>>PREVIEW
THE GRATES
Thursday, November 23
Broken City
Patience Hodgson’s karaoke days are long behind her, or at least the ones she’s willing to admit to. In fact, the only two she can recall are a friend’s mother’s office party (age eight), and the rendition of "A Whole New World" that first brought her, John Patterson and Alana Skyring together onstage.
Since then, with Hodgson hopping around on vocals, Patterson on guitar, and Skyring on drums, The Grates have been toying with a lo-fi pop sound that’s brought them from the sunny shores of Australia to the drizzle and cold of their North American tour.
Though the group’s climb away from the karaoke machine began at least as far back as their 2005 debut EP (The Ouch. The Touch), and their current album (Gravity Won't Get You High), Hodgson herself admits she has no idea why the band has been able to work as well as it has.
"We didn’t have a lot of expectation, because we’re relaxed about the whole thing," she says. "We didn’t want to make a career out of it."
In fact, all three came out of arts programs and began producing self-burned discs before they were signed to Dew Process. High-energy pop that isn’t afraid to toss in the odd obscenity, the trio sounds like three friends having fun, which is by all accounts exactly what they’re doing. And with a scenester-mocking lyric in "Inside Outside" ("some motherfuckers think they're born to dance"), it’s infectious.
In addition to cut-out kittens and a cake-throwing group of children in animal costumes, one of the most striking fixtures of The Grates’ videos is Hodgson’s mania – onstage, she hops around like a woman possessed, clapping and kicking her heels. Chalking it up to her "good disposition" she says, "When I get up onstage it’s hard not to dance and move. That would probably be more unnatural."
With one year of near-continuous touring already under their belts, Hodgson admits that there is only so much jumping around she can do.
"I used to be much more energetic before we started touring," she says. "But playing live every night and being energetic and travelling for lots of hours and not getting much sleep has calmed me down a lot," she says.
"It’ll be good to go back for December (the group’s final tour stop is in their hometown of Brisbane)," she adds. "Have January off, take some real time off. I’m not even planning on doing any songwriting during that time. It’ll be about detoxing, seeing family."
From the karaoke stage to international touring, The Grates are trying to keep the energy up, at least until their return home. On whether the touring is permanently sapping her desire to hop around, Hodgson is thoughtful.
"Maybe I’m maturing, maybe not. Sometimes people get, the older you get, the quieter people get sometimes," she says, adding, "and lazier." |
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