too deep, though I might need to think about it for a second.
Well, I have this song called Kiss Bang. It’s kind of a funny song, it sticks out in my head a lot like a sore thumb. It’s from 2017; I sound very young on it because it was the first song I ever made as grandson. It wasn’t the first song we put out but… that day that I wrote that song with my collaborator Kevin Hissink will always stick out as a life changing day. At the time I was quite lost – finding my voice, finding my sound – and that song got buried the more music I put out. But just recently, while on this European tour, we found that song on our setlists from the last time we were over here and we decided to start playing it again. We all just have the biggest smiles on our faces when we launch into this obscure album cut from five years ago. And so… I’m going to give a shout out to the little song that could. A very strange song, most people have forgotten about it but it was a really memorable day in the grandson history that I look forward to playing every time.
Aw, and what a sweet note to end on!
Thanks so much for chatting with me! Always love catching up.
Thanks for your time man!
Feature by James O’Sullivan
