Talking to Earl Grey and Croquet
MusicReview interviews the friendly Earl Grey and Croquet.
Earl Grey and Croquet, thank you for taking the time to talk to us. So tell us about yourselves – Where are you from and what type of music do you play?
“It’s a pleasure indeed. Well we are all from Jo’burg and were friends before we were band mates. We grew up together as a band, which is ace as your band becomes a bunch of awesome mates. Which makes it easier when you need to play those stressful gigs. We started out in high school, and we’ve been playing all the gigs we can grab at for six years now. Our sound and mood has always been kind of jovial and good-hearted, and this, we think, has helped us to slowly gain a lively and cheerful fan-base.
The music we play also reflects an easiness and excitement that can be enjoyed and reveled in, night after night, and our playing of warm, heart-felt and raspy leads – gives our live Jam sessions unique and thrilling sounds which warm the soul any night of the week.
We play a variety of styles, some old school styles, with solos and long instrumentals, but simultaneously a new approach to music never seen before. We are more a combination of styles than anything. ”
‘Earl Grey and Croquet’ is a brilliant band name! What was your inspiration for using ‘Earl Grey and Croquet’ as a band name?
“Funny enough, the name came from my (Laurie) sisters friend, she was talking about possible ad agency names, and when she mentioned ‘Earl Grey and Croquet’, I immediately took to it, it had a cool ring – wasn’t too serious, and it was definitely kind of amusing. Straight up, I asked her if we could use it as the name of our band, and she, maybe just being polite or just a little tipsy, laughingly agreed. A few years later, when I reminded her of it, she was proud that she had christened us, and burst forth with a few more suggestions for song names.
The inspiration came just because it does sound good, has a nice sound to it. As for the meaning, well just think British nobility.
Strange enough we not all big fans of the tea brand. ”
What inspirations and influences make up the sound of ‘Earl Grey and Croquet’?
“Well we play old school rock and roll before anything else I guess, but that’s not to say that our music is not steeped in a number of different influences.
We often play music with groovy blues influences as well as mixing folk, acoustic and soft-rock sounds – so really, its all just one big hotchpotch of lively, vibrant music – but as I say, good ‘ol rock and roll is always our base.
We really dig jam bands like the Allman Brothers and Pink Floyd. Kings of Leon have definitely influenced our style in some way, by showing what kind of magic can come from simply a four-piece band that is really tight. Neil Young, the one and only, is our hero – he has (always) played music he feels, regardless of its popularity, his raw, lengthily guitar solos are always a trip and journey in-themselves, but most of all, we admire Neil’s ‘music-first-politics-last’ approach, because, simply, politics in music is boring, and no-one is interested in it. That’s why our motto, being as simplistic as it is effective, is just two words: ‘Just Play.’ It sums up all we want to achieve and the dedication in which we do so. That’s why our music is neither rigid nor haphazard, it follows where, most importantly, it feels it should, and this, we hope, has moved us along to be creating new, fresh and enjoyable music.
Our influences are vast, from old school kings like led zeppelin and pink Floyd to modern legends to be like MUSE and Kings Of Leon. We just aim to make music that is fun to hear and damn fun to play, this is what really gives us the inspiration, the fun that can be had with music.
Being original and playing music that we enjoy is what inspires us to play. We play what feels good to us. Through we have such vast influences we don’t necessarily aim to be like the one, we aim at an idea of how our influences made their music and we follow a similar idea trying to create an original composition. ”
In recent interviews, we have examined the role played by social networking websites in the transformation of music in today’s age. How do you think Myspace, Facebook and Twitter have changed the music industry?
“Hugely, I think. These social networking sites have really proven their weight in gold, never has it been easier to organise, advertise and promote gigs at the drop of a hat. I mean one has instantaneous access to hundreds of fans like never before, and marketing has never been easier. I think the music industry has seen a considerable make-over. Although boosting competition, these networking sites have simultaneously boosted the individual recognition of bands, provided they can deliver the goods. So all and all, I think such sites have really pioneered a new platform for emerging artists – and bands like us can only benefit from these clever inventions, and use them to our advantage.
It has had a big change for the industry but not internally I think more so due to the ease of communication, if you know of a band playing somewhere and want to invite people it’s easy and fast…gives a means for bands and fans to notify lots of people at once and thus makes the need to rock out a little easier to fulfill.
I think it makes bands more independent, where as in the past they would have to employ companies and use their labels to market and get their music out there.”
Speaking of Myspace, Facebook and Twitter – where can fans get hold of you?
“We have both a Myspace page and a Facebook page, and we use Myspace to visually advertise ourselves, whilst using Facebook to promote gigs via the group member database. It works like a charm!
Find us on Myspace and Facebook.”
If you had a choice of one band in the world to open for – who would it be and why?
“Laurie: Kings of Leon! Partly because I would just want to see them play, but also because of their unique and particular sound, which is oh-so tasty and catchy as well as being well-known and enjoyed – we have all shared the dream of fans being able to sing back our songs to us, and no band has this trait better than Kings of Leon. Another reason I suppose, is because they will draw a stadium of fans and we’ve always wanted to play in a stadium and to thousands of people!
Dan: There are plenty of choices if time travel were an option…..(heres hoping), but right now I’d have to say MUSE, I think the crowd would be in a perfect mind set for us at that time just before muse come on and melt some faces….maybe we could start the melting for them!!!
Chris: I’d have to say John Mayer or aKing – both are such amazing musicians and composers. ”
Earl Grey and Croquet, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. Do you have any upcoming gigs we can catch you at?
“Ah for sure! Thank you.
We are playing at Olive Lounge on the 10th July”
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Earl Grey and Croquet is:
Laurie Sloan: Vocals, Guitar
Chris Smith: Guitar
Dan Millar: Bass Guitar
Jonny Smith: Drums
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