Interview: Grieves
May 21, 2015
Today, Omnisound Magazine got the chance to talk to rapper Benjamin Laub, better known as Grieves. Grieves is currently on tour to support his fourth album, Winter and The Wolves. Since emerging in the music scene with his independently released debut album in 2007, Grieves has toured with Macklemore, played SXSW, and appeared on the Billboard 200. Omnisound will be attending his LA show this Saturday, May 23 at the El Rey Theatre and, lucky for us, Grieves is particularly stoked to play in LA! Check out the interview below to see what Grieves had to say about touring, the new record, and Yogi Bear.
OS MAG: Tonight you will be in Reno for your second night of your Out Of The Rain Tour. How does it feel to be out on tour again and what stop are you most looking forward to?
GRIEVES: It feels good to be on tour again. I haven’t been on a super long one in a while, probably since the record came out, but it’s a love-hate relationship with touring. Half way through it, you’re like, ‘ah I just want to get home,’ but then like two weeks after being back you’re like, I’m ready to go again, I’m ready to go. Currently, I’m still excited, so everything is good. As far as shows that I’m looking forward to, I’m going to have to be cliché, but I’m really looking forward to LA, I’m really looking forward to Denver, and looking forward to Chicago a bit too. I used to live in San Diego and LA was one of the first cities that I ever sold out a concert in. I’ve been playing there for so long throughout my career. I know so many people in LA. I have a lot of people that I would consider like family, a lot of friends that come up from San Diego from when I used to live there, it’s like a reunion. Although I tour so much, I don’t really have the time to travel outside of it, so I don’t really get to see these people that much, and although I don’t get to see them much when I am in LA, it’s better than nothing, so I’m looking forward to that. Plus, you all got some good food in LA. I am probably going to eat all of it.
OS MAG: So you don’t plan to do any touristy things while you’re here in LA, but mostly see friends and family?
GRIEVES: Yeah, I should try to just relax and if I can get a chance to go out to Santa Monica or Venice or something like that, I’d do that. There is a little sandwich place, it’s like Italian groceries, Bay Cities out in Santa Monica. They have a sandwich called the Godmother and it is really, really good. So it’s close to the beach, it’s got my favorite sandwich in the United States… ayy, let’s go to Santa Monica.
OS MAG: What song off your newest album, Winter and The Wolves, are you most excited about performing on this tour?
GRIEVES: One of my favorites to perform since we started doing it is “Kidding Me.” It’s a tongue and cheeky, funny song about a serious issue. It’s gotta nice little soul vibe to it and it kinda makes the booty move a little bit. It’s fun to see the crowd react to it and we have some banter that is pretty fun for it. The other one that is also one of my favorites is “Over You” because we’ve recreated it and it’s super cinematic, dramatic. It’s cool, especially with the light show that we got going on.
OS MAG: Is there any particular way that you feel when you are performing and you look out and the crowd is hyped?
GRIEVES: Everything is symbiotic when you put people in a room together. Excuse me if this is out of line, but it is kinda like sex. It’s very much like sex. Both parties kinda gotta be on the same level to create the same experience. I think those things can be achieved through preparation of the set, aka foreplay! Like what is going into the big day, what’s gonna happen. The in between moments. Like instead of just going song, song, song, song, song, get the fuck outta here, change the position on them every once in a while! Let’s try something new. It creates a better experience.
OS MAG: From waking up to going to sleep, what’s a typical day like for you?
GRIEVES: I sleep in a solid 24-karat gold mask, so I take that off. I put it back in it’s velvet box made out of solid oak. I get up and do about 3000 push-ups, 3000 sit ups, I clean my gums for about six hours. And then I eat a sandwich, and then I rap. And I feast on souls of the virgins... The reason why I am playing with you right now is because you don’t want to know what I do all day. I sit in a fucking van. I get up, eat probably some terrible food cause it’s whatever is accessible by the airport hotel we’re staying at. And thank god our van has WiFi. I’m on that Internet, checking shit out. Maybe I’m playing that Shadow of Mordor on the Xbox for a little bit, real cool. We load in at about 3. I can get disconnected very easily, so I am at the venue from when I load in to when I load out because if I leave the venue, and go back to the hotel to take a nap, I’m not having that experience that I was talking to you about earlier. I have to be connected. If I show up to the venue and I’m like ‘alright fuck it, let’s do this,’ that’s not why I’m there and that’s not why the crowd is there. It’s really not that interesting; it’s actually rather monotonous.
