In Session: James Kwapisz of Grampfather – Nippertown

ALBANY On August 19th, Grampfather will be releasing their latest record, 666G. A record full of bombast, chaos, and an underpinning of guitar virtuosity at its core, it has some great stuff to offer in its short length. Blending elements of punk rock, indie, and alternative, Grampfather has crafted another interesting collection of songs to add to its arsenal.

Starting off with Pawl Mawl Menthawls, the album immediately begins on all cylinders with a full band instrumentation intro. The drums play well off the songs bass and guitar parts. As is common practice throughout this record, the vocal melody follows the guitar part. After the first stanza, theres a brief but tasteful guitar interlude, and midway through, the intro is repeated with added instrumentation. Overall, the song is fairly straight ahead and blends indie rock and punk aesthetics.

Following this song is The Man in the Wall, track two. While not sure how the song was recorded, to this listener, it has a definite live feel to it. The entire piece is extremely in your face with reckless abandon. There are points that feel it could use a bit of a tightening up, but doing so might lose the overall feel of the tune. There are nice dynamic changes halfway, through, that serve the song well, and a ton of punk rock elements in this song.

Track three, To My Rotting Body and Brain, is a really nice touch; the intro is full of polyrhythms. The chorus pattern seems to mimic the intro instrumental section. I really enjoyed the chord progression in this song because the extensions used in the chords follow the melody. At the end, a sudden, and shredding guitar solo appears seemingly out of nowhere, played with such a level of finesse. Impressive, to say the least.

Far and away the longest song on the record, clocking in at eight-minutes-and-ten-seconds, Hot Dog Beach, track four, steers into more of an indie-alternative vibe, and is more straightforward than the previous two. The reverb-washed guitars are a nice touch to this track and remind me of some music I really enjoyed in the early 2000s. The repetitive nature of the guitar part during its interludes allows listeners to grab on to something comfortable and instantly familiar. Perhaps showing my bias as a guitarist, I would feel remiss if I didnt mention the guitars tone: during the solo it is wonderfully throaty and right smack-dab in that overdriven, mid-range sweet spot. As we approach the last minute of the track, the tempo is severely slowed down and the band plays in an almost rubato fashion before speeding up for the final portion, as a guitar solo helps to conclude the piece.

The final two songs, The Singularity (Crossing Over0, and 666G, tracks five and six, respectively, offer more of the same in some regards, while introducing new elements in other aspects. For instance, in the former tune, the piece begins with electric piano, something not yet done on the album. Possibly the most space-y sounding of the album; every instrument seems to be loosely playing off each other. About halfway through, the listeners are exposed to a sharp transition in meter and feel. Theres very stripped back instrumentation at the end, before the track ends. With 666G, the closer and title track of the record, theres plenty of nice and clean guitar tones throughout the intro. More to that point, the guitar in this track really shines, as some of the best playing on the entire record. On an album thats largely focused on guitar proficiency, this is a great closer in that regard.

666G manages to deliver a lot of material and musical ideas in a somewhat short amount of time. The only two comments that might go against the record although it didnt detract too much from the album, in this listeners opinion are the vocals and cohesiveness of the bands performances. Sometimes it sounds like the singer might be straining, and the instrumentation will seemingly get lost in the mix during some of the more chaotic parts on the record. That being said, there are a great number of moments that a fan of alternative rock, punk, and indie can latch onto. Go and grab your copy of the new record by following the link here.

Lucas Garrett: Thank you, James, and nice to talk to you again. I hear your band has a new album coming out soon?

James Kwapisz: Yeah, were real excited about it.

LG: Tell us about the album.

JK: Its been six months since the last release. That seems to be the theme of the album: its called 666G six songs long. I feel the other album was more of a mixed bag, a smorgasbord. This one feels more concise: banger after banger. It feels more realized. Theres definitely still a range of genres, but I think it has a better flow to it.

LG: Theres a lot of different genres like you said, but they work together in ways Id not heard before. Its a very interesting way of writing the music, because Id not really heard elements of punk alongside elements of progressive rock before. They seem to be antithetical of one another, but yet it works in a really interesting way.

JK: One thing I should note: this album is more collaborative than ever. While I still maintain that role of being the main songwriter/composer, and lyricist, the other guys had a large hand in it. For example, Andrew wrote the main riff in the first song, Pawl Mawl Menthawls, and I added some parts to bridge it together so its not that one riff repeating throughout the whole song. The most collaborative is track five, The Singularity.

It actually started off as a nine-minute-long jam. The other guys really wanted to keep it like that, but the buzzing of the snare in the live recording was driving me crazy. I was doing everything I could to mute that but it wasnt really working out. With much protest, lets record this track-by-track and figure out the structure. Its one of my favorite tracks on the album because its so unique from everything weve ever done.

Like I was saying earlier before the interview, Andrew and I switched up instruments. He was playing keyboards on this one. Hes definitely a more proficient lead guitarist than I am, but I used to do all the leads on the earlier albums. It was nice to revisit it and see that I could still shred.

LG: Was this album recorded live, or piece-by-piece?

JK: Its all piece-by-piece.

LG: However, its done, you captured a live feel, which is very cool.

JK: Andrew lets loose a little bit, but the rhythm section is pretty tight: doing the same thing each take. Its nice for the live element, because Andrew is always doing something different and were keeping the same thing. Like with The Singularity, for playing it live, Id want to have a structure. The marriage of structure and improvisation is pretty interesting to me.

LG: Does this album have the same lineup?

JK: Yeah, it does. Its just me, Jake, Tony, and Andrew. Thats part of the reason why we were able to put out this album so quick after the other one. In the past, its been multiple lineups within a year. A lot of the time was spent picking a few songs from a few albums, and teaching and re-teaching the parts. Then, theyd leave the band it was always someone new. It was a stagnant limbo, for me.

Its so nice to have a steady crew. Now we can just progress and make new music. Also, we live within a mile of each other, so that convenience helps a lot.

LG: That is really convenient. Youre pretty prolific now. Whats next on board for you guys?

JK: After this album, we have a bunch of ideas percolating. We had this stupid name for an album, called, Glampfather, where its going to be super poppy and synth-y. On the cover, we had the idea where its going to be me in a white tuxedo on a piano in the woods with an RV and a disco ball. And, then Andrew will be playing piano and Ill have a rose in my mouth, hahaha. Super over the top. Glampfather is going to be the seventh album. I thought itd be funny if it were super poppy on the A-side, and then devolve to bring back some thrashier metal elements from our Magnum Grampus era. Keep people on their toes, ya know?

LG: What else would you like to talk about tonight?

JK: I appreciate your input and getting the word in the Capital Region and beyond.

LG: The album is dropping August 19th. Where can we find it?

JK: Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music Wherever Distrokid sends it!

LG: Do you have any shows coming up?

JK: Were playing Sheeptown, a DIY event in Albany on August 3rd, and an album release party at Snugs in New Paltz on August 20th. Weve been playing the new songs at shows. Its appealing to get that experience of songs that arent released yet.

LG: Thank you very much for your time tonight, James, and good luck with your release!

JK: Yeah, of course!

LG: Ill talk to you soon.

JK: Awesome, thanks for your time, I appreciate it. Good talking with you.

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In Session: James Kwapisz of Grampfather - Nippertown