Grizfolk Interview - i99Radio, Philadelphia's Alternative Rock!

Bayside returned to Philly this past week for a two night stand celebrating their music both old and new. i99Radio was on the scene to capture night one of two. For the first night, Bayside brought songs from their early years, 2004 to 2008. For many of us, it takes us back instantly to the songs of our childhood, middle and high school years, and the audience spanning Gen X to Gen Alpha came ready to rock.

Long Island, NY’s The Sleeping started the night off and brought their unique blend of post-hardcore and raw energy to the stage that really got the audience going. People thrashed around and sang along, and even a toddler hopping up on his dad’s shoulders to get a better view of frontman Doug Robinson, who climbed up to the barrier, putting his microphone up to fans to sing along with them, and eventually even crowdsurfing above their heads at one point. The band has been experiencing a revival since their reunion in 2022 and their fantastic newest album, “I Feel Like I’m Becoming a Ghost”, dropping in 2023.

Bayside then took the stage, kicking off their set with the classic track, “Montauk”, from their second self-titled album. Frontman Anthony Ranieri commented how their idea for the “Errors Tour” came about when they wanted to play 44 songs in each city, instead of just 22. He talked about how the band has so many songs that fans love from all across their career, but not enough time to play them all, so they thought, “why not just play 2 nights in every city?”

The night of classic nostalgia continued on, with the band delivering high-energy versions of much loved tracks from their third album, 2007’s “The Walking Wounded”, like “Duality”, “I and I”, and the ballad “Landing Feet First” (of which started a massive audience singalong). The band also reached far back in their discography, playing tracks from their first years as a band, like “Masterpiece”, “Guardrail” and “Kellum”, off of the first album, 2004’s “Sirens and Condolences.” The audience was audibly excited by this, as these tracks are very rarely played live. The audience cheered loudly and unleashed a constant stream of crowd-surfers to the front of stage as they ripped through these classic tracks. The “newest” songs they played for night 1 were tracks from 2008’s classic album, “Shudder”, like “Boy”, “No One Understands” and “The Ghost of St. Valentine”. Again, many of these tracks haven’t been played since the Shudder Tour in 2008 so hearing these songs was certainly a treat for the audience.

Bayside’s show at Brooklyn Bowl was a testament to how the songs we grew up with are forever engrained in our DNA, the music grows with us and becomes a part of us as we grow older, but we never forget the songs that influenced us almost two decades ago. The 1,000 people in the audience who turned up to sing every word of these songs that are almost 20 years old now proves this to be true and Bayside to be a band close to so many people’s hearts.

Photos by Dave Avidan

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of talking to Grizfolk for i99 Radio. We discussed what their shows are like, life on the road, creating music, and working with Jamie N Commons.

When it comes to being on tour, Grizfolk are definitely troopers. The band is always on the road, yet they seem to love every minute of it! Even on the phone the guys sounded pretty energetic, despite them having a long overnight drive the previous night. They were just hanging in the green room “doing stretching and yoga” when they called but were eager to talk. I mentioned how it seems like they are constantly playing show and found out that one of the best things about touring for them is meeting people and seeing them know all the words to their songs. While the band does put a big emphasis on live performances they don’t slack on creating new music. Just on this tour alone they have been writing a lot on the road and said they “use the time in the van to their advantage” They then went into further detail and explained how they bring their recording equipment on tour with them and set up in hotel rooms. These guys never stop! The band is currently touring with California natives Armors and had nothing but great things to say about the band. Armors definetly has catchy songs as the Grizfolk guys said that “their songs are getting stuck in our heads.”

While on the topic of new music we discussed how it’s about time for a new full length, although this time everything is being released independently. The band released their 1st full length on Virgin Records but they are now independent. While being independent gives them the freedom to do what they want it can also be a challenge as they have to do everything themselves. But, despite possible challenges the band focused on the positives. One being that they “don’t need to sound like something that plays on the radio.” When asked if it was time for another full length as its been 2 years since ‘Waking Up The Giants’ the band said “it’s time for something” and elaborated more about how they are “working on new material pretty much all the time.”
The band uses what is happening around the world as inspiration and claims that their music is a “mixture of made up world and the reality of where we are right now”

If you didn’t know, the band released a single in June called ‘In My Arms’ that features the talented Jamie N Commons. The band spoke about meeting Jamie on tour in Portland, but the funny thing is that they were on separate tours. After their tours they linked up in LA for a writing session, and it all “happened pretty quickly.” This song is definitely one everyone needs to check out!

If you’re going to a Grizfolk show, which you should, don’t expect anything less than “a damn good time.” At shows fans can expect to hear new songs, “all of their favorite songs,” and some songs played in a “slightly unique” way. If you enjoy singing and don’t mind a “couple of bad jokes” then a Grizfolk show is the place to be. I’m stoked to see these guys perform tonight at Vinyl in Atlanta, if you’re anywhere near the show make sure to come out!

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