Infectious indie-rockers The Griswolds have enjoyed the success most bands dream of in just a few months.
Lead guitarist Dan Duque-Perez can’t believe their luck, with The Griswolds set to play the Sydney leg of Big Day Out.“It's nuts! It feels really good, but at the same time feels really strange, because it's like we don't deserve it. It's happened so fast we haven't had time to absorb all that we've actually done. It sort of feels like we're still in our first week. We're super grateful for everything that's happened this year and everything that's coming up.”
The quintet's formation was largely driven by Dan and his now band mate, Chris Whitehall. “Myself and Whitehall were writing songs for a lot of other people and playing in separate bands. We got sick of our bands and we got sick of writing songs for other people. I started writing the chorus for 'Mississippi' and showed it to him and we both really liked it. We decided to move in together, build a studio, and quit our bands.”
Although joint songwriter with Whitehall, Dan takes a back seat when it comes to singing. “We don't even know who wrote what anymore. We have a weird system that we work with. It takes a long time. I'm pretty sure Chris has written the vocals to every verse and I've written every chorus. He's a much, much, much, better singer than me.”
Despite their success, the band take nothing for granted and remain humble about their future. “We've still got a long way to go. Me and Whitehall never stop working. We're constantly checking off things on our list and improving things. We want to keep going and keep getting better. At the moment we're focusing on writing new material and we want to have an album out next year.
“For us, being so new and so young, the next immediate step is to start building our story. I guess we're not a real band yet. I think people know what the songs are, but they don't know who they're by or where they're from. That sort of stuff takes time. Hopefully, by the time that comes about we'll still be climbing and not on the decline. We're in our watch and observe phase right now. We can learn.”
The Griswolds play the Sydney leg of Big Day Out and support Django Django on the following dates
Thu Jan 10 — The Zoo (Brisbane)Fri Jan 11 — The Metro (Sydney) (All Ages)
Sat Jan 12 — The Hi-Fi (Melbourne)