OS MAG: I’m sure you have very atypical days though too. What is the craziest fan encounter you have ever had?
GRIEVES: Whenever I answer the crazy fan encounters, the crazy fans find these interviews and read about it and they get crazier and yell at me. How is that for crazy fan encounter? I can’t answer that question because of crazy fan encounters. It’s like an inception right there.
OS MAG: When was the last time you sang in the shower?
GRIEVES: About 20 minutes ago.
OS MAG: Do you sing your own music in the shower?
GRIEVES: I don’t sing my own music in the shower. My go to song is “Me and Mrs. Jones” in the shower just because I don’t think I can actually really sing that song. I think I might sound a little better in the shower because of the reverb. But yeah, no, I don’t sing my own songs in the shower, that’s embarrassing. Although, if you want to take that on a different level, I wrote “How’s it Gonna Go” in the shower off of Winter and The Wolves. There is a pizza place across the street from my house, it’s really good pizza, and sometimes when my girlfriend goes to work, I decide alright, I’m going to shamelessly go over there and eat a whole pizza. So I was over there eating a whole pizza, and they were playing, who is the fucking band that sits in Amistad, you found me lying on the floor?
OS MAG: Oh! The Fray!
GRIEVES: The Fray! Yeah! So, that song came on and I was like hmmm, that’s catchy. Then I was in the fucking shower and a homegirl of mine had been talking to me about a situation she was in and I was just kinda going over in my head. I was in the shower, probably washing off the pizza I got all over me. I sound like a fat kid in this interview. I was singing and out came “How’s it Gonna Go.” It’s definitely in the same key as that Fray song, which if you want to be fair, so is like 90% of every pop song ever written. And I was like oh shit! So I went down to the studio, hopped out of the shower, and first I recorded it on my notes in my phone in the shower. Like literally stark-ass naked holding my iPhone with the water and everything, and took it down to the studio and just started playing piano chords and recorded it. Sent a pretty barebones version over to B.Lewis and he kinda beefed up the drums and put a funky old bass line on there and that’s about that song. From the shower, to your ears.
GRIEVES: Everything is symbiotic when you put people in a room together. Excuse me if this is out of line, but it is kinda like sex. It’s very much like sex. Both parties kinda gotta be on the same level to create the same experience. I think those things can be achieved through preparation of the set, aka foreplay! Like what is going into the big day, what’s gonna happen. The in between moments. Like instead of just going song, song, song, song, song, get the fuck outta here, change the position on them every once in a while! Let’s try something new. It creates a better experience.
OS MAG: From waking up to going to sleep, what’s a typical day like for you?
GRIEVES: I sleep in a solid 24-karat gold mask, so I take that off. I put it back in it’s velvet box made out of solid oak. I get up and do about 3000 push-ups, 3000 sit ups, I clean my gums for about six hours. And then I eat a sandwich, and then I rap. And I feast on souls of the virgins... The reason why I am playing with you right now is because you don’t want to know what I do all day. I sit in a fucking van. I get up, eat probably some terrible food cause it’s whatever is accessible by the airport hotel we’re staying at. And thank god our van has WiFi. I’m on that Internet, checking shit out. Maybe I’m playing that Shadow of Mordor on the Xbox for a little bit, real cool. We load in at about 3. I can get disconnected very easily, so I am at the venue from when I load in to when I load out because if I leave the venue, and go back to the hotel to take a nap, I’m not having that experience that I was talking to you about earlier. I have to be connected. If I show up to the venue and I’m like ‘alright fuck it, let’s do this,’ that’s not why I’m there and that’s not why the crowd is there. It’s really not that interesting; it’s actually rather monotonous.
