by Jason

Grivo hails from the music city of Austin, Texas and Timothy Heck, of the power trio, was kind enough to answer some questions for the Somewherecold readers. Elude, the debut full-length from Grivo, is set to hit the streets on November 16th on Holodeck Records and the album is utterly brilliant. Timothy, along with his bother Matthew, founded the band. Timothy answered questions about the formation of the band, writing, and Elude.

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Hello Tim. Thanks so much for doing this! I guess let’s start with introductions. Who are you and what do you do in the band?

I’m Tim. I play guitar and sing in the band.

How did the band get started?

It started as a solo project/gift for my then partner.

You produce a brilliant mixture of shoegaze, slow core, and dream pop. Can you all talk about the bands and artists that influence you as an individual musician and, perhaps, the band as a whole?

We love all kinds of stuff.  At the Drive-In, Brahms, and Earth are some all time favorites.

How does the band generally go about writing songs?

Each song comes to me differently, but in general I’ll bring some ideas to the others and if they react then we’ll begin construction and/or deconstruction.

You came out with an EP in 2015 and have just now resurfaced with the soon to be released amazing debut LP Elude. Can you talk about your experiences writing the EP and how things have changed over the course of three years in that regard?

I wrote most everything on the EP and Elude is much more of a collaboration.  We’ve grown into a unified body.

I like to ask bands about a few of the tracks on the album and get them to talk about writing and recording those tracks. So, could you talk about your first single “Burnout” as well as the incredible “Opia”?

Burnout was written during a bout of insomnia.  It went through an arduous vetting process with a ton of variations.  Conversely, Opia was written years prior to recording and the composition was a little smoother, but I could never figure out an ending until the relationship I was in ended. That gave me the inspiration, I suppose.

You all produce and play your music live in a very competitive, music rich environment. Can you talk about how Austin has shaped your music and what sort of challenges you’ve encountered writing music, recording music, and playing live is like in such a city?

We have been really fortunate to meet so many wonderful people here. I can’t say that it affects our music. It’s just where we all currently reside.

What sort of music projects have you all been involved with before Grivo or, if you are in multiple bands now, what other bands are you in now?

My brother and I played in a few bands back in Michigan, mostly in the vein of post punk.  We are all solely committed to Grivo at the moment.

What gear do you use both live and in the studio?  

Gear varies but my two standbys are an Orange amp and a Gibson Les Paul.

What’s next for Grivo? Should we expect a tour once the album hits the street?

We are constantly writing and trying to improve our craft. Definitely, we are planning on hitting the road in early 2019.

Do you have anything else you would like to tell the readers of Somewherecold?

Thanks for asking us to do this, and to your readership/listenership for their support!

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