Grenadiers

4 May 2010 | 12:46 am | Staff Writer
Originally Appeared In

Adelaide's Grenadiers have just unleashed their debut album "Songs The Devil Taught Us", the band's guitarist and vocalist Jesse answered a few questions for us.

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Adelaide's Grenadiers have just unleashed their debut album "Songs The Devil Taught Us", the band's guitarist and vocalist Jesse answered a few questions for us.

Start off by stating your name, what you play in Grenadiers and your favourite type of cheese?

Jesse, Guitar and Vocals, and the smellier the better!

Can you tell us a bit about how Grenadiers were formed?


Grenadiers came about when my last band (The Rivalry) was nearing the end of its lifespan. I wanted to do something more in the vein of Hot Snakes or something. As much as I loved the metal/hardcore stuff I was playing then, I always felt rock music was what I do best.

How would you describe the band’s sound to someone who has never heard the band before?

Depends what kind of person it is! I have described us variously as sounding like Hot Snakes, The Bronx, Foo Fighters, and Metallica haha! Depends on the person’s frame of reference I guess. Not everyone listens to The Bronx unfortunately.

Who would you consider to be the band’s main influences musically?

Obviously Hot Snakes and The Bronx, Queens of the Stone Age are another big one, and lots of other stuff like Future of the Left, Misfits, The Draft, etc. I guess you absorb anything you really like and it’s bound to come out in some form.

The band’s debut album “Songs the Devil Taught Us” is out now. Can you tell us a bit about the writing and recording process for the album?

After we did the demo we immediately started working towards a full-length. We got it written and recorded pretty quickly, unfortunately it took a while to get it released- we went through some line-up changes in the meantime, our drummer Christian had a kid, you know, life stuff. But here it is and the fact that I still think it’s good almost two years after I wrote some of the songs is definitely a positive sign!

The band’s demo seemed to receive generally positive reviews. Did you expect that to happen when you recorded it?


At that time I just wanted to be Hot Snakes. It didn’t really come out like that (I think I spent too much time listening to Kyuss as a teenager) but people seemed to dig it which was nice, and we’ve just looked ahead and tried to evolve since then. I think some people were weirded out by it because it was so unlike our previous bands, but I think that was refreshing too, a positive change.

The band has been getting a bit of airplay on Triple J lately. What is it like to think that you could turn on the radio and potentially hear you own band being played?


I could pretend to be all punk rock and blasé about this but to be honest it’s pretty exciting. One night I was mopping the floor at my old job and contemplating how shit my life was, then JJJ played one of our songs and it was a really cool moment. Not many things can give you that kind of feeling.

Will the band be doing a bit of touring on the back of the new release?

I definitely hope so. At this point we have a few dates booked for Melbourne and Sydney, hopefully a few people dig the album and we can get on some more extensive tours. I could happily spend my life in a floorless van, eating mi goreng, drinking beer and playing shows.

The band’s album launch features a cracking line up of Paper Arms, Anchors and Hightime. What are you looking forward to the most about this show?

I think playing our set that night will be quite a cathartic thing, having the album out and playing those songs knowing they are now out there in the communal consciousness (assuming anyone listens to it haha!). Apart from that though, it is as you say a cracking line-up and I’m very much looking forward to seeing all those bands play, hanging out with all the awesome people in them, and having a righteous celebration!

What could someone expect to see at a Grenadiers live show?


Honesty, volume and red beards.

Who are some local bands we should be checking out if we haven’t done so already?


Paper Arms just released a great album, and there’s an awesome Adelaide band called Weightless who just released an EP which is well worth checking out. There’s always great stuff happening all over the place as long as you’re receptive to it.

What is the best show the band has played so far?

I have to say the Black Sabbath cover set we did last Halloween was a major blast!

What are the band’s plans for the rest of 2010?

Release album. Tour. Write new songs. In the words of Craterface, “never stop ruling”.

Have you got any tips on how to grow a great beard?

Listen to Hot Water Music.

Thanks for doing the interview, any last words?


Rock over London, Rock on Chicago!

http://www.myspace.com/grenadiersmusic