Grandaddy
The constituents of Grandaddy wear those beards for a reason. Growing up around Modesto, a central Californian farming-town, the band’s main escape from the tameness of their environment was a vast interest in the tones of music – Jason Lytle, vocalist/lyricist of the group, favouring the likes of Beatles and Pink Floyd standards to inspire his early enthusiasm. The music became even more important to him specifically, however, after he tore his knee in a skateboarding contest, an injury that saw the eventual front-man return to Modesto following a stint of Southern Californian abandon and hi-jinks.
Lytle was an observer of his surroundings, and ‘the art of living’ was something that fascinated him, viewing others’ ways and means of getting through their day-to-day existences. The band were similarly enraptured with the potential of humanity – the line-up consisting of, initially, bassist Kevin Garcia and drummer Aaron Burtch, who were then joined in 1995 by Fairchild and keyboardist Tim Dryden.
The similar view-points and vision spawned riveting early works – the sprawling, lo-fi ravings of ‘96’s ‘A Pretty Mess By This One Band’ to more lavish and captivating pieces, as conveyed in the next year’s ‘Under The Western Freeway’. Yet, critically and commercially, it was 2000’s ‘The Sophtware Slump’ that grew the band its major audience and following – with key industry, musicians and the fans themselves fawning over the band’s potential. Shows sold out globally, and ‘The Crystal Lake’ rewarded the bands its first hit in the singles-chart.
With two and a half years in the making, the successor to ‘… Slump’ is almost with us – ‘Sumday’: the band’s most engulfing, joyous and blissful creation yet. And yet more indication that there’s plenty of life still left in the ‘Daddy for the years to come.
V2 MUSIC: Check out the globally-spanning boundaries of the band\'s record-label - and its rich array of associated artistes.