Grant are an Oxford based musical collective based around former adult film actor and camel chiropodist Grant Baldwin, multi-instrumentalist and bonsai expert Martin Newton, and mysterious bass player Reg Driblo. Reg, a keen breeder of the rare West Bromwich Nodding Bantam, refuses to talk to the other two unless they call him Ulrich and makes them promise not to eat cheese on Tuesdays. He can only be contacted on the phone between the times of 01.03 and 01.07hrs.
Grant formed in the mid 1990s, after singer Grant paid Martin thousands of pounds to let him carry his guitar case to the rehearsal studio. But only if it were dark and nobody could see. After a few years, they had amassed a great number of songs, at which point Grant unlocked the door and let Martin go home. Reg joined in 2002 after his therapist told him that music would help his recovery from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a consequence of his harrowing experiences in the 1999 Cress Riots. Reg led the often dangerous and vicious confrontations with The Man to try and prevent the small green peppery plant being compulsorily incorporated in all egg sandwiches.
The first album - 'What do you mean, weve got to finish this bloody thing?' - was released in 2003 to rave review by the Cheam Onanists Almanac. There was the odd disgruntled voice who claimed the album sounded glum- this is, of course, ridiculous as it is well known that Grant is officially the 3rd Funniest Man in Oxfordshire, and his 1034-page treatise On the Determination of the Flash Point (in degrees Kelvin) of Mixed- Matrix Solvents using the Pensky- Martin Closed Cup Method., is widely regarded as gut bustingly hilarious and pant-fillingly funny
The overall musical direction of the guys is to hit things and shout. A lot.
New album - 'Tudge! Stop fidgeting with that!' - takes the collective in to far more esoteric and sophisticated territory, as Grant has managed to incorporate elements of the notoriously difficult Samoan Reverse Nasal Crooning into their sound and Martin now turns the microphones on during recording sessions.This new album takes the collective into far more esoteric and sophisticated territory droned Grant, boringly. But not glumly.
OR.. IN AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE
Grant are an Oxford-based musical collective centred around singer Grant Baldwin, multi-instrumentalist Martin Newton and bassist Rex Diablo. This core is augmented when required by other musicians, including Big Red Sky Records label mates Johnnie Hawkins and My Friend Rachel.
Grant formed in the mid 1990s (by Grant and Martin), with Rex joining in 2002. We have been concentrating on writing and recording (this is currently mainly a studio-based project) although a few gigs were played during the early years. Our first album God-like Shapes was released in 2003 on Big Red Sky Records. Although we originally grew out of a traditional rock/pop song writing base, we are increasingly exploring other musical areas and trying to marry them with our own. The aim is to retain a strong sense of the crafting of song, but to try to bend and twist all the elements of our work into something unexpected. Were still developing this aspect but the new album 'Apolaustic' marks a step nearer to our objectives, with a broader range of music and sound. 'Apolaustic' will be released late summer 2006.