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Grandchildren: Excited About Making Music

After Grandchildren’s CMJ set, Willis Arnold ran into Roman Salcic, principle percussionist for the band.

Posted 29th October 2009, 5:25pm in Interviews, by Willis Arnold
Grandchildren After Grandchildren’s CMJ set, Willis Arnold ran into Roman Salcic, principle percussionist for the band, and he agreed to a brief interview while they both waited for drinks at the (Le) Poisson Rouge bar.

He was able to learn a little of the bands’ history (they run the DIY house Danger Danger Gallery in Philadelphia), and what it’s like to be a young band on the rise.

Could you talk a little about what it’s like to be a band coming from the Philadelphia DIY scene, and what it’s like to be currently in communications with label reps?
Well first, the band is the reason that we have the Danger Danger house. The house is filled with musicians, and there are numerous sort of projects going on all the time. However there are two main bands that sort of play, and that would be Grandchildren and Rad Racket. And between those bands, there’s literally no difference in the line-up, except for the music we play as each band.

And as Grandchildren, you’ve recently been signed to Green Owl?
Well, we’re not technically signed yet. We are negotiating with the label. Basically, we want to work with them, they want to work with us. At this point we’re developing a relationship. I feel like I know these people, Steven I really like, he’s who we’ve talked with the most. He’s a really nice guy. For me its more about establishing a relationship with a label that’s supportive.

On stage you mentioned that you’ve have an album coming out soon, is this the first album you’ve recorded as a band?
No. No, it’s the first album we’ve recorded as this particular band, with everyone playing the instruments as they did on stage. Previously, we released another album that we recorded ourselves, under a fake label name. It was really fun, but I think that right now we find ourselves sort of coming into our own, and really establishing our sound. Yet, things are always changing and we try to keep things exciting. That’s kind of our M.O.: let’s keep being excited about making music.

And how does it feel to be negotiating with a label about a record compared to having your own DIY house?
Well it’s awesome because you always want more help. We’ve talked with other people, but they were people that couldn’t help that much. That’s what’s amazing here with Green Owl. They dig what we’re doing, and we dig what they’re doing. I love everyone on their roster! I love the Very Best, they’re so much fun, so amazing. And this showcase was incredible! It’s more fun than anything I’ve done, musically speaking, in terms of shows. It’s just so much fun. I don’t expect really anything from it, other than help. What I’m trying to say is, I think that we’re going to have to work twice as hard, and they’ll be there to help us do that. It’s really not against the DIY playbook, that’s all about asking people you know for help. You do it yourself, and with other people, helping each other out. And this situation is very similar.

With so many members, and the influences that come with that, I was curious how you guys go about writing songs?
Actually Aleks (Martay) writes most of the music himself through a painstaking recording process. Then we come together and have to figure out how to play them as a band and put it all together, and create an album. We’ve brought in extra people, to really be able to get the right sound, because we’ve had to learn how to play songs that we’ve recorded. So the songs are recorded first, and then we have to figure out how to play it live. Which can be an interesting and sometimes difficult process. That’s why we use samplers and that’s why we have six people, so that we can get the right sound and layers!
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