published: 11 /
10 /
2004
The Mighty Roars are a four piece punk band from East London. Swedish-born frontwoman Lara Granquist talks to Dave Toynton about the group's first year of making music together and their debut EP, 'Take a Bite of Peach'
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The Mighty Roars are a four piece from Shoreditch in East London.
Lara Granquist fronts the band , and, well as doing the singing, she also plays rhythm guitar. She is originally from Stockholm in Sweden where she is a championship clog dancer.
David Pringuer is the bass player and also writes the songs for the band. Martin Pilkington plays lead guitar and recently escaped a near fatal house fire. Last but not least, there is Mark Spiegel on drums.
The band have a refreshingly hard and gritty early punk sound. Martin's lead guitar work and his and the rest of the band's sliding rock 'n' roll riffs are reminiscent of Slaughter and the Dogs, while Lara's strong vocals recall bands such as Destroy All Monsters and Eater, but this time sung with a female lead.
The band have just released their first EP, 'Take a Bite of Peach'. Pennyblackmusic caught up with them at a gig at the Archway Tavern in London, and spoke to Lara.
PB : How did the Mighty Roars first get together ?
LG : David put an ad in NME as he decided he couldn't sing and wanted to find a "real singer". After the usual collection of weirdos, he found me and it clicked immediately. While I come from Sweden, I worked for a while in New York and, while I was there, I got into casual bands and discovered my voice. I came to England to find a band. As a child I would come with my mother who would work for summers in Lyme Regis. She has always been into England, the music that comes from here and the whole hobbit thing.
Mark is an old school friend of David's. By October of last year,we had got a good collection of songs together and were starting to want to get a whole band together. Mark was in another band at the time that was going nowhere and saw the potential and wanted to get involved. The three of us then put an ad in NME looking for the right lead guitarist and, after the usual collection of weirdos (Laughs), found another weirdo Martin (who hangs upside down at night and has no pulse) and it clicked immediately.
PB : Where did you get your name from ?
LG : The name came from me. We all sing pretty much all of the time and, as we are so loud, we kind of look like animals roaring when singing.
PB : How long have the Mighty Roars been together now ?
LG : Rehearsals began in January this year. But we first hooked up with Martin in November of last year so it has been about a year really. During that time we have been really careful not to expose ourselves until we are really ready. WHICH IS NOW !!!
PB : Was there a band before the Mighty Roars ?
LG : There has never been any band since the Mighty Roars.
PB : What singles or CDs do you have out ?
LG :. We have just released our first collection of songs in an EP called 'Take a Bite of Peach' (after a quote in the David Lynch film 'Wild at Heart' - this is Lara’s favorite film-DT). This was produced, recorded and mixed by the band. We are aiming to release it soon as well on vinyl, when funds allow. The EP is available in the Rough Trade shop in Ladbroke Grove in London and will be in more record stores soon (including Pennyblackmusic's on-line shop. Watch this space !-Ed).
A song from it 'Captain's Ship' was played by Claire Sturgess and Shaun Keaveny on XFM two weeks ago. We have had a great reception from Shaun Keaveny, who loved the track.
PB : What would you say your main influences are ?
LG : Our influences are the Pixies, Bikini Kill, the Rezillos, Joan Jett, AC/DC, Wire, Television, B52s, Talking Heads, Devo and life in general.
PB: Is there a song of yours you would consider to be your favourite ?
LG : Currently a favourite to play is 'Space Invaders' as it has an odd structure and a real weirdness to it.
PB : Is there a favourite gig that you’ve played to date ?
LG : So far the most enjoyable gig has been out of London and in Southampton at a place called The Hobbit. There was just a great crowd down there and, out of town, people are much less cynical and just more alive!!
PB : Is there a particular band that you would like to support ?
LG : We would love to support the Pixies (please make it come true) or Britney Spears (Ha ! Ha !)
PB : What other bands have you been compared to?
LG : We have had comparisons with Kim Deal, PJ Harvey, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the B52s and the Sex Pistols. We take all of this with a pinch of salt!
PB : What’s the worst and best experience you’ve had as a band!
LG : The worst experience we have had as a band has been meeting people who call themselves managers, but who then turn out to be complete flakes. We have come to call these people 20 per centers as it kind of sums up their whole approach. Other than that just the odd electric shock.
As for the best experience, everything's lately been feeling pretty exciting especially since we were played on XFM and Shaun Keaveny put in a good word. We couldn't have hoped for better really, so that's been one of our greatest moments. We're on a high and we have just got to keep on going and to keep our heads down.
PB : What do you want do next ?
LG : We would like to tour as a support to a more established band. No supermarkets (Laughs).
PB : Thank you.
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