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Arts & Music

Gimme Five! Chas McKeown of Gray Young

To get bogged down in the genre semantics of describing Raleigh’s Gray Young is to miss the point entirely.

To get bogged down in the genre semantics of describing Raleigh’s Gray Young is to miss the point entirely.  Guitarist/lead-singer Chas McKeown, bassist Dan Grinder, and drummer Jeff Dopko don’t seem to be in it for the genre tags or the sound alike comparisons or even to explain the origin of their band name.  They’re in it for the music and weird and wonderful ways it builds around their dynamic interplay.

Fusing all manner of distortion and rhythm and texture, this trio’s ambitious instrumentality results in songs that build and release with a certain moody elegance that captivates.  With one record (2009’s Firmament) on the books a brand new release to celebrate (2010’s Staysail), the band’s just tapping into their potential.  But don’t just take my word for it, catch Gray Young live (at the release party for Staysail) this Saturday, October 23rd at The Pour House, where they’ll be joined by their friends Free Electric State and Invasion.

And now just five old questions for the guitar man of Gray Young:

1. If your band were a book, what would it be?
if our band were a book it would probably be a dynamic and melodramatic screenplay that would also be available as a book on tape.

2. What happened at the very first Gray Young show?
our first shows were pretty awful.  but i wouldn’t trade them for anything.  we learned so much from playing horribly to empty rooms.  it’s not the desired situation,  but it taught us so much about ourselves and our band.  i feel like if you can play to empty rooms then you can do anything as a band.  it’s also made us very appreciative of anyone who has any interest in our band.  it’s hard to take your fans for granted after playing to nobody.

3. Describe the approach you took in making the new record.
i don’t think we have much of a cognizant approach in general with the band,  but for this record and the last one we have recorded live as a band and used that as the core of the recording.  so far we have just liked the idea of no matter what else happens with the record,  the feeling of the band playing will be there at the center.  with staysail there are more instruments and approaches at play…i definitely think we didn’t make a firmament part two.  we aren’t interested in repeating ourselves.  at the same time i don’t think we over think it either.  i think the best approach is to not really have too much of one.

4. Who/what might be a few inspirations or influences that would really surprise people?
simple things.

5. What did you dream of being when you were a kid? (how ’d that turn out?)
when i was a kid i dreamed of being in a band.  that’s honestly the dream i remember having as a child and it has never gone away.

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Wander to The Pour House this Saturday, October 23rd to help Gray Young celebrate their CD release. And, by all means, give Chas a high five when you see him!