Band of the Week: The Grizzly Owls

Everyone views the word nostalgia a little differently. For me it's about hyper color shirts, pez dispensers, Saved by the Bell, and so on, but for the band The Grizzly Owls there is a whole other level of nostalgia. This Bakersfield band has chosen an era and a sound that is one part wandering folk, one part old gunslinger western, and one part '60's pop. It's familiar, but unique enough in its presentation to challenge and perhaps enchant the listener.

The bands latest ep, I Am a Shootist (available for free), features four tracks filled with the imagery and sound of a time now long past. Their fascinating and creative videos only further illustrate this point. The Grizzly Owls are a rare throwback band, and absolutely worth the free download and twenty minute listen.

Recently, Jenny Andreotti of The Grizzly Owls was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

Orange Alert (OA): The first thing jumps out at me when I hear your music is the unique style and way you have chosen to approach your sound. I typically don't ask bands about influences, but where did this new spaghetti western sound come from?
The Grizzly Owls (GO): First off, we are equally influenced by cinema and music. Even the musical artists that we are influenced by are very theatrical, such as, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Tom Waits. We are obsessed with spaghetti westerns and “Twin Peaks,” so those influences are always there and above all it is what comes naturally.

OA: I love your videos, and then seem to fall right in line with your sound. Does the band produce them in house, and where do you find that interesting footage?
GO: We come from the “Ed Wood” school of thought on film-making, therefore we love stock footage. Most of the footage that is found in our music videos are clips from some of the first films ever made. They all date somewhere between 1898-1915. We are also influenced by history so the old-timey footage seems to fit our music well. All of the videos have been made here in our apartment along with all of our music.

OA: As an unsigned band how do you handle self-promotion? Is that your biggest challenge?
GO: Fanatic handled the promotion for our first record, but since then we have not been able to afford the luxury of working with them. The past two releases have been promoted by us. The biggest challenge has been and is trying to get label attention.

OA: I have had the opportunity to see you live, but I can only imagine an elaborate production. What is the live Grizzly Owl performance like?
GO: Our live performance is theatrical. It consists of us and a very large screen. We project a lot of the turn-of-the-century films that are similar to what is found in our music videos. The film footage is in sync with the music, so each song has a different story to tell.

OA: I've long had a theory about band names and animals. How did you settle on The Grizzly Owls?
GO: We came up with it about 4-5 years ago and we really can’t remember how we came up with it. I think we thought that it had a cool “Killer Bob/ Twin Peaks” kind of feel to it.

OA: What's next for the band?
GO: We have the following upcoming shows:

7/5 - Los Angeles, Ca. @ The Echo
8/19 - Los Angeles, Ca. @ Room 5 Lounge
9/24 - Los Angeles, Ca. @ Echo Curio

We are looking forward to writing new songs and playing more shows.

Bonus Questions:
OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
GO: Alive: Nick Cave because he’s the greatest living songwriter and he’s handsome.
Dead: Peter Cook because he was very funny and he’s handsome.

OA: What was the last great book you have read?
GO: “Walden and Civil Disobedience” by Henry David Thoreau

For more information on The Grizzly Owls please visit their website.