INTERVIEWS

| Ask Grey |

Rocket Radio Interview: May 21st, 2003 7:30 AM
With Scott Clark & Anita Maly
104.7 FM KUAL

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spammaster@mindspring.com

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sarabeatle@aol.com

nezaholic@yahoo.com

yankonut27@hotmail.com

finestkind@earthlink.net

Beatles or stones? and why?

The Beatles because they are cooler(to me)and I dig a pony.
How did you choose the name Grey? Has that always been a nickname of yours?

It was an idea I received from the state of Oklahoma on a tax form they sent to me. I signed my name and they mistook my name for Grey and so I decided that I could use that as a stage name. I did correct them for tax purposes however. My real name is...
When writing songs, do you usually start with the lyrics or the music?

Both, although I tend to work more from music first I believe.
Which song did you enjoy recording the most?

As opposed to one song in particular I should say I enjoy recording the vocals over all the things that I do when recording. If I had to pick a song it would probably be "Peasant Town" as I used the 6 & 12 string acoustic guitars for it.
What are the titles of some songs on the next album?

Some titles include, "Metal Metal Metal", "I live to Bang my Head", and "Metal Nun Chicks Party" Just kidding. "Sex is...", "Stop the car" and "Walking Today" are three titles that you will see.
Do you, will you, or have you ever put backwards messages in your songs?

Reven, Reven, Reven ! Seriously I think there is enough to do to take your idea to its' completed form without having to try to lay in some track like that. I am not sure I would even know how to do that in such a way that would be undetectable and I don't believe that it really works as I have always heard it does. Tub, eno reven swonk.
Do you plan on playing any live shows in the future? Near future?

I don't have any plans for that at the moment but I would love to do that again. It fulfills part of what you wrote the music for in the first place which is so that people will hear it and you are able to interact with them. The other thing is that it is just fun to do and to enjoy with other musicians.
Will you release any of the songs as mp3 singles before the album is out?

I had not planned on that but I have not ruled that out.
Are your songs based on real experiences?

Some are and some are not and some are both. I would ask you to look at the song descriptions for "Clandestine Love" and "It's you and I". Those two come to mind as examples of a mix of fact/fiction. An example of fiction would be "Peasant Town" and "In a Field of Dreams" although the later does have references to actual things in my life. "a bald girl on my screen" refers to my seeing Sinead O'Conner on TV.
Do your songs come to you naturally, or do you specifically sit down to write them?

Again both, although I feel that the ones that I feel are the better ones are done naturally, such as "Peasant Town". I had an idea come to me for some reasan and I worked out the lyrics and music in about an hour to include lyrical revisions. That having been said, I must add that that is an example of the exception to the rule and not the rule. I often spend days or weeks (not in one setting of course) just on a single line that I am not happy with. The music generally comes and I work it out after one or two or three times of revision.
What are some of your inspirations when you write songs? Influences?

I have been inspired and influenced by films and books and other music styles that I have heard, do hear, etc. I am not sure that there is a big distinction, for me, between these two words in this sense.
With the changes in music over the past decades, what do you see as the one constant that music still offers?

An escape. It is like other media forms. It allows us to, for a period of a few minutes or a few hours, to leave the world in which we are living. By that I mean our situation in life. We are no longer what we are. We identify and we feel akin to these different mediums of art. I would say that this applies certainly for books and painting also.
Do you feel that some musicians have become too commercialized?

Certainly some have and have enjoyed it while some have and have wished they hadn't. I think the "created" bands do it and just for that sake, for money. I mean the "N'Stinks" bands of the world. Now there are the others that become that way just out of there having some great music. Of course the wider audience leaves the original base of fans for a group feeling as if they have been left by a good friend for a new crowd of friends that the original base feels that they have no connection to. A recent band, "Creed" stated that very thing about their rise to fame on the VH1 show, "Behind the Music" They are but one example of this happening. I liked the one Creed song until they played it a gajillion times on the radio. After a while it didn't take me higher but made me go higher on the radio dial.
You mention that you find musicial influances in bands such as RUSH, Yes and The Beatles. What musicians today do you truly admire? Is it for their music alone or is there something more that makes them stand out?

It is their music first or their individual talent in one area, for example a great singer or bassist, or guitarist. After, if I really get into a band and start wanting to know more about the players and their ideas, etc it is their personality that I may admire in one way or another. I like Steve Howe because he is a great guitar player but I don't know alot about him outside of a biography I have of Yes. But with say Jim Morrison I really dug his life outside his music because it influenced his music so much. I would love to have the time to self-destruct someday. I am not sure that it wouldn't bring some sort of enlightenment but I am not sure it would be a positive thing to do however.
'Joyous Occasion' is up in the charts, what is it about this song that you feel people connect with?

I wish I knew and I would write more like that. Seriously, I think it is a song about feeling disenfranchised when you are young, in high school or in college, before the establishments or systems of our various countries around the world pull us in to a belief system that is rigid to our particular cultures.
Back in the days of High School, you were in a band called 'Elixir'. Do you still keep in touch with the members?

Yes I e-mail the drummer of the band every few weeks and I see less frequently the other two members of the band. I even recorded some demos of the son of one of those members who is 17 now.
'Blithering Idiots'? Ok, you have to tell us the story of how the name came about!

