SHORT:
Enjoy the soundtrack to spring 2011: the single 'Play Me' is the first release from the upcoming, second GRAM album. This album will be released summer 2011, It was produced by Simon Akkermans (C-mon & Kypski), and features the Metropole Orchestra, Amsterdam Klezmer Band horns, Kyteman en Lucky Fonz III. The music is a fresh combination of alternative pop songs and abundant arrangements.
THE LONG STORY:
So, 'gram' is an anagram of 'Marg', and Marg van Eenbergen is the lead singer and songwriter of GRAM. In 2008 she released her debut album 'Four-letter Word' (Torntable Records/PIAS), written and produced all on her own. For 8 years she had been the front woman of Dutch acclaimed indie band Seedling, who made three albums, and toured the UK extensively, visiting the BBC One studio four times for a John Peel session. Even while producing and performing her solo debut, she kept collaborating, touring with electro pop act About, and with pop diva Krause.
For Marg, music is all about sharing, so she showed the entire process of inspiration, songwriting and pre-production to her audience, as it was happening, through a 24/7 webcam broadcast from her home studio. After a good year of video blogs, introducing all the new songs and new band members, it was time to make the second record.
She turned to a producer who shares her love for collaboration, Simon Akkermans (from C-mon & Kypski). "I didn't know what to expect. His own music has the widest range of influences I've ever come across, from electro to jazz to hiphop. My songs are basically pop, but I'm always trying to test the limits of how 'pop' can sound. It felt like just jumping in the deep end."
With no restrictions on arrangements or on imagination, Simon pushed Marg to write for string quartet, horn sections, and even. the entire Metropole orchestra. "I'd written orchestrations before, but never as elaborate as this time. It's the most amazing rush, watching such an orchestra record your own songs, your own arrangements. The way they played 'Statues and Still Life', a frenzied song I wrote about Vincent van Gogh, exceeded my wildest dreams."
After that, Simon kept bringing in more and more musicians as they both felt the songs demanded it. The horn players from the Amsterdam Klezmer Band took a leading role in gutsy pieces like 'Come Along' and the drumband-extravaganza 'So Animal'. Lucky Fonz III co-wrote the lyrics of, and sang along on the murder ballad-like song of 'Lisa & Matthew'.
But a lot of musicians who played on the album were actually just 'hanging around' when invited for recording. The C-mon & Kypski studio where most of the work was done, happens to be right next to 'Kytopia', Kyteman's studio and rehearsal space. "Those few square acres in Utrecht just brim with creativity. When we needed sitar or mandolin, there would always be a musician around to play it. And of course Colin Benders (Kyteman himself) just walked in to do some trumpet parts."
Lucky circumstances aside, quite a bit misfortune struck Marg also: she severely fractured her elbow in a traffic accident. The vocals for the three remaining songs she did with her entire left arm in a cast, and straight after surgery she continued editing/ producing, with fresh metal pins in her elbow and her spirit still intact. "Every twist of fate can lead to something good. I remember waking up from general anesthesia, just thinking: now is the perfect time for an extra band member. These days we're a five-piece."
GRAM's new record sounds fresh, and arrives just in time to become this summer's uplifting soundtrack, oozing celebration and seduction. With undeniable singles like 'Play Me' and 'Mad Mad Mad' ready to be released, GRAM can finally unleash the songs to the audience. "Like making the album, music is all about interaction. Playing live is the most intense way to share my ideas and my music. Everyone's invited."
