Interview: Old Gray (August 25th, 2012)

Hi there, Old Gray! 

Hello! Due to scheduling, my name is Cameron Boucher and I will be answering these questions!

For the record, and the previously unacquainted, who is Old Gray? And how did you get together?

Old Gray is three kids who hate each other! We are comprised of myself (guitar/bass/vocals), Raphael (guitar/bass/vocals), and Charlie (Drums/Vocals)! Charlie and I have been friends for who knows how long, no one likes Raph. We let him in the band out of pity. 

How has 2012 been for you guys? 

It's been really wild! We went on tour with our friends in William Bonney earlier this summer which was an incredible experience, check those guys out for sure! We've been spending a lot of time in the studio as well working on a new release! 

You put out quite a lot of music in 2011, splits with Girl Scouts and The Hundred Acre Woods, Do I Dare Disturb The Universe and your demos. I saw earlier in the year that you were trying to get out an LP this year, how's that going? 

Well this has been a very long, arduous process, but yesterday, I actually finished off our new 7" record. I don't think I can go into much detail on the matter as far as name, who's releasing it, etc. but I can tell you that it will be four new songs and we will be releasing it this coming fall! 

What can we expect from Old Gray on new material? How have has your sound developed?

     This question is something that even we struggle with as a band. Our first releases were, as much as I like to deny this genre, "twinkly," but "Do I Dare Disturb The Universe" brought us closer to the direction we are now.  Raph and I have different writing styles, which I think will be most apparent on this new release, but overall the sound has gotten much angrier, while maintaining the sadness nonetheless. There is a lot of post-rock/90's screamo influence on this record, so just very excited to release it and see what people think!

You guys have a pretty original sound, and the the usage of spoken word interjections is one of my favourite parts of your music, did you set out to dabble in spoken word or was it just something that happened in the studio? Also, is it going to feature in any upcoming releases?

Well, thank you! The spoken word had been something we have always thought about and we were very stoked on the response that we received when we debuted it. On this new record, the opening track will be a spoken word piece, and we also have it planned for a few more songs in future releases as well!

Do you plan to tour before the year ends?

We do plan on going to the midwest this winter with some friends as well as doing some big weekends this fall! 

What bands do you listen to? Who influences Old Gray? 

I'm going to tell you what everyone puts on in the van: 

Myself (Cam) - Regina Spektor, Sigur Ros, Hostage Calm, TWIABP, Carissa's Weird

Raphael - Tegan and Sara, Modest Mouse, Kidcrash

Charlie - Brand New, SQRM, P.O.S., Explosions in the Sky. 

(none of these things sound like us)

If Old Gray was a vehicle, what vehicle would it be?

The name of our tour van is "Van Ackyroyd" so there's that...

Final words? 

Thank you very much for this interview and I hope you have a lovely day! 

Check Old Gray's bandcamp here.