OS MAG: I’m sure you have very atypical days though too. What is the craziest fan encounter you have ever had?
GRIEVES: Whenever I answer the crazy fan encounters, the crazy fans find these interviews and read about it and they get crazier and yell at me. How is that for crazy fan encounter? I can’t answer that question because of crazy fan encounters. It’s like an inception right there.
OS MAG: When was the last time you sang in the shower?
GRIEVES: About 20 minutes ago.
OS MAG: Do you sing your own music in the shower?
GRIEVES: I don’t sing my own music in the shower. My go to song is “Me and Mrs. Jones” in the shower just because I don’t think I can actually really sing that song. I think I might sound a little better in the shower because of the reverb. But yeah, no, I don’t sing my own songs in the shower, that’s embarrassing. Although, if you want to take that on a different level, I wrote “How’s it Gonna Go” in the shower off of Winter and The Wolves. There is a pizza place across the street from my house, it’s really good pizza, and sometimes when my girlfriend goes to work, I decide alright, I’m going to shamelessly go over there and eat a whole pizza. So I was over there eating a whole pizza, and they were playing, who is the fucking band that sits in Amistad, you found me lying on the floor?
OS MAG: Oh! The Fray!
GRIEVES: The Fray! Yeah! So, that song came on and I was like hmmm, that’s catchy. Then I was in the fucking shower and a homegirl of mine had been talking to me about a situation she was in and I was just kinda going over in my head. I was in the shower, probably washing off the pizza I got all over me. I sound like a fat kid in this interview. I was singing and out came “How’s it Gonna Go.” It’s definitely in the same key as that Fray song, which if you want to be fair, so is like 90% of every pop song ever written. And I was like oh shit! So I went down to the studio, hopped out of the shower, and first I recorded it on my notes in my phone in the shower. Like literally stark-ass naked holding my iPhone with the water and everything, and took it down to the studio and just started playing piano chords and recorded it. Sent a pretty barebones version over to B.Lewis and he kinda beefed up the drums and put a funky old bass line on there and that’s about that song. From the shower, to your ears.
OS MAG: So this doesn’t sound like it’s your normal creative process. How do you normally go about writing a song?
GRIEVES: I don’t pick a certain catalyst. Music comes when music comes. It’s going to happen when it happens. If you put me in a studio and force me to write a record, you are going to get a pretty shitty, non-connected record out of me. I’m just going to me like ok, here’ s some lyrics, lyrics, lyrics, which is going to have the word penis in it like 400 times. So it’s not going to be good. So when I’m fired, I just try to harness that, at least that thought or whatever it is. Thank god for iPhones. The Propellerhead created a really cool looping app where you can sing the hook and now they even have a pitch shifter on it, so let’s say you don’t have a pitch reference, but you know kinda where you want to be, it will like put you in C major or whatever, although I’m a minor guy. I like my minor chords. So let’s say C minor and it will autotune you into C minor. But when you take it into the studio you know what you are trying to do and then you can sing the C minor. You don’t have to use the shitty audio from your phone. But you are able to jot down ideas wherever you are now because of technology. That has been a blessing for the songwriter and has also been a curse to the music industry, but you gotta find a way to take the good with the bad.
OS MAG: You released the single “Cougar Catnip” a few months ago. Are you anticipating another album soon? Or what’s next for you?
GRIEVES: That was a B-side from the songs I was working on for Winter and The Wolves. It was a song that the radio people wanted me to run with; they were like that’s your single. If I put that song on my record, it ruins the record because everything else on the record goes together cohesively and it’s like oh yeah you belong here and then if you throw “Cougar Catnip” on there its like rrrrrr record stop, what the fuck is going on.
OS MAG: Normally, how many songs do you go through writing before you can narrow it down to an album?
