|
 Born
and raised on the Italian Island of Elba, Grace Solero studied at the
Academy of Drama in Rome before moving to London to form a band. With
her debut album, New Moon, due out in October, The LINC spoke to Grace
about her move to the UK, her favourite artists and more...
What was it about London that appealed to you as a place to get your
music career underway?
It had a lot to do with how I saw London as a melting pot of so many
different cultures. I think that, for any artist or creative person,
it's important to mix with as many different people as you can and to
take in lots of different influences. That's what really appealed to me,
but it was also that I had a lot of British influences myself, a lot of
British artists who inspired me, and I wanted to be a part of that.
How did the reality of life in London live up to your expectations?
I would say it definitely lived up to my expectations. When I came over,
it was just me and my guitar and I didn't know anyone at all and it was
quite scary, but I found a lot of people really friendly which was a bit
surprising. I met our guitarist, Dan here. He'd moved from California
for music too so it was good to meet up with like-minded people and play
music together.
I was glad as well to find a lot places to play music, a lot of venues
hosting gigs and open mic nights. That was definitely reassuring
because, you know, that's why I came here!
Would you say it's easier to establish yourself as an artist or a
band in the UK than elsewhere, say back home in Italy for example?
The thing with Italy is that Italy can be quite narrow-minded when it
comes to non-commercial music or anything alternative.
Here, you have much more freedom to express yourself and share your
ideas, and that was one of the things that really made me want to come
here.
I think it's more about expressing yourself than establishing yourself,
and that's definitely easier here. There are more places to get out and
play your music and share it with people.
I think if I'd stayed at home I'd still just be sat in my bedroom
writing songs and playing my guitar than getting out there and doing
what I'm doing now.
Which is getting ready to release your debut album, New Moon. Shall
we talk a bit about that?
Sure. We worked with [punk veteran] Pat Collier, who we met through a
friend, to record it. It started off just recording a few songs with him
but then we liked how things were working out, so we carried on working
on it and recorded it on and off over a period of about three or four
months. We went to Italy to record some of the drums too. That was good
because we got to experiment with different sounds and bring different
styles together.
I'm really pleased with how it's turned out, but I think it's the sae as
with anything you create that, once it's done, you sort of look back on
it and see things you'd like to change; you think 'maybe I should have
recorded that differently or tried something different there'. I think
that's natural though, and even if I would change a few things I'm very
happy with the album.
If you had to pick one, which track on the album would you say is
your favourite?
That's a difficult one! It's very hard to chose from your own material
and say that you like one track more than another. If I really had to
name just one, I would say that I'm very pleased with Troops. That's the
one that stood out to all of us to be a good fit for the video, and I
think the video works really well, it really reflects the mood of the
song to me.
So I think, because of the video, I’ll say Troops, but really, they're
all my favourites!
 We
really enjoy Troops too. One thing with been curious about though is the
chanting performed by your guitarist, Dan, in that track. Are those real
words, perhaps in another language or...
No no. It's really just a made up chant. I always think of it as a
mantra, it's sort of like a trance in a way and I think it really fits
into that songs theme of loosing and finding yourself.
In reviews of that song, and indeed in a lot of what we've read about
you, there are three names you're frequently compared to in Alanis
Morisette, PJ Harvey and Skunk Anansie. Would you say that's a fair
comparison?
I suppose it is. I mean, I understand that people need to have
references, if it helps relate to your music than that's great. It's a
big honour for me to be compared to those people who are certainly great
artists, but I think it's also very important to carve out your own
identity and be recognised for your own work.
What about other bands who have influenced you? Who are some of your
favourites?
I like a lot of 90s rock, a lot of grunge. Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff
Buckley are two that come to mind. Smashing Pumpkins are big favourites,
I love everything from their first album right up to Melancholy... but
not their last album, I really didn't like that one!
Though I do love all kinds of music and, as far as influences go, I take
from lots of different genres, so I might take Nina Simone from jazz,
but the Ramstien from metal.
How would you describe your sound?
I guess I would say it’s raw and passionate, quite hypnotic in some ways
and sometimes spiritual too. It’s very high energy and dynamic, and I
think that comes across when we perform live.
How would you say the experience of playing life compares to being in
the studio?
They’re two different experiences and it’s hard to compare them because
I enjoy both. I get a great sense of adrenalin playing music and I get
that same adrenalin in the studio as I do playing a gig. I mean,
obviously when you’re live you get to reach out to people in a different
way.
I’ve always loved to perform, I really need it.
You’ve got some live dates coming up in London quite soon [INSERT DATES
HERE], but with The LINC being based up north, we won’t get to be there.
Do you have any plans to spread out and play in other areas of the
country?
Oh yeah, we’d love to travel up and down the country, it’s just a matter
of logistics at the minute. We did do a UK tour and got to places like
Manchester and Sheffield before and that’s something we’d love to do
again.
September isn’t really a great time to do it though and there’s a lot of
work goes into it. We need to book hotels and sort out a van, we did
have a van for the last tour but it’s been stolen!
It’s looking like we’ll be out on tour in the New Year, so you’ll
hopefully get to see us play then. We’re revamping our website and
MySpace at the minute, so just keep checking those for dates.
Would you say websites like MySpace are still a good tool for bands?
Oh yeah, MySpace has been a big help for us. There’s no other way for
people to get your music so quickly, and I think as long as people keep
using it for that it will still be useful.
And finally, if you could offer any advice to young, up ‘n’ coming
bands, what would it be?
Keep grounded. Doing this can be really hard work and you need to be a
balanced person, both physically and emotionally, to be able to handle
everything.
I guess also be creative and believe in your own ideas.
There are a lot of bands that just sound like copies of other bands, and
it’s not a good idea to just sound like everybody else. I guess if
you’ve spent all your life living in the same place you will kind of
pick up similar influences and sounds, but if you can, get out there,
explore and experiment and try to make your own style.
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