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Patchwork Grace and one of the most exciting young bands in the UK at present and after hearing their debut album 'Milk Teeth' I decided to really should know more about them. While many youngsters are into Emo or Drum N Bass it's great to see four youngsters play kick ass Rock N Roll how it should be played. Here's what Patchwork Grace have to say for themselves.
Street Voice: First off can you introduce the band to our readers please?
Patchwork Grace. Midlands glamour punks
Tori - Vocals, Murmurs + Whispers
Crip - Guitars, Attempted backing vocals, promo/band whore
Joey - Bass, Shouts + Backing Vocals
Danny - Drums 'n' that
Street Voice: How did the name for the band come about? Has it any meaning to you?
C: Apparantly, it's two words taken randomly from a dictionary!
T: I liked the word Grace at the time we were starting up and I found a dictionary open on a table with the word Patchwork at the top. It doesn't mean anything its just a name.
Street Voice: So what inspired you guys to form the band?
C: I've wanted to be in a band playing guitar ever since I was about 8, and my brother got me into Nirvana and Aerosmith
T: Other bands, being brought up on music... It seemed like a good thing to do at the time!
J: It didn't start out like this so I don't know really. We ended up with this line-up through different relationships with our old bands that all seemed to come together and it works!
Street Voice: You're in the process of releasing Milk Teeth the album so how do you feel about the finished product?
J: It's our first full-length album and I think it came out sounding a lot better than any of us imagined it ever would! Mark Elmore, our producer, was great too. He's worked with Steve Albini and really knew what sound we were trying to achieve so we got to play around with a lot of different ideas. Big bands will generally write and record and then go out and play it live but we've had to play live first so it was good to go in the studio and add little things to the tracks to make them sound a bit different.
T: It's beautiful, I really think people are going to like it, I'm not being big headed one bit when I say that...
D: I'm so proud of it! I've never recorded a full album before, and it was a great experience to work in the studio. .Mark, our producer, was shit hot and we had a right laugh as well as getting lots of work done.
C: We're all really proud of it. Normally after recording I think...we could've done this, or this could be better....but the album is far better than I evercould of wished!
Street Voice: So who writes the lyrics and the music and where did they draw their influences from for the lyrics?
C: Normally Joey and Tori come up with a tune, or I bring a song to rehearsal and Tori puts words to it.
T: Its a big pick'n'mix when it comes to writing, we all have our own input but I generally write the lyrics and basically write about anything and everything, I like to make up stories or add peoples experiences (sometimes my own) but they are always twisted or exaggerated... which is why I think a lot of people find me odd.
J: Tori writes most of the lyrics but I write bits now and again. I usually write something then work out what it means after. Most of the music is done by either me or Crip or both of us. Tori sometimes writes parts of the music too though.
D: Tori writes most of the lyrics, With the music, someone comes up with a riff and we sometimes just build on that really.
Street Voice: I presume you're all still in College/Further education so does this interfere with gigging?
T: None of us are doing this! We could be, but are all very committed to our music and although we are extremely poor at the moment we're hoping that it will all pay off in the end.
C: We all finshed or "dropped out" last year. BONUS!
D: I'm a drop-out! I really didn't see the point in Uni. Even if I was still there I would have put the band first. You're never going to have another chance at something like this, you have to give it your all.
J: Crip's the only one of us that has a job and that's only 2 days a week so it doesn't really get in the way at all. We always put the band before anything else anyway.
Street Voice: Talking of gigs are you looking forward to touring off the back of the album?
C: Defintely, we had such fun touring the UK before the album release, playing to thousands of new people. So hopefully when we return after the album there'll be even more!
D: Yeah, we went out for 2 weeks with Trashlight Vision and a week with the Pleasures and the Sparkling Bombs. It was pretty tiring but it was great. I can't wait to get back on the road.
T: Yes! It should be great to meet up with people from the last few tours and just push it and get it out there some more you know?
J: Yeah, I think we're trying to book something for later in the year at the minute but it should be pretty cool if it comes off!
Street Voice: So what's the scene like where you come from?
J: The Nottingham scene's pretty healthy. There's a load of great bands and great venues too so you can't go wrong really! There's always at least one great gig going off somewhere in town on any given day.
C: There's a few bands who will take the time to talk to you and help you out. Quite a lot of the bands think it's a competition though, which is wrong. There's room out there for everyone!
D: Not bad, Derby and Nottingham both have a healthy scene. Just most of the time the scene kids hang out in the town squares, it's another thing to get them to go to gigs!
T: It's alright I guess, there are a few really good bands doing different
things but an awful lot of current music is regurgitated "whinge pop" and to be honest its getting really boring! I urge any bands actually doing something different to keep pushing like we are, because we desperately need something new.
Street Voice: You come from an area which was known for it's mining is there still a lot of unemployment since there's hardly any industry there?
J: Yeah, 75% of the band are unemployed!
C: Yeah, I live in Ilson!
D: There's loads of unemployed Chavs but I don't think that's anything to do with mining. My grandad was a miner, and even when he lost his job he found something, I guess some try harder than others.
Street Voice: Because of the area you live is this why you opted for the band instead of doing what everyone else is doing?
C: Nope, if I lived in LA I'd still be in a band!
J: No, not really. Not for me anyway. All my friends from school went off to Uni and I just stayed at home playing in a band 'cos it's the only thing I really know and I love it! I like to think I made the right choice.
D: I just can't think of anything better to do!
T: Not really, I could be at Uni studying graphics, hell I could be doing
anything I wanted to do and that's exactly what I'm doing right now.
Street Voice: Since you liked the review is there any chance of sending down Tori in a little maid's outfit to pamper me for the weekend?
D: Erm....I doubt it, but Crip probably will.
C: Yeah why not!
J: Depends what kind of tea you have!
T: Hmm... how about you come here and make me a cup of tea and I'll buy cake how does that sound?
I hate tea. Though JD + Cake sounds pretty damned fine:-)
Street Voice: You look and sound a group of people who like a beer and a laugh so any drunken stories you'd like to share?
D: I have some drunken stories, but I really don't want to share them… Ok! On the Trashlight tour I was convinced I saw Micheal Schumacher holding a giant jammy Wagon Wheel at a petrol station…that's all I'm prepared to say…
C: Jaimz Riot (Riot promotions) will fill you in…errrr…. Literally! He has ALL the stories…in fact he's in most of them!
J: To be honest we don't really drink that much …Not unless you're buying anyway! We're skint!!
T: I dont drink anymore! only tea!
Street Voice: I read somewhere you're considered a sexy band where you live so who gets chatted up the most and who gets the most compliments?
C: Lemon, our manager,… and Dan's drum kit!
D: Where'd you read that!?
J: I'd like to say me. But it's probably not true.
T: Crip gets the girls, Dan gets the ladies and Joey gets the gays so everyone is happy!
Street Voice: So what are your plans for the rest of 2007?
J: To release the album and do another tour I think then just see what happens really!
D: Promote the album like a motherbitch, and play as many gigs as possible, hopefully get a few more tours sorted out for next year too!
T: Sleep and tea! Oh! and some band stuff too!
Street Voice: Anything you'd like to add?
J: Don't eat food you find in the bin. It's not very nice.
T: I have the smoothest cheeks this side of New Jersey!
C: Thanks everyone for reading! Be sure to grab a copy of Milk Teeth...and send us a message on myspace.com/pwg telling us that you read our interview!
CHEERS,
Thanks to Patchwork Grace for taking time out to do this interview. Hopefully this will inspire you to check out this band and buy their album.
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