[newsheader]

Grey Shack

Chennai Rockers Grey Shack on Their Upcoming EP

By Amaan Khan

Guitarist Vikram Vivekanand: What you hear on the record, you hear it live. 

Unlike most bands that release their albums online at one go for free streaming (and download) or at a price, Chennai-based blues-heavy rock ‘n’ roll band Grey Shack are plotting the launch of their upcoming six-track EP The Soundgarden Sessions in a rather less employed method – by releasing one single at a time online over the course of the current year, besides doing live gigs. First on that list of singles is “Country Song” which was released on April 14. While the single sounds nothing like an actual country folk song, guitarist Vikram Vivekanand tells us how they associated the twang of the initial riff with country songs. The kind of country songs that go on to become earworms. “(At live performances) we started announcing it on stage as ‘Country Song’ and (then) we were like ‘okay we can’t change it now’.”

Broadly effusing the scent of crisply mastered classic rock from the seventies, Grey Shack’s new EP is different from their 2012 debut album Step Outside (Listen here) in quite a few ways. “Step outside was a lot more straighter (rock n roll), if you may. We (had) put in a lot of elements like guitar overdubs and what-not. It was a catalogue of all the songs that we had composed until then.” But when it comes to The Soundgarden Sessions, the songs employ a simplified outlook to song-writing, even in terms of the gear involved. “It’s mostly just guitars and amps. And drums and bass. It doesn’t have the need for a second guitarist at all. The whole thing is that what you hear on record you hear it live. What you hear is what you see.”

Album art for “Country Song”

If one would chance upon their Facebook page, one would notice a facetious remark under ‘Influences’ where they attribute part of their influence to ‘Old Monk, RC, Khoday’s and Hercules rum’. Laughing, Vikram says, “It’s just that when we get together we have a few drinks. It’s like a group of friends.”

Currently, the band is touring India with songs from both their upcoming EP as well as Step Outside, marked on their set list. Listen to their first single “Country Song” below.

[avideo videoid=”CfwMtHa-VpM”]

To listen to more blues-inspired music, download Nokia’s MixRadio app here. 

[newsfooter]