Griffin Hard Edge Street Rock
It isn?t strange that a band called Griffin produces such great beastly music. With Bastian Wetting guitarist and vocalist, drummer Niles Vandenberg and Marc van der Meer on bass, the young Dutch band forms the body of the lion. Wings are created in music as the three stimulate each other in their enthusiasm, creativity and performance.
In the year of 1999 three friends from high school found themselves joined in the group called Griffin. From there on many things happened; growing up and tasting the real edge of the Dutch Pop circuit was one of the main prerogative during the formation years of the band.
It actually all started with winning the finals for the Dutch music competition Bollenstreekprijs (1999). Griffin was featured in many TV spots (TVWest) and received much video airplay for the fantastic track ?Nothing to die for? (demo version) climbing into the top 10 airplay charts alongside Anouk and Kane, two of Hollands most successful acts. And all media eyes turned to the trio. After that things went into a whirlwind. On vinyl Wot Nxt records produced the bands first official release. Which quickly sold out within two weeks. The first official demo was recorded in Leiden, hometown of Griffin.
That demo lead them straight to a record deal with a Major company in 2002. Everything seemed to be happening, though after a year of hard work the record deal didn?t pull through. The record company and Griffin went separate ways though the promise of the bands potential was never lost.
Set free, Griffin recorded their album independently in 2004, in co production with producer Dick Kemper. ?Not wise enough to think smart? was born and pressed. Due to the success of the previous events Griffin found themselves in a busy period gigging to thrilled audiences. They were headlining their own shows as well as support act for bands such as "Danko Jones ? (CAN), "Millionaire ? (BE), and "Sugarcult ? (USA). The media and stores were craving for their debut album but as the ideas of band and label didn?t correspond the album didn?t reach the stores. Again Griffin searched for a more independent label and finally found their answers worth in Dawa/Suburban.
Now this year (2006) on the 17th of November the debut album will be re-released by Dawa Records/Suburban (Benelux only) in cooperation with the band itself. Re-mastered (Attie Bouw), renewed and improved, the album ?Not wise enough to think smart? will finally hit the stores. Don?t miss out!!!
"Not wise enough to think smart is nu al één van de betere debuten van dit jaar" Music Minded magazine
"Van introvert en voorzichtig tot heftig en recht voor zijn raap, muzikaal is het dik in orde." VPRO 3voor12
Cheers Griffin