The Rocker and I must have listened to thousands of band in the last year, no lie. Some have disappointing, some have impressed and then there are those bands that just blew us away. At the tail end of 2007, a CD by the L.A. based rock band EndeverafteR arrived at my door step, among the other dozen or so CDs. For some reason though, it was their CD that caught my attention. Maybe it was the image of the girl sticking her tongue out (that is a whole other story). I popped the CD in my player and what came out of my speakers was pure sonic rock and roll fury that nailed my ass to the floor! I immediately called my partner in crime and told him about the band. Needless to say when he heard it, he was as impressed as I was. The genesis of the group starts with Endever, Michael Grant’s old band. Kristan Mallory started out as a journalist and fan but soon jumped on board as the original bassist, he’s since switched to guitar. Tommi Andrews came on a few months later, along with a temporary drummer. Fast forward to the present...
Finding out that the band would be playing the Roxy, we touched base with the band's label and set up interview with the band's front man, Michael Grant. I gave Michael a call to talk about his band, the music and what the band have in store on their upcoming tour. Come to find out we had more in common that we thought. Here is what Michael shared with us...
First off, Michael thanks so much taking the time to do this interview. Are you amazed by the response your band has been receiving so far?
Michael Grant: Thank you guys. Very happy with the response we've received so far. We never for one second thought that our success would never happen.
So, you play The Roxy tomorrow night. Is this EndeverafteR’s first show in L.A.?
MG: That is right, The Roxy show will be our first time playing in Los Angeles.
Did you guys start as ENDEVERAFTER or did you come together from other bands. Originally from L.A.? Or Sacramento?
MG: We are originally a band from Sacramento who moved to L.A. We actually auditioned our drummer here. He is originally from Chicago.
Did you already have any idea of what kind of rock and roll band you wanted to put together?
MG: Yeah, I sure did. I had a vision of a perfect rock’n’roll band. Something was missing in rock music today. I missed it, and everyone I knew missed it.
You are truly living out a rock and roll dream. Would that be a fair statement?
MG: I feel that what was really lucky though was that I'm in the band with my best friends. That, to me, is the biggest feeling of accomplishment because my whole life I've been in and out of bands and you know when you're first starting out it's hard to find people that are like-minded and have the same spirit and goals as you, the same drive and passion.
You toured with Poison, right? How has the experience helped you guys as a band? “
MG: Yes we did and had a great time. That tour was huge for us. Our sound was developing. After we came back from those shows, we were stronger and more aware of our influences. After that tour we became a whole new band.
Do you consider EndeverafteR a studio band or a LIVE band?
MG: We are most comfortably playing live and that is the element we love being in. In the studio, it hard to capture that, "live" element. So playing live is a true testament of how bands shows sound and should be. Some bands may think its awkward playing live, but for us its home. We love playing live, so you can say we are a LIVE band (laughs).
With the release of 'Kiss Or Kill', your fan base has grown immensely. How important is for you to keep in touch with your fans?
MG: We try to respond to all the e-mails through our Myspace page. I think it’s important to keep in touch with our fans. Some bands on Myspace have a moderator or middleman answering their messages. Not us, we love to have that personal touch.
Who are some of your musical Influences?
MG: I grew up listening first and foremost Elvis Presley. Then came Led Zeppelin, The Beatles then Michael Jackson. Those were the first artist that I was exposed to, thanks to my Dad. We had records, I'm talking vinyl, all over the place. So I would just like to playmy Dad's vinyl. My Dad had a big diversity when it comes to music, so I grew up exposed to that diversity. Then of course I had siblings that would listen to groups like, Depeche Mode, Bon Jovi, Poison and Metallica.
Did we see you guys on WWE RAW? You guys wrote the theme song for the wrestler Jeff Hardy' right?
MG: You saw that?! That was really cool. I really didn't know who Jeff Hardy was. All I was told that he was a WWE wrestler. The wrestlers I grew up watching were the old school wrestlers like, Hulk Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. Yeah, we recorded the song, "No More Words".
You guys have done shows here in the States. Any plans to go overseas like Europe and Japan?
MG: Eventually we want to play overseas. Right now we want to focus on our tour here in the States and build some momentum. Then conquer the rest of the world.
Can you imagine, EndeverafteR rocking the Budokan?
MG: Yes I can and yes we will.
Your videos on YouTube are getting tons of hits. What do you think about the response they are getting?
MG: YouTube has proven to be one of the most useful tools in promoting bands, as well as MySpace. It makes connecting with your fans a little bit easier. I think the response our videos are getting is great.
You've already shot videos for, "I Wanna Be Your Man", "Babyx3", "Next Best Thing". What's next?
MG: Everyone's giving me hints on what the next video should be. I think our next video is going to be for the song, "Poison".
Speaking of "Next Best Thing", the song features Butch Walker on backing vocals. How did you hook with Butch?
MG: Butch was actually in the studio next to us while we were recording our album. He liked what we heard. We are big fans of Butch's so we asked if he would help out on our song and he said yes. That was really cool.
For those who haven't seen you guys perform live, what can people expect at EndeverafteR show?
MG: Pure rock and roll energy. Like I said before, we love playing live. People who come to our shows are guaranteed to get rocked and that's a promise.
Michael, it’s been such a blast talking with you. Any parting comments.
MG: We are looking forward to a great year. Thanks to you guys and our fans for all their support.
EndeverafteR isn’t some kind of sex, drugs, rock n’ roll gimmick. Michael Grant writes what he feels, be it a huge power ballad or a balls to the wall rocker. This band is all about heart. So see them live and get rocked like a category five hurricane. The Rocker and I along with All Access Magazine would like to thank Michael Grant for sharing his time with us. Michael, maraming salamat pare!
For more info on ENDEVERAFTER: www.endeverafter.com www.myspace.com/endeverafter
