Grover - mid 1999

Simon Fox - guitars, vocals, miscellaneous instrument
Andy Hall - bass, some guitars
Simon Rider - drums

Grover are a three piece from the Midlands who have been together since 1993 and have supported such luminaries as Radiohead, My Bloody Valent ine, AC Acoustics and Dodgy, impressing audiences with their intense performances. The band recorded three demos, "The Conch Shell & the Twig", "Log" and "Boner", before releasing their debut album, "Husk", in 1998. This enhanced-CD featured interactive multimedia; a collaboration with award winning author Steve Garner presenting multi-stranded interactive stories with musical accompaniment.

Ever eager to experiment with other forms of media, Grover were the first independent band in the Midlands to set up their own Internet site. They have had videos screened at cinemas and film festivals throughout the country. Their recordings have also been featured on a number of compilation CD's. The band has recently released a 7" single, "Like a bunny", on Birmingham's Bearos Records (as if you didn't know already!)

Originally the band members were all from the Landywood/Great Wyrley/Cheslyn Hay area in South Staffordshire, between Cannock and Walsall. They tell me that the area's only claims to fame is as the stamping ground for the infamous "Wyrley Gang" of horse murderers in the 19th Century. Also, Landywood Post Office, opposite Andy's house, was the one that the keyboard player out of the Charlatans got sent down for robbing!

Andy and Simon Rider went to the same school with Simon Fox just up the road. Simon Rider started off with the guitar, but moved on to drums in his first band, The Wimpletodes. Simon Fox, whose previous musical experience was as lead trombone in a 14-piece jazz orchestra, joined The Wimpletodes as extra guitarist. Andy nearly joined Simon Fox's other band, Sharon, but went to Leicester Poly to do Business and Finance instead. Simon Fox also played with the other Simon's long running band, The Moneygods. In the early 90s the two Simons decided to form a band that was more in keeping with their musical taste at the time (Slint, PJ Harvey, Codeine, Bitch Magnet, Sebadoh, Mercury Rev, Breeders, Steve Albini, Galaxie 500, Shimmydisc, Velvet Underground, Butthole Surfers: MBV, Dinosaur Jr, Sonic Youth and Death By Milkfloat). Simon Fox specifically wanted to form a three-piece band. Andy was the obvious choice to complete the trio.

Ever keen to embrace the new technology, and being far too busy to meet, Bearos presents it's first Internet interview with Simon Fox from the band who assures me he checked these answers with the others!

How has the Grover sound developed over the years?

The Grover sound has slowed down a little since we started, more considered and controlled, yet often noisier. I became mo re influenced by the songwriting of Red House Painters (and even went through a bit of an acoustic phase). Recently, we've returned to the more abstract instrumentals, exploring sounds and effects more and more. If pressed, we'd describe it as "introspect ive post-rock, fused with powerful songwriting", but we'd really rather not have to describe it at all. It's virtually impossible to answer that question without sounding like conceited wankers!

I've described you as "post-rock pioneers". Do you agree with that?

It's a bit much really, isn't it? Seriously, though, we do feel (whether justified or not) as if the current scene has "caught up". We now feel a lot happier doing the stuff that we really wanted to do when we started out. The long instrumentals a nd slow sets were always difficult for audiences, yet now, there are many more bands doing extremely well on it. Can't help feeling that Mogwai have had a spy in our camp, though: we keep coming up with new ideas, only to find that their new record sounds disturbingly similar.

What do you think of Birmingham's musical heritage? What about recent developments?

There still seems to be a hangover (in the eyes of the press at least) from the Heavy Rock heyday. One of the main problems is that the natural modesty and self-effacing quality of Midlanders prevents anyone from really boasting about the great things that happen here. People in Manchester and Liverpool are no better, just louder. Oxford's another example: three decent bands, and everyone's banging on about the thriving 'scene'. All it really boils down to is that up until very recently, there was nothing of any kind in Oxford, so they're overwhelmed by the little that has emerged.

There's a thousand great things happening in Birmingham, but no one makes a big deal of it. It's a shame. Rags like "Brum Beat" (see next answer) haven't helped; staying stuck with a tiny clique of middle of the road has beens/never weres! The other local press seems to be stuck in the Dark Ages; despite the size of the city, the local press reads more like the "Cannnock Chronicle" than "Time Out". Fanzines seem to be coming back, which is great news. I just wish they'd check their spelling before they print the bloody things. ("Blag" - this means you!)

It's interesting that a lot of the Birmingham underground scene revolves around lo-fi, old analogue technology/keyboards, (Broadcast, Novak, Pram, Magnetophone, Avrocar, APV, J Foundation, etc. etc.) By definition, this is a lot less 'Rock' and more modest than the spate of Britpop/Oasis 'pants that other areas continue to churn out. I sometimes wonder if it's a long running reaction to the Midlands' Metal Sabbath/Led Zep past? The rest of the band doesn't necessarily agree with this point. It's just my theory.

