Greg
Ashley has been playing music for years, but has fairly
recently gained notoriety for disturbed, wild and extremely
original rock music - both as a solo artist and with his
latest band, The Gris Gris. Birdman Records took a liking
to Ashley in 2003 - and released his solo album "Medicine
Fuck Dream" - a lysergic one-man epic of folk and
noise. When you spin his latest work, the self-titled
debut album of the Gris Gris, out on Birdman, you'll swear
you've stumbled across something tucked away in your parents'
stack of vinyl. The band combines hushed, dreamlike, bedroom
melodies, classic 60s rock and roll, velvets-inspired
noise, and out-of-control reverb to create some of the
most intense, moody garage rock you're ever likely to
hear. The Gris Gris is coming back to Ralph's on September
1st. Ashley answered a few questions about his band.
How
is it that you released a solo record prior to The Gris
Gris? Did you play in any bands before you released "Medicine
Fuck Dream?"
I had this other band when I lived in Houston, and it
was called The Mirrors. We did two records. I ended up
moving here to San Francisco and the stuff for my solo
project was stuff that was possibly going to be used on
another Mirrors record, but the band broke up. I decided
to move, so it was all stuff I just recorded on my own
for the next record, but then we never did it.
Did
the Mirrors have that kind of experimental, folky stuff
going on?
Yeah it was kind of a similar 60s psych kind of deal.
I don't know. There was a lot of kind of folky stuff,
on that record, but we played with electric guitars. Two
guitars, full drum set, organ - so it was more kind of
straightforward rock in that sense. It had more of a standard
setup.
Was
it more straightforward than The Gris Gris?
Yeah, exactly. As far as being a normal looking band and
playing electric guitars… that kind of thing.
Do
you think the solo album prepared you for The Gris Gris
or was it something totally separate?
I guess they're sort of related because me and the bass
player Oscar… When I moved here I had no idea that
the solo record was going to come out or anything. I wanted
it to, but I wasn't sure who was going to put it out.
We played around town a little bit playing songs off of
that, and then slowly I started to write more stuff and
we started playing those songs. Then we just started becoming
a separate thing. The solo record kind of came out because
Birdman wanted to do a Gris Gris record, so I was kind
of like "hey, I have this thing if you want to put
this out." So Birdman released that too because it
was all finished.
One
thing that sort of seems universal in describing the Gris
Gris is that you have a very turbulent, intense style.
That doesn't always happen when bands draw from the same
pool of influence as The Gris Gris? How is it that you
came out with a more inward-facing, ominous sound instead
of releasing a party record (so to speak)?
I don't know. I just kind of started listening to more
60s music instead of garage stuff that was emulating that
sound. Then I started getting more folk records and stuff
like that. Whereas before, when I first started listening
to garage music or punk music, there was certain stuff
you just figured that it was hippie shit, and those records
suck. But I started getting more and more into that kind
of diverse, softer stuff. I like those records that have
a lot of different kinds of songs instead of just a bunch
of rock songs.
How
did you first start getting into the 60s stuff?
It was a backwards way of doing it. When I was growing
up I liked Nirvana and Sonic Youth, and I had those records.
I had a friend who was getting all these 70s punk records
and Estrus catalog records. A lot of garage stuff you
know? So I started listening to those records a lot. Then
it seemed like a lot of the new stuff in that vein wasn't
that great any more, and I just started listening to more
of the stuff that those new bands, that I liked, listened
to try and create their version of 60s music. So I guess
I just started listening to the stuff that people were
emulating.
What
is your background in music? You play a bunch of different
instruments, right?
I played the piano on the record, I'm not very good. If
I sit there and get a couple of takes on it, and erase
the ones that are bad then I can do it. That was the same
on the solo record. I played pretty much everything on
that, but I'm not very proficient at it… not even
on guitar really. I'm pretty bad these days, but I can
play piano a little bit. I'm a bit of a hack. I can play
guitar, bass and drums a little bit. We have an actual
piano player in the band.
You
sort of have a jarring, experimental sensibility in the
band. Is there any really surprising stuff that's informed
you over the years?
Yeah I don't know. I just kind of always liked the psychedelic
records or the Beatles records where there was a lot of
stuff going on. Have you ever heard that Brazilian psychedelic
band, Os Mutantes?
No.
What was it?
Os Mutantes. The first two are really good. They're kind
of the same thing, where they're doing a bunch of different
stuff. That Beck album, Mellow Gold, is one of my favorite
albums… Just a lot of different styles of productions
throughout where it kind of comes together.
Every
band kind of gives lip service to the effort to "capture
the live sound" but your record is one of the first
ones that honestly sounds like how I remember the live
show. Did you set out to do that purposefully, or did
it just happen?
I think it just sounds the way we sound. I sang through
the same amp and that kind of stuff. Some of the songs,
obviously, don't have a live sound because we don't play
them live - like the one with the saxophone (Me Queda
Um Bejou). I haven't put a whole lot of thought into it,
but I guess it just kind of happens. There's not a whole
lot of polishing on my 8-track machine.
That's
something I like about it. The imperfections kind of add
to the songs. In Mary I can hear some cutting out, and
it sort of enhances the song.
Yeah there is a drop out in that. I think it got fixed
later!
So
you didn't necessarily want the warts and all approach?
No. Well actually, I never usually do more than one take
with the vocals. I'm just like, "fuck it." We
did remix that song because Lars, our keyboard player,
he plays a keyboard part on there. The subsequent pressings
will have a different mix on there with the keyboard part.
The piece of tape was fucked up and that's why there's
that drop out. That was something where Dave, who runs
the label, said "yeah you've got to go in and fix
that." I'm just think fuck it (laughs) you can't
polish a turd, man!
Well
I kind of like when you can hear the process behind it
too.
Yeah I kind of like that too. I'm not a professional,
and it kind of gives it the same character that home made
stuff has.
How
did the Carnivorous Rampage tour go? Did you have a lot
of camaraderie before you played with the bands?
No. I didn't know the Apes at all. I'd met the Modey Lemon
a couple of times and played with them. Yeah we had a
good time. We all became good friends. We spent a lot
of time hanging out with the lead singer from the Apes,
because he was the only other person that really liked
to party a lot. It would always be us and him at some
house at one in the morning drinking beer. It was cool.
I
noticed you played guitar sitting down at Ralph's. Are
you a sit-down guitar player?
I always sit down now… Because I'm lazy. And I can't
put a strap on my guitar. It's not set up to have one.
I kind of like sitting down. I played standing up for
a couple of years and it's kind of a nice change of pace.
You
were the first of the groups to play at Ralph's before.
Does the show change at all when you're the closer?
No we always play the same songs. We probably don't play
them as well if we play last, because we've all had the
chance to have a few more beers than we should have. But
it's pretty much the same set either way.
Are
you playing with the Cuts on this tour?
They were going to play with us on this tour, but they
dropped out because they got offered to do a tour with
this band called the Black Keys. I guess they're pretty
big so it was an opportunity they couldn't pass up.
What
are you working on now? Are there more Gris Gris albums
planned? Something entirely different?
I don't know. We've been working on new stuff. The next
record is probably about half-recorded. I don't think
there will be any more solo records. There will probably
just be Gris Gris records from now on.