GRIEVES: That one was close to 40. And I would not consider that the norm. I don’t think people do that very often because a lot of artists are like what the fuck, you should do stuff with those other songs. Like nah I’m good, if I was going to do something with those songs, I would have made another record. Those are kinda dust in the wind at this point. But every song is a stepping-stone for another one. Sometimes some of those songs can be revisited cause sometimes you bail on them, or they don’t work for a certain record, but they could be inspiring for the talent of your next record. You can take the vocals out and redo the beats or visa versa and put different vocals over the beat. It’s good to never get rid of them and always have them accessible because new songs can, and do, inspire you to do other music. “Death of Me” was a super old song and that turned into gain, one our iTunes bonus singles for Winter and The Wolves, and forced a relationship that I had really wanted to make for a long time.
OS MAG: I have one last question for you, here at Omnisound, we want to know what your spirit animal is and why?
GRIEVES: My spirit animal is a very docile bear. Like not quite Yogi Bear bear, but still getting into picnic baskets, but not a mortal threat. I’m majestic. And I am big. And I am to be respected and treated fairly, but I’m not gonna hurt nobody. I’m just here for the picnic baskets.
Interview by Nicole White
GRIEVES: I don’t pick a certain catalyst. Music comes when music comes. It’s going to happen when it happens. If you put me in a studio and force me to write a record, you are going to get a pretty shitty, non-connected record out of me. I’m just going to me like ok, here’ s some lyrics, lyrics, lyrics, which is going to have the word penis in it like 400 times. So it’s not going to be good. So when I’m fired, I just try to harness that, at least that thought or whatever it is. Thank god for iPhones. The Propellerhead created a really cool looping app where you can sing the hook and now they even have a pitch shifter on it, so let’s say you don’t have a pitch reference, but you know kinda where you want to be, it will like put you in C major or whatever, although I’m a minor guy. I like my minor chords. So let’s say C minor and it will autotune you into C minor. But when you take it into the studio you know what you are trying to do and then you can sing the C minor. You don’t have to use the shitty audio from your phone. But you are able to jot down ideas wherever you are now because of technology. That has been a blessing for the songwriter and has also been a curse to the music industry, but you gotta find a way to take the good with the bad.
OS MAG: You released the single “Cougar Catnip” a few months ago. Are you anticipating another album soon? Or what’s next for you?
GRIEVES: That was a B-side from the songs I was working on for Winter and The Wolves. It was a song that the radio people wanted me to run with; they were like that’s your single. If I put that song on my record, it ruins the record because everything else on the record goes together cohesively and it’s like oh yeah you belong here and then if you throw “Cougar Catnip” on there its like rrrrrr record stop, what the fuck is going on.
OS MAG: Normally, how many songs do you go through writing before you can narrow it down to an album?
GRIEVES: That one was close to 40. And I would not consider that the norm. I don’t think people do that very often because a lot of artists are like what the fuck, you should do stuff with those other songs. Like nah I’m good, if I was going to do something with those songs, I would have made another record. Those are kinda dust in the wind at this point. But every song is a stepping-stone for another one. Sometimes some of those songs can be revisited cause sometimes you bail on them, or they don’t work for a certain record, but they could be inspiring for the talent of your next record. You can take the vocals out and redo the beats or visa versa and put different vocals over the beat. It’s good to never get rid of them and always have them accessible because new songs can, and do, inspire you to do other music. “Death of Me” was a super old song and that turned into gain, one our iTunes bonus singles for Winter and The Wolves, and forced a relationship that I had really wanted to make for a long time.
OS MAG: I have one last question for you, here at Omnisound, we want to know what your spirit animal is and why?
GRIEVES: My spirit animal is a very docile bear. Like not quite Yogi Bear bear, but still getting into picnic baskets, but not a mortal threat. I’m majestic. And I am big. And I am to be respected and treated fairly, but I’m not gonna hurt nobody. I’m just here for the picnic baskets.
Interview by Nicole White