Amund Maarud (Guitar/Vocals)
Henrik Maarud (Drums/Vocals)
Per Tobro (Bass/Vocals)
Eirik Tovsrud Knutsen (Hammond B3 Organ/Drums/Vocals)
Influences
Cream, Led Zeppelin, Queens Of The Stone Age, Ramones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Knack, Mötorhead, Them, Faces, Humble Pie, Grand Funk Railroad, Wishbone Ash, Free, Nirvana, 13th Floor Elevators, The Sonics, The Detroit Cobras, The Band Of Gypsys, Black Sabbath, Groundhogs, Deep Purple, The White Stripes and the list goes on..
Sounds Like
--------------------------------------------------- BUY THE ALBUM/EP HERE
-I have always dreamt about being in a band, says Amund Maarud, singer and guitarist in the Norwegian power-quartet The Grand, without the slightest touch of irony.
Well, most rock musicians do just that, right? So what..s up with Amund?
Thing is, Amund has actually always been in a band. More accurately; Amund has always fronted his own band. He has put out three albums, the first one when he and drummer brother Henrik were in their mid teens and still played with their father. He has travelled his native Norway for the last five-six years as a professional musician, and is actually a decorated veteran of the remarkably large Norwegian blues scene. He has headlined festivals and he has played with and alongside guitar legends, international as well as local. And yet, Amund Maarud is not even 25.
The Grand..s debut EP, released on The Grand Recordings/Sonet in May 2007 received excellent reviews from the Norwegian music press and the band is said to be one of the most exciting things to come out of the Norwegian music scene this year. Their dirty and razor-sharp, but still highly psychedelic and eclectic sound makes one think of creative pioneers like The Groundhogs and Cream, or garage-greats like The Sonics or 13th Floor Elevators, but in spite of their marijuana-hazed musical foundation they refuse to be just another one of those middle-of-the-road-retro-bands and remain relentlessly inventive and fresh-sounding.
Now, the great thing about The Grand, says studio-engineer Sven Olsen (Ricochets, Sivert Høyem, Dum Dum Boys), who recorded and mixed The Grand..s debut EP, is the fact that the quartet works as a four cylinder engine. This is not at all about Amund showing off his impeccable guitar skills, he says. Every member of the band is crucially important and they somehow seem to feed creative energy off each other on stage. Even this early in their career, these guys have gained a reputation for their mesmerizing live performances boasting multiple-personality-disorder-style guitar playing, out-of-whack Hammond organ, thundering ten-minute-long drum solos and growling bass guitar hung well below the belt buckle.
The Grand..s musical direction came about in a very unusual way:
-We struck up this routine of jamming at the end of our shows. After a while that was the coolest part of the evening, the one everyone in the band looked forward to, even though sometimes the audience didn..t dig it. Some even got seriously mad and flipped the bird to us as a parting gesture, so that..s really what sparked the whole thing, Amund confesses. -After a while some of these jams turned into full songs, and we just kinda took it from there...
Upon hearing the four songs that make up The Grand..s debut EP, Freeloader, Lust to win, Girl, you..re a waste of time, and Traveling Bound, the latter of which has received heavy rotation on Oslo..s indie radio stations, it seems one is instantly transported through a strange time-warp. Has Rick Rubin travelled back in time to produce Leslie West..s Mountain? Did Cream actually secretly make a ”Disraeli Gears Part II”? Has Groundhogs teleported from the dirty backstreets of London..s early seventies to the east side of Oslo, Norway anno 2007? Perhaps their first album, due October 2007, will provide some answers?
Oh, we are living strange days indeed. The Grand is busy putting together the most remarkable soundtrack!
Kom igjen Amund! Ut på veien igjen, spille, spille. Vi trenger en grand konsert i byen snart. Dere låter kuler og krutt. Takk for inspirasjonen gjennom tida. Sjekk ut vår retrorock også, ville være en ære og få varme opp for dere!
I'd be very happy if you leave me a comment or message so I get to know you better. And don't forget to add my songs to your profile and tell your friends about me!
very cool. great sound - you've got some new fans here in Idaho! would love to do some business with your guys some day. drop a line when you're looking for some skin. peace izozzi
Hiya, thanks for being a friend - I enjoyed visiting YourSpace :-) Keep it up May your life be full of love, light and fun... hugs SOREN - Beats for change - NYERTUN
Thank you in advance for your support and encouragement. The book that God has tasked me with completing, Carnal Striving Spiritual, is now available for secure purchase from my website - www.AnthonyJerrod.com, as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The already critically-acclaimed book is being endorsed by very prominent scholars, pastors and authors and has been critically reviewed as one of the best Christian books of 2009.
I hope that you will find something in the book that will bless you and/or help to improve your Christian walk. It's not about me. Please sow and support God's Kingdom.
Hej Nu kör vi igång vår HÖSTKAMPANJ 09 med riktigt bra priser på bland annat: tröjpaket och mössor med brodyr. Vi har ett mycket stort sortiment av merchandise till ert band eller bolag! Besök vår webbsida redan idag för mer info. www.vodrecords.se Vi önskar alla våra vänner på MySpace en riktigt rockig höst! Vod Printings ------------- We print & supply t-shirts, merchandise & backdrops to the independent music scene, contact us for more info! www.vodrecords.se
Cariad has a new Facebook page. Please go there, become a fan and share with your friends! Go here: www.facebook.com/cariadharmonmusic Cariads new record “Four Letters” is out on August NOW! Get it at Amazon and iTunes!
Vi gjør Norwegian Wood Music For China vol 11 samleren med Norske band i Kina nå, kun 2 ledige spotter igjen. Kommer ut i Kina i 10.000 eksemplarer. Ta kontakt om du/dere ønsker å være med, dere finner mer info i bloggene våre også.
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