Interview — Die So Fluid

Skratch Magazine

Die So Fluid is a London-based metal punk rock trio. The lead vocalist, Grog, introduces the soulfulness of her voice and bass guitar alongside lead guitarist Mr Drew and drummer Al Fletcher. They were created based on inspiration from the classic line up of The Cure, The Police, and Motorhead, but their sound is completely their own. To prepare yourself for their music you’d have to get used to mind blowing riffs and melodic chants from the vocal box of their one-woman-powerhouse lead singer. Their latest CD titled NOT EVERYBODY GETS A HAPPY ENDING is out now.

SKRATCH: Your band has a distinct raw sound. I attribute a large portion of that to the soulfulness in Grog's voice. Do you, Grog, have any personal musical influences who taught you how to use your voice like that, or was it just second nature?
GROG: I think I have a basic need to sing from my heart. It is intuitive and I used to take it for granted, but now I‘ve learnt to respect what I have and I’m always pushing it in new directions and experimenting with what I can do with it. As the band gets bigger, we play longer sets, and it’s become necessary to warm up and learn a few basics and not just rely on what’s naturally there.

SKRATCH: So you’ve developed a more professional take on what you were born with. That’s awesome. Any early influences?
GROG: When I was little I was absorbing the rock tastes of my older brothers with Led Zep, Sabbath, The Stones, as well as contemporary music on the T.V. from Toyah, Adam and the Ants, Blondie, Sparks… plus the record collection of my parents which included The Beatles, The Kinks, and old 45s like Bill Hailey. I was learning Debussy on the piano and singing show tunes in the choir. I also found Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday really inspiring. Everything I could lay my hands on I listened to! And the way I listened was total immersion into another world. So the range of influences there is vast, but latterly I would say I pay attention to technical abilities of Jeff Buckley, and Maynard James Keenan, whilst Chino Moreno’s voice I find inexplicably sexy!

SKRATCH: Speaking of sexy sounds, your band name fits your music perfectly! Where did you all come up with the name Die So Fluid?
GROG: The phrase itself is pretty ambiguous and taken out of context from a gardening equipment catalogue but we liked the sound of it. To us it’s a badge of honour acknowledging that from birth you start to die so do it with grace and leave a legacy.

SKRATCH: That’s a pretty fuckin beautiful way to look at life. I like it a lot! With your mind set on living life with grace and purpose, did you acknowledge your own life’s purpose as making music and to start a band because of the example of one specific pre-existing music group?
GROG: I used to listen to my brothers band rehearsing in our dining room with all the glass rattling in the house, they’d be playing songs by The Police and punk songs they wrote and I was dying to join in, I would secretly think to myself ‘I just know I could do that!’. For Drew our guitarist, it was seeing a guy called Pluto play in Jamaica. That guy knew how to tour. He would only play next to a pool where a barbecue was happening. Al is our drummer and his parents were musicians so he had no choice really. He ended up playing cymbals on the SUPERMAN soundtrack at age six. We all really like classic three piece bands like The Police, Motorhead and The Cure. But no ONE band got us going. It was the whole ocean of music.

SKRATCH: I love your song existential baby. What message(s) is Die So Fluid trying to get out to its fans? Do you think your message will be altered as your fan base increases to South America and the US with your new CD, NOT EVERYBODY GETS A HAPPY ENDING, which was just released?
GROG: No, from what we’ve seen America gets the message quicker. We just play heartfelt music so the message should be universal. It’s like when people describe music as a language. Lyrically I’m not afraid to share my darkest thoughts because it’s one of best ways of expressing things which are hard to pin point in normal conversation. People empathise with the honesty of that even if you’re describing situations they’re yet to experience.

SKRATCH: That’s a really honest answer, thank you for that. I can see that it would be daunting to put personal stuff in your lyrics that you know people may not relate to, but obviously you do it with the pure intention to self express and it works for you guys. Your music holds no pretences; it’s just heart, passion, and punk rock.
Do you guys feel like you have an allegiance to a message that you want to inspire people with, or is your music strictly a personal expression of yourselves?
GROG: I think important messages always start on a personal level. We’re not overtly political but our values are reflected in the way we operate. We’ve always been a maverick band doing everything ourselves to a large degree. We measure success by how free we are to do what we want rather than what’s in the bank account.

SKRATCH: How do you go about writing your songs? For example is there one band member who is the primary lyricist? How do you choose which person's idea for a new song will be worked on first?
GROG