Mia Morrow, Katie Ford, Steph Castor, Stef Petrozz
William Chaffin sent 10 questions via email to Steph Castor; Grenadina's guitarist:
Please tell us a little about the band & it's members.
Grenadina was initially formed in Spring 2011 by me and Stef Petrozz, but after several months of trial and error, we stumbled upon Mia who we knew to play bass and had attended culinary school with Stef. Mia had actually started out playing the upright bass for the band, but after weighing the options of having some more convenient and efficient equipment, she switched to playing electric bass. She and Stef, together, provide the perfect balance of groove and harshness to our music. We had some difficulties with our previous singer as well as scheduling complications, so Mia reached out to her friend, Katie Ford, who had been the front woman for Boy in a Bear Costume. I think it took maybe five minutes of Katie jamming with us before we decided that she was perfect for our sound and had been what we wanted all along. It wasn’t even a month before we had our first show with Katie, and by our second gig, we found ourselves opening for Eve 6. I’m pretty sure the opportunities we’ve received thus far in the band have surpassed anything we had ever expected, and it’s safe to say that Grenadina would not be Grenadina without Katie Ford, Mia Morrow, Stefanie Petrozz, and Steph Castor.
What is "Girlcore"? How does your band (Grenadina) fit into the "Girlcore" movement?
Girlcore is actually entirely made up. It started as a joke, because I’m pretty sure nearly all of us have wanted to be in a metal band at one point or another. Truthfully, we could never be metal musicians. It’s just not who we are. Girlcore was intended to be sarcastic and funny. We all have at least one common denominator—estrogen. Nowadays, kids are tying the word “core” to anything they think is heavy or trendy. In reality, we were just mocking them in the most lighthearted and loving manner, but somehow, the term seems to have stuck. It suits us, and people are noticing it. As for a movement, we’d love for it to go somewhere someday.
The female musicians in rock bands appear to be on the incline. What do you attribute this increase to?
While sexism is still a huge issue in many industries, I think that gender roles are beginning to matter less. There is still a lot of work to be done in terms of the levels of acceptance within people, but if someone—man, woman, neither, or in-between—wants to play music, then they should damn well do it. Talent has no gender. The four of us make music, and we know our instruments very well. People don’t see that we’re all women until we’re on a stage. I guess you could say that the ratios between sexes, in terms of music, are becoming more balanced because more and more women are understanding of that.
In the past, many all male rock bands have, at times incorporated sexuality into their stage shows-how do you see sexuality playing a role in an all-girl band?
I think that sexuality and appeal come with confidence. If you look at the front woman for Uh Huh Her, Camilla Grey—she is entirely sexy, but it stems from the control she has over her instruments and her voice. She can seduce a crowd simply by the way she holds her mic. It all has to do with a level of intensity and intimidation that the performers give off. We don’t need to bounce our chests around or make-out with a guitar neck to get that same attention.
After hearing demos for your upcoming debut I would like to ask specifically about your guitar playing style-which owes a great deal to the delay-work of The Edge (U2) -can you explain a little about your style of playing guitar & your choice of effects?
I grew up listening to bands like AFI and Brand New, so I attribute most of my style to them—guitarists like Jade Puget and Vinnie Accardi. I’ve talked to a lot of guitarists about their philosophy behind writing music, and I can agree with many of them in saying that I just want to write something tasteful. I’ve never been a “shredder,” and I’ve never known how to be one. My style doesn’t include soloing but more so rhythmic complexity and unconventional structures. I also believe that simplicity goes a long way, and I love to have songs that are dominated by drums and bass in which I am just a background melody. Up until recently, I had always been the type of guitarist to write off of somebody else. Being in a four-piece, I now let the rhythm section play the part of the rhythm guitar. Stef Petrozz and Mia Morrow are vital to everything I write. In terms of effects and other gear, I use: a Vox Time Machine delay, an MXR Classic Overdrive, a TC Electronic PolyTune, a 1976 Fender Super Twin amp, a custom Fender Telecaster, and a Thinline Telecaster Deluxe from the Fender Modern Player Series.
What can you tell me about your upcoming album "Pretend For Me"? What are your hopes for the debut of the Grenadina album?
This album would not exist had Katie Ford not joined the band. The idea of “Pretend For Me” comes from the first song that we collectively finished as our current roster, and it was just the unifying factor that set everything in stone for the band’s immediate future. Each song is a little bit different, stylistically. Some songs are super-mellow at first and conclude with this dramatic build up. Others are more Southern-influenced and have a heavier approach. Katie has worked her tail off to complement our previously written material, and it shows. While her lyrics deal with the insanity of relationships, family matters, and social inefficiencies, the EP as a whole embodies Grenadina as this force that lies outside of everything we’ve deemed as fucked up.
Who are some of your favorite bands in Kansas City / Lawrence area & why?
I absolutely adore We Are Voices, Le Grand, Bears and Company, and The Cherry Tree Parade. They all consist of really fun and great guys, and their music is far beyond the amount of attention they receive. I could easily picture each and every one of them as headliners at SXSW or Bamboozle someday.
Desert Island Picks: What 5 albums would you bring?
It’s entirely dependent of how I am feeling that day, but let’s just say that if it happened today, I would choose:
1. Brand New- “The Devil and God are Raging Inside Me”
2. Lydia- "Illuminate”
3. Miike Snow- “Miike Snow [Deluxe Edition]”
4. City and Colour- "Bring Me Your Love"
5. Say Anything- “Say Anything”
Tell me a little about your writing process in the band.
Our best songs tend to follow our improvised full-band jam sessions. Usually, I’ll ask Stef to play something and just keep it consistent. Mia might chime in first, and I will add some kind of ostinato-type lead part. It will just keep building and building, and then we’ll pause for a bit to map out where we want to go next or if we feel that it is something worth the energy. Katie will start by writing a vocal melody, and then she will seclude herself for about twenty minutes to write the lyrics while we hammer out the fine details of the instrumentals. When we all reconvene, it’s always that pure bliss and excitement of having a new song that is seemingly always on a higher plane than what we wrote the week before.
Has the band planned to do any touring?
We would all like to someday, but it becomes increasingly difficult to find the means to do so when we all work full-time and some of us are still students. As of right now, we are just working on building a local fan base. Soon, we’ll be able to expand outward to a regional audience, and hopefully we’ll have the transportation means to start doing weekend tours throughout the Midwest.
