Grindpad Interview with Jan-Gerard, Guitar player 23/03/20
MM - When was the band formed and how did you all discover each other's mutual taste in thrash metal
JG:Well, let me give you the relatively short version. Back in 2005, some local musicians in Utrecht (NL) asked me to join them, for just a evening of jammin' and beers.
Nothin to serious though. But, we kept playing and at a certain point it did become more serious. Around that time Axel joined. We decided that we would stick with the name Grindpad, which sort of "slumbered around" already.
That band became Grindpad 1.0 and released Killing for a Living and Grave Matter. And won the 2010's Metal Battle. WE rerally were a deathmetal band then. Not even on purpose, that just....happened.
That formation collapsed however. Only Axel and me stayed and, being the Thrash-men that we are, we decided that Grindpad 2.0 was gonna be 100% our thing. Thrash.
Olivier joined us, so we had our great frontman and he knew our drummer, Paul. Which was ofcourse pretty known (Sinister), so that was great, too. And since like a year, Rik joined us, which also made us very happy..
Hey, and thats pretty much where we are now! The current line-up is 'Thrash-loving", stable and awesome. Great guys and awesome experienced musicians, each and every one of 'em.
MM: Why the name Grindpad
JG:Basically: because it sounds so....powerful! There is really no deeper meaning behind it or a "romatic interesting story" or whatever. It means gravelpath, but the word is just so STRONG in Dutch. Plus, by the time Grindpad 1.0 splitted up, Axel and me were like: Hey, F*ck this, we're not gonna change our name, we're friggin' GRINDPAD!!
MM - Who writes the songs that you perform? Is it a solo or joint effort?
JG:Both. A lot of times, I come up with a song, lyrics or an idea. But also Axel writes stuff, or we throw our riffs together, or Olivier comes up with an idea or lyrics. Paul comes up with cool drumstuff and I have no doubt that our relatively new bassplayer Rik will come up with cool stuff as well in the future. We finetune it together. We're a solid team.
MM - Which song is your personal favourite on "Violence"
JG:To me personally , it is My Name is Violence.
MM - What bands did you grow up listening to and how did they help in creating the style of music you perform today?
JG:Well, since we are all roughly around the same age, there are a lot of "the typical bands" we all grew up with. Maiden, Metallica, Pantera, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura etc. You name 'em.Of course, every member had their own favorites. Some of 'em are into black, some into death, some into hardcore, we all listen non-metal music as well etc.
But we all like the raw energy and the excitement of Thrash. Music that can be melodic or technical but most off all is about the aggression and having fun and go wwwrrraaagggghhhhhh!!!!!
When bands like Metallica or Exodus started in the early days, that was the most important thing. Story's about sweat dripping from the ceiling at shows, blood on the floor, total lunacy. And although metal has a zillion different faces nowadays (and that is a good thing!), we like our metal as it was once meant: making you wanna destroy in the moshpit!
MM - What one unique quality do your Band have to offer that no other band possess
JG:We have EXTRAORDINARY large penisses, hahahaha. Nah, seriously. I think we have stayed true and classic and pure SO long, that that on it;s own became our strong selling point. We also see that live: we do nothing original (trust me , we know that more than anyone else), but when we bring our true dose of Thrash, you just see THATS the shit people wanna hear!
Not everyone is always waiting for orignality and progression and violins and keyboards and weird technical tempo's and what not. Sometimes you just wanna get in the pit and kick eachother in the nuts, while you're beer-soaked.
So, when you just wanna have a good time and simply enjoy METAL, come to Grindpad!
MM - How can people keep up to date with what the band are up to and do
JG:Well, nowadays Facebook, obviously. We keep that page VERY up-to-date.
MM - If you had to choose only one of the following options, which one would you choose?
(a) a short lived career that will earn you fame and fortune(b) the opportunity to make music for the next 50 years but without any real recognition.
JG:Well, in 50 years, we're all either dead or almost halfway our nineties, hahahaha.
Tough one... (and ofcourse I can only answer for myself). Since I am a real creator, I think I would choose option B.
MM - Who do you think influenced the world of Metal / Rock more than any other person, for better or for worse?
JG:Ooooof, again, tough one! I personally always saw James Hetfield as sort of an 'overall General of the Metal-troops".
I mean, face it: Metallica sort of almost single handedly made the blueprint for nowadays Metal.
( I know, open for debate, but you're asking me )
MM - What's the most important thing to the band right now?
JG:Well, RIGHT now it's is staying healthy with all this Corona crap. And being able to go outside again and support Violence.
And of course we're hoping that Violence will do really well. So far, the reviews are mostly REALLY great. I'm talking 9+ here.
MM - How do you feel about the internet and the effect it is having on bands and independent music?
JG:I would say, it's double. On one hand, there is now SO much out there, that it's almost impossible to stand out. On the other hand, because of Internet, we get to reach the people, get to do this interview, reach fans all over the world etc.
hey, we have sold and sent albums to Japan, Brazil, Chile, even Mauritius!!!
So, I think it's mainly a possitive thing.
MM - If one of your songs could appear on a soundtrack or any film or cult TV series, which one would you choose and why?
JG:Play Mature Love during a scene in a lousy bar with an unhealthy amount of sleazy gratuitous nudity!
MM - Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to all your fans out there?
JG:Yes, the famous un-original but very sincere "Thank you" to everyone that supported our band, bought stuff, followed us on the different media, vistited our shows or showed an interest in any other way.
Enjoy our new album Violence, stay healthy, take care of eachother in these crazy Corona-times and ROCK ON!!!!