I don't think that I know exactly but it was one of the members of the band there in Germany. They were all dependents of military parents and very smart but with a different sense of humor that I certainly liked.
What was the Milo group? What lessons in making music did you gain from that experience?

Well I think I really stepped into a situation where these other guys knew their stuff and you had to be creatively and in a talented sort of way ready to go with the music. It was a group of musicians that were together over a number of years and I basically stepped in at the very end to sing about half of the CD. I never met some that were involved with the project.
Do you and Yvan still do work together?

We haven't worked together but this summer I spent 2 months in France on vacation and we spoke about music and I hit him up about a re-make of one of his songs that we may see on the new CD.
How did you come to meet 'Doc' and J.C.?

I met "Doc" (Yvan) through an ad in a paper that he placed. My wife phoned him and spoke with him, his English was so-so and my French at that time was no-no. We went from there.
What strengths do you find in working with 'Doc' and J.C.?

That he is a meticulous musician and creative mind. I am more instintive. If the first take sounds as I envisioned it I may not even think much about doing a second just to see how it will be. I have changed some over the years but this is how I often operate.
Have the three of you ever argued over creative differences?

No the songs were already in place and so Yvan had his songs and I had mine and we just talked about the ideas we had to get them into our original visions of those songs.
When you started writing music back in '86, you living in Europe? What countries did you live in?

I started writing songs in high school and my first song was in 80-81, something like that. I didn't go to Europe until 89. I lived in Germany for 4 years and in France for 2 years. I was in the U.S.Army and stationed in a town called Landstuhl. It was a great time, I was in my early 20's. I lived in Toulouse in France after that where I studied French and did music with Yvan. I have visited most of western Europe.
What was the European experience like? Did it have an influence on your music?

Europe was great and I suppose that it influenced my music by opening me up to how artist from the US are seen around the world.
What do you see as the main differences for upcoming musicians in Europe compared to the U.S.?

From what I gathered it is just as hard to break into the music industry here as it there. It seems to be luck and good music that get someone signed. Not to mention just some getting out and playing as many dates as possible.
There's a drastic regional difference from Enid, Oklahoma and Toulouse,France. How did you come to be in Oklahoma?

I am from Oklahoma and only through chance and circumstances in life did I end up in Europe.
Do you find that playing venues or finding audiences has a different feel depending where you're are in the world?

Yes and that can change even from city to city.
You mention that you plan to create your new material with a 'harder edge' to it? Are your fans in for a Grey Colours' 'Heavy Metal' album? : )

as I joked above about some titles what I really mean is something with more rock and less pop as I see it.
And how's the next album coming along? Any hint to the songs we're going to hear?

They will family songs really, you know about regular family things like addiction, violence, lack of love, etc... Maybe a bit darker than colours. Maybe I will call it "Black and White"
What do you find so far as the main diferences on the songs you are working on now compared to the last album, 'Colours'?
Me. I have changed in my way of thinking, my outlook on life, etc... So those changes will and have influenced the songs you will hear.
Have you been think of a name for the next album yet, or do you tend to wait till the songs are completed before you titled the album?

Yes I will wait. I know it and I will let it come out later.
With the wonders of the Internet, do you feel this is a great tool to keep in touch with fans?

Yes, I could never have given you what I have and you could never have even thought about hearing such non-commercial music/non-industry driven music, not just mine but any artist out there.
With all the bad press that websites like Napster and MP3.com get nowadays, do you think that it has a harming effect on today's artist or do you think that it's a good way for musicians to get their music to a much larger audience?

It is good for me but it is not good for Metallica and other bands that have worked hard and are trying to live off what they sell. They have a point. They have maybe taken more of a moral ground than anything and that is necessary however I believe that in the end fans of Metallica and other bands will buy their CD's for the liner notes and photos that are in the packaging part of any CD. I know as a fan that I still do that.
What's the oddest question you've been asked after a show? How about in an e-mail?

Not much I can think of in an e-mail that I've been asked. I do not remember being asked much after many shows either but in Germany, when I was in a band that played all cover tunes and maybe 2 original songs if that, I did have some ask me how I could sound like so many different artist so well. I just feel it and can sound that way given that it is not out of my vocal range.
What's in store for you? Are you looking at bigger projects in the future and if so how big are we talking here?

My bigger picture for the moment is the next CD and after that small steps toward the top, such as an intimate evening at Madison Square Garden with 25,000 close friends.
How do you see yourself and your music developing over the next five or so years?

I wish I knew and maybe I could plan better toward that end.
And if you were to have an interview twenty years from now, what do you feel you would hope to note as your greatest achievement in the world of music?

That people enjoyed the music both in their home (or car, etc...) and live.
Is the "tomorrow never knows" in 'On a Cross Nailed to your Heart' a Beatles reference?

I don't remember exactly but if I didn't do it consciously, I probably did it unconsciously
How did you come up with "Grey:Colours?"

I liked the idea that each song would be a different color and I liked the British English spelling to make it more unique. I remembered that spelling from books and from an Australian band that I really liked called Icehouse which had a CD called "Man of Colours" Really more like a one-man project by Iva Davies.
Explain, if you can, the "bald girl on my screen" line in 'In a Field of Dreams."

That is Sinead O'Conner in a video of hers.
What are some of your interests other than music?

History, where we've been as a people on this earth. Space, where we may some day go. I also collect books; not old or anything like that just from the various subjects that I like to read.

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