The loss of the medium sized venues in Birmingham (Hummingbird, etc.) means that we lose a lot of gigs to Wolverhampton's Wulfrun and Civic Halls. I wouldn't mind if it weren't such a hassle to get there. (I've still got a bit of an issue about Wolverhampton. It's my hometown, and I'm very fond of it. But I lived in the town centre for four years and there was crap nightlife at the time. I leave, and thirty new bars open up!!).

There has been a good increase in a wider range of live music in Birmingham more recently: Ronnie Scott's, The Fiddle & Bone and now The Jamhouse. They all cater for the 'grown up stuff', which, regardless of matters of taste, is to be encouraged. (I'm a big jazz fan, mind).

One question though: why do promoters insist on copying each other? Check out the listings; Sunday night is 'Acoustic Night' at nearly every venue in town. Same nights, same style. As soon as one promoter gets a good audience, someone else opens up down the road and nicks half their crowd. This is a ludicrous state of affairs. There are, of course notable exeptions, such as Discordian Promotions and Badger promotions, who share resources and venues. It might surprise a lot of other promoters to find that they've greatly increased their sphere of influence by doing so.

Any problems getting gigs locally?

There have been a few problems over the years. I once did a local promoter a really nice message, accompanied by my Stylophone, to celebrate his 1millionth message from Grover. I offered him the exclusive chance to put us on the bill at the venue. It still didn't work. We have played there many times, but only once in the past three years. I've given up trying to contact him now.

What about elsewhere?

We've played all over the place: Manchester, Liverpool (TheCavern!), London, Stoke, Cheltenham and all over the Midlands. We spent ages getting London gigs (back when I was on the dole and had time to ring around for days on end). We arranged for A&R to come and see us and played some armpits in Finsbury Park, or some such godforsaken place. When I phoned to see what they thought they all said they were really impressed and looked forward to what we were going to do next. Next? They'd heard the demos and seen us live. That was it! What were they expecting us to do next? Origami? It was around this time that we decided to bring out our own CD.

At the moment we tend to concentrate on Midlands gigs. I simply don't have the days to spend on the phone anymore.

Any advice for the new crop of bands around at the moment?

Get on the Internet! There really is loads of free advice, publicity, links, products, distribution, and exposure to be had with a little careful searching. I know of three more dedicated web pages in addition to our own and we've sorted out inclusion on CD compilations and made sales of our own recordings. The new technologies, like MP3s are a godsend. Free to make, free to send (phone bills excepted), massive possibilities, and unlimited potential audience. Death to the Demo tape!

Other than that, just the usual advice stuff: Be realistic; no point in sending 1000 demos out, target people that do stuff you like. Try and get your own stuff out instead of waiting someone else to do it. Always check the contents of flat pack furniture boxes before you try to assemble the items. Always keep receipts. Hairspray makes excellent fixative for chalk pastel drawings. Measure twice, cut once. Leave a light on when you go out, to deter burglars etc.

The "Husk" album took 18 months to do, because the CD-ROM content took so long to work out. The guy who was originally doing it kept promising me he was working on it, when all the time he was sitting on his fat lazy arse. (No, I'm not bitter). In the end, I took all the stuff off him and produced it with the help of Mark Lynall, of "Fix Film Club" fame. We did it in less than a fortnight.

Tell us a few Grover tails!

We've got loads of stories from the other bands we've been in. The Moneygods supported Radiohead and Thom Yorke went on and on about how good our guitarist was - i.e. me! The Wimpletodes were supported by Neds Atomic Dustbin on our last gig and we nearly got into a fight with them. When we were playing as Sharon we got a fan letter from Jello Biafra in California. Daz, the singer out of Moneygods getting a job presenting a national radio show as the result of being so funny when we did a session for Samantha Meer.

We haven't actually got that many stories from Grover. We did bring out our own beer a few years ago. "Groverbeer" was brewed at The Ivy Bush Brewery off the Hagley Road. All sold out, unsurprisingly. The biggest gig we've done (in terms of audience and pay) was at Wolverhampton Art Gallery. This involved doing a set of Velvet Underground songs, in the gallery, surrounded by Warhols, Lichtensteins, Blakes, etc.

One of our London gigs nearly turned into a nightmare. We had arranged to meet up at the services on the way, but the other Simon didn't show. We carried on without him, hoping he'd meet us at the venue. Half an hour before we were due to play (with a Virgin rep in the audience), Andy and I were desperately trying to work out which songs we could get away with playing without drums. He finally made it ten minutes before we were meant to play. His car had broken down on the motorway and he'd spent most of the day in a garage in Milton Keynes. That's not the worst story though; we had to cancel a whole tour when he had an accident mountain biking. He had to ride two miles back to his car with a broken leg from the middle of Cannock Chase!

This interview appeared in Bearos Records Newsletter 4 (June 1999)