About
Grey Does Matter
Pitchfork Media says “It really does, you know. Matter,
I mean. Grey does.” They further went on to say
that “[How To Make Millions in Real Estate]
has all the earmarks of modern indie power-pop: a sort of
hi-lo-fi production value, gigantic hooks and melodies, dense
gleaming sheets of guitar and synths…”.
Performing Songwriter further commented on the band’s
debut that “This is the kind of rock record we worried
they didn’t make anymore… Kicking off like a
black and white Iggy Pop/Lou Reed love scene in a forgotten
Andy Warhol film and slowly degenerating from there into
a wriggling knot of garage rock, wonky synth noise and lo-fi
power pop, it somehow calls to mind the Walkmen, the Faint,
Matthew Sweet and Ween at the same time.”
Growing up in up in the East Village of New York City, songwriter
and bandleader Jason Crawford began composing songs at age
15 after saving up to buy his first guitar. After graduating
high school in NYC, Jason worked in neighborhood nightclubs,
spending all his free time glued to his 4-track recorder,
honing his songwriting abilities. After his father
talked Jason into attending Berklee College of Music in Boston,
Jason made the move but eventually dropped out after feeling
disenfranchised with what he felt was a rigid and formulaic
philosophy when it came to making music. What followed
was a return to New York City, low paying jobs, and home
recording. Jason had no intention of ever releasing
an album.
At least, not until several years later, when Jason’s
family and friends talked him into self-releasing an album. Armed
with an outdated computer and a few cheap microphones, Jason
created the low-fi indie pop/rock release How To Make
Millions in Real Estate in2004, writing and performing
every note on the album.
Much to Jason’s surprise, How to Make Millions
in Real Estate received critical acclaim and went
on to sell over 5,000 copies without any marketing or major
distribution. Songs off the album also found their
way onto TV and video games, through several licensing
deals, including MTV, Sirius Satellite Radio, Fox TV, KPMG,
and a Nintendo Gamecube dance game. Jason has since
scored original music for video games, working with iconic
licenses such as Q-bert, Transformers and Batman.
Without a band to support the album in a live setting, Jason
needed to figure out how to play shows. Having written
music for Gameboy games, Jason used those skills to recreate
songs from the debut album on a Nintendo Gameboy and played
NYC clubs using the game console as his backing band. Eventually
Jason pulled together a five-piece band of actual humans
and played a handful of NYC shows, sharing the bill with
contemporaries such as The Secret Machines, The Dears, The
Honorary Title, and The Minders among others.
That was 2004.
Two years later, Grey Does Matter re-emerge onto the indie
rock scene with a sophomore full-length album, Your Job
Will Kill You (Pop Rally! Records). Now boiled
down to a trio from a five-member ensemble, Jason introduces:
Amos (bass/hybrid/noise) and Jon Webber on drums.
Bass/hybrid/noise player Amos holds a degree in electronics
and uses creativity and skill to build original instruments,
effects and noise devices. Examples of these unique electronic
toys can be found all over Your Job Will Kill You including
the oscillator solo in “Rake Your Leaves” as
well as the electronic ambience in “Irregular Embraces”.
In the studio andat live performances Amos plays guitar and
bass parts at the same time using another unique invention,
a hybrid ¼ bass and ¾ guitar instrument. This
invention required Amos to develop a new playing technique
and unconventional tuning to achieve the final result; the
performance of a guitar and a bass player coming from one
person simultaneously.
A Jacksonville, Florida native, Amos spent many years working
as a library clerk before experimenting with several different
musical creations, and creating the instruments and electronic
devices that would propel Howard Jones to write, “I
came across a fascinating musician today, [Amos] plays bass
but makes it sound like a million different instruments…”.
Then there is drummer Jon Webber. Like Crawford, Jon is
a New York City native. He was kicked out of almost
every school he attended as a teenager and soon became a
fixture on the NYC club scene, playing in countless local
bands before joining Grey Does Matter. Of note, he
was in the original production of John Cameron Mitchell’s “Hedwig
and the Angry Inch”. Jon also has an extremely healthy
head of hair, enjoys badminton, and is fond of long walks
on the beach.
The success of the band’s freshman release earned
the band’s label Pop Rally! Records a new marketing
and distribution deal with The Wheatfield Group and Fontana/Universal
Distribution. Now Grey Does Matter can release albums
nationally to chains and fine mom and pop stores alike.
How To Make Millions In Real Estate afforded
Grey Does Matter the luxury of creating higher quality recordings. Your
Job Will Kill You was created at The Boiler Room in
Williamsburg with Producer Werner F, best known for his work
with The Stills and their album Logic Will Break Your
Heart (Vice/Atlantic).
The band's latest album Your Job Will
Kill You is dedicated to “all of us who still
do it anyway”.
Together, all three members of Grey Does Matter continue to
dedicate their existence to music despite many reality overdoses.
This sophomore release again delivers Grey Does Matter’s
contradictory marriage of dark imagery and catchy hooks gleaned
from three souls in New York City who don’t give up.
For More Information on The Band Contact:
Alex Steininger
In Music We Trust: PR
Email: alex @ inmusicwetrust dot com
Tel: 503-557-9661
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