Grooms… No longer the bridesmaids

Showcase: Grooms

Published on October 8th, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

We were recently bowled over by the fuzzy majesty of Grooms’ third album Infinity Caller, so we winged our Showcase Q&A over to singer/guitarist Travis Johnson to find out more about them…

How would you describe your music, if pushed?

It’s more or less rock music. Melodic and all that. We like to mess around with texture a lot though. I get really bored with guitars that sound like guitars, and just guitars in general sometimes.

Where are you based, and what do you use to record with?

We’re in Brooklyn. We recorded this album in our practice space using a pretty sweet recording rig that Oli from A Place to Bury Strangers let us borrow. Pretty good preamps, good mics, all that.

Are you signed to a label? If so, how did you come to their attention?

We’re with Western Vinyl. They’re a label that I’d liked for a long time so when the record was ready I just sent it to them. I guess they liked it!

Is there a full album in the works? If so, what can you tell us about it? (Feel free to be as abstract as you like…)

We’re about halfway through writing it. We really want to challenge ourselves on the next one. Learning new things, figuring out how to use those new things to make good music.

I feel like it will have a more rhythm-oriented thing going. Less flashy guitar stuff, more of whatever else we discover and feel like doing that sounds interesting and still hummable to us.

Where can we hear your music online?

For now you can still hear the whole new album on Vice here: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/stream-grooms-latest-full-length-infinity-caller

Which have been your most exciting gigs and/or overall moments so far?

It’s an easy pick, but I think playing Hüsker Dü covers at Michael Azerrad’s show in 2011 is probably still the most exciting, which is a testament to the power of his book.

Got any more coming up? (Gigs, that is…)

Yep, we leave for three weeks the day after tomorrow.

Are there any obscure and/or up-and-coming acts that you’d like to recommend or give a shout-out to?

There’s a new album coming out sometime soon by Imperial Topaz that’ll be really special. The Dreebs have made some of the best music in recent years too.

Finally, if you were forced to spend the rest of your days in solitary confinement, but were allowed to bring the entire works of five different artists along to tide you over, whose would you choose?

The Beatles, John Coltrane, Outkast, Grouper, Pavement.

Grooms, thank you.

Infinity Caller is out now on Cooler Than Smoking.

You can buy Infinity Caller on iTunes and on Amazon.

Artists: grooms

About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.