Having formed only three months ago, Little Grandad have already become one of the most talked-about new acts on London’s live circuit. With their easygoing Americana sound, sun-drenched vocal harmonies and guitar riffs reminiscent of The Strokes, the four-piece are generating much excitement among the capital’s gig-goers. We caught up with Jack (vocals, bass), Harry (vocals, guitar), Ned (vocals, guitar, trumpet) and James (drums) ahead of their set at the Windmill – their 11th show to date, and their first ever interview.
How did the name Little Grandad come about?
Jack: You know how you have granny and grandma, we had grandad and little grandad and that’s how we differentiated our grandads. These guys were not sold, and eventually Ned said it in passing to someone and he was like, that worked really well actually.
Where are you all from?
Harry: Jack and I are from Hackney. Ned is from Northwest London.
James: And I’m from Derbyshire.
And how did you form as a band?
Jack: It’s quite fortunate Harry and I are brothers so this has been a project in the works for a long time. I used to be in a band with James a long time ago and we’ve been friends for like 6 years?
James: Yeah.
Jack: And then we met Ned this year at an open mic.
Oh, nice. Did you scout him?
Jack: Well, kind of. We had mutuals because Ned lives with our friend Saya, who’s the bassist in mary in the junkyard. I also tour manage them and so I used to meet Ned in the morning when I was picking them up for tour. Ned would come down and wake up Saya and I’d be like “you alright Ned?”. And when we met in a new context it was completely different. You two [Ned and Harry] jammed straight away. I’ve never met anyone who writes songs as much as these two.
Harry: Before we started the band, Ned and I probably played around 40 gigs together.
Jack: Yeah, they used to do little duo gigs which was great because when we started the band those were the songs we would initially mess around with.
When did you officially become Little Grandad?
Jack: Probably at our first gig at the Windmill in July when we were like we should probably choose a name.
Harry: Jack picked up bass this year in March.
Jack: Only because Ned made me.
Ned: Yeah because I thought we might have to bring another person on to play bass so I said to Jack just learn bass.
Harry: He picked it up really quick, it was quite impressive.
But you [Jack] played guitar before I assume?
Jack: No, never.
Wow.. Kim Gordon did that for Sonic Youth.
Jack: We’ve heard lots of stories like that
Harry: Yeah, the guy from The Doors did it and so did Turnstile.
Jack: Turnstile were friends who got together and were like, shit, what are we all gonna play? And they just worked it out that way. That’s how most of my favourite bands have formed.
Ned: It’s cool ’cause we hang out a lot. We are just mates, it’s nice.
And Ned and Harry write together?
Ned: No, we tried to for ‘Are You Really Happy Darling?’. Harry and I were in the car and we wrote the chords and then the next time we saw each other, I was like, sorry I finished it.
Harry: Ned’s really organised and will bring written out sheets with lyrics and chords colour coded.
Jack: Ned’s a genius.
Ned: That can be the headline quote.
Jack: Seriously, he can play trumpet, cello, keys, guitar, bass – better than me.
Ned: Actually, James is definitely the best guitar player in the band and he’s the drummer.
What are your influences?
Jack: We were just talking to Tim [Tim Perry, booker at Windmill Brixton] about that. Since we’ve started paying here he has been sending us stuff that we really should have been influenced by but weren’t listening to – a lot of 90s country bands from Texas.
Yeah, your sound is quite American.
Harry: I actually have a big thing about that. I don’t really listen to that much British music. Not that I have anything against it, it’s just that if there’s something quintessentially British about something, I don’t love it. And I know that no matter what we make, it will be British music. So why would I try?
Jack: It’s a bad time to be British anyway.
Harry: It’s a bad time to be American too…it’s just a good time to escape.
Jack: Our sound is quite loose. A lot of Silver Jews, a lot of Pavement.
Harry: I think everything has influenced you since you were a child. Even if it’s the stuff you still listen to now or stuff you listened to in your parents’ car.
And what bands on the London scene do you like right now?
Ned: Charlemagne. Also FOOL and Hiding.
James: Studio 20 is really good.
Jack: I like .roaming – it’s one of the guys from the band Ain’t.
James: Oh and Sorrel who we played with a few weeks back.
Have you guys started recording stuff?
Ned: Nah, we’re just chilling, just playing.
You guys are gigging a lot.
Harry: I think we have like 30 gigs in the space of three months.
Jack: Our manager Fabian [Fabian Phipps, also the manager of Dove Ellis] asked us how much we wanted to do and we said everything. And the next day it was like gig, gig, gig, gig, gig.
Ned: I said to him I’m free every evening between now and Christmas except for my mum’s 60th and my Dad’s birthday.
Words: Donovan Livesey