Brighton has always been a hive of popular music and a Mecca for London trendies looking for a Quadrophenia-style getaway. In 2014, we witnessed the likes of Toy and Royal Blood enter the national scene. Now, at the top of a new year, we predict 2015 could be the year of the Grasshopper. With their post-punk goodness displaying maturity beyond their years (the youngest member of the band is 13); Grasshopper attracted some serious industry attention last year. Delve into the band’s Soundcloud profile and you’ll find riffs that linger like an unwelcome odour in a changing room, paired with a haunting and mellifluous vocal delivery. We caught up with Javi.
1. Who are grasshopper?
grasshopper are a gang of four from Brighton. We started out in March 2012 just to play one gig, but here we are 2 EP's and whole host of live shows later, still enjoying it.
2. Where do you take musical inspiration from?
We all like really different types of music, and I don’t think there’s always that much crossover. My brother and I listen to all sorts of stuff, though maybe not metal. This week, I’ve listened to a fair bit of Ultimate Painting, The Black Lips and Mogwai. I know Rachel is listening to Public Service Broadcasting at the moment, and Em likes classic rock, but she also likes stuff like Against Me! I think the fact that we probably all live on completely different musical planets means that we're never sure how our songs are going to turn out.
3. You played some major festivals last year, and recently you've been announced as support for The Charlatans. With all this exposure, the band, being so young, must be very excited?
Really excited! Playing the Isle of Wight Festival and especially Festival Number 6 as special guests of Tim Burgess was a complete highlight for us as a band, and we got to watch all sorts of music close up (our favourite band that we met would probably be Hot Vestry from Macclesfield - definitely check them out). We love the fact that Tim liked our music before he had any idea that we were all still at school. Festivals are really exciting, but we love playing smaller venues with local bands as well, because the vibe there is usually really cool.
4. What's next for grasshopper?
We’ve got some really cool gigs coming up, including a support slot with The Charlatans at the Worthing Pavilion date of their UK tour (15th March), which should be great. We’re also really excited about being part of the awesome line-up at Brighton Noise’s Day One festival on 7th February at the Green Door Store, and we’ve already been booked for the Alternative Escape, alongside a couple of big festivals this summer… Watch this space! We’re also hoping to do some more recording this year.
5. What's your funniest gig story?
We’ve got a few, but one thing that has happened several times is that we can’t get past the bouncers, who don’t believe that we’re part of the line-up, and when we do eventually get through the door, they insist that we are escorted everywhere: to the toilet, to buy a bag of crisps...
6. Finally, which albums would each member of the band take to a desert island with them?
Luis (my brother and our bassist) has chosen ‘Closer’ by Joy Division, because of the bass lines and the atmospheric production on the record. Our drummer Rachel was taught how to play some songs from Two Door Cinema Club's 'Tourist History' by their session drummer, so that’ll always be special to her. Emily (guitarist) really likes the lyrics on 'England Keep My Bones' by Frank Turner, which would be her choice, and finally, I’d have to choose Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter - I love Bradford Cox’s vocals over the top of the brilliant songs (the whole album is really varied and intricate).
Big thanks to grasshopper for the interview.
Listen to grasshopper via Soundcloud: musicgrasshopper
Follow grasshopper on Twitter: @bandgrasshopper
Like grasshopper on Facebook: /grasshoppermusic
Posted by Mark Hayden.
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