Where did the name come from?
Ryan: We have a friend named Wilson, and he would always be like “I’m gonna grill you white boys!” At lunch, we decided we wanted to grill him back. So we would be Grilling Wilson.
Brendan: It can be used as an adjective and a verb.
How did the band form?
Brendan: Ryan and I had just come out of a band called Down and Out. We were writing songs, and the fourth member of the band only played saxophone, which we only had in one song. He found himself not really doing much, so he left the band. That was when James came in. We switched drummers once because Eric left the band, but ultimately he’s back.
How long has the band been together?
Brendan: Since our freshman year of high school, so about four years.
Any influences?
Brendan: The Beatles are definitely my number one, especially when it comes to song writing. I also like Phantom Planet, Ben Folds Five, and Nine Days. And yeah, beyond their one hit wonder “Story of A Girl”, there was a lot of talent.
Ryan: Mine are kind of the same, maybe a little less piano. I do love pop, I’m not gonna lie. There’s nothing like a good Ryan Cabrera song to me. I went through an ACDC phase. My favorite bands are Nine Days and The Format, probably.
James: I like techno, like the Chemical Brothers and Cake.
Eric: The Receiving End of Sirens, Copeland.
You are currently in the studio working on an EP. When do you expect to be done recording?
Ryan: We hope to have it out by the second week of January.
Brendan: We’ve been recording with John Perry from Ericson, and he does a great job.
James: It’s going to be a three song EP, and we’re going to be putting it out for free. We’re going to produce as many as we can and give it out at shows. If people can’t get it at the shows, we’ll be able to either put them on Myspace or send them through e-mails.
Who writes the lyrics for the band, and what is the writing process like?
Brendan: It’s basically between Ryan and myself. We’ve never actually collaborated, though. I’ll go and write lyrics, he goes and writes lyrics, coming up with basic melodies, but then we all come together and add to it.
Ryan: Once we all get together, we present the main melody we come up with to the rest of the guys and we build off of that.
Are your song’s based on personal experiences?
Brendan: Most of them are, but it’s more like experiences that I’ve noticed, not exactly my own.
What sets Grilling Wilson apart from the other bands out there?
Eric: We’re just different then a lot of the local bands. It’s just like this melting pot, where we take our own spin on things.
Brendan: It kind of goes back to our range of influences. We seem to find a way to mix it all together.
Ryan: Our new release is like a cross-section of what we sound like. The first song is in your face, pop-punk style. The second song is heavier, then the last one is like a big ballad. We want to be able to add a little bit of everyone’s interests.
Describe your music in one word.
Ryan: Melodic.
Who would be your dream band to play with?
The Format.
Anything funny that’s happened to you so far when you play shows?
Brendan: We were in a battle of the bands at our high school, Braintree High, and I had to make my confirmation that night. We tried to set it up so that we would play last so I would make it. I ran in there with all of my equipment and I tried to get through the door, and someone yelled “they’re playing, they’re playing! They’re on their last song!” I ran right into the auditorium, and sure enough, they were on stage. It made for a good ending. I even tripped on the stairs getting on stage.
Ryan: Without Brendan being there, it probably didn’t sound that good because we were missing our instruments.
What is your ultimate goal as a band?
Brendan: To have a good time, and get our sound out there.
Ryan: My thing will be when you can look out, and everyone knows the words.
Brendan: It would be cool to get to that point where you can just hold the mic out, and everyone knows what to sing.
Tell people why they should listen to Grilling Wilson?
Brendan: I think out band has a quality that you don’t hear much anymore, in the pop-punk today, there are things that should be there. We want to be able to start listening to that again, that would be great.
James: I don’t think you’ll hear harmonies like we produce in any kind of music like you do in ours.
What are your thoughts on the current music industry?
James: It’s tough, because you hear a lot of stories about bands having their labels making them be something they’re not, and they are trapped. Staying away from that would be good.
Ryan: I agree with that. You can tell that the labels sometimes push things on people. I do like the music industry, it’s pretty good, but I don’t like how you have to know someone. It’s not about how you sound most of the time, it’s about who you know in the industry.
Brendan: A lot of the bands I see now, they sound great on record, but then when they go to play live, you’re losing a lot of it. You gotta have something to share with the audience, by rushing to make their look the most important thing, they lose what it’s really about: playing the music.
What’s next for Grilling Wilson?
Brendan: The EP is definitely coming out, and we’re still working on new songs. We’re making t-shirts and getting them out there. We’ve been playing a lot of shows lately, also.
Any last words?
Ryan: Definitely give us a listen. There’s a chance one of our songs might be your style.
Brendan: Come see us live, pick up a t-shirt! Check out the EP, it’ll be coming out hopefully by late January.
Official Grilling Wilson Myspace Page:
http://www.myspace.com/grillingwilson
Upcoming Grilling Wilson shows:
January 26th , Kingston Knights of Columbus in Kingston, ME
February 3rd, Emergenza Festival in Boston, MA
The thing that I really enjoy about grilling wilson is their uniqueness. I’ve been to many battles and venues where they have performed and enjoyed the harmonies along with the different style of guitar playing. Its a relief seeing a band with something new to offer, especially something that sounds as good as they do. Good job guys. Keep up the good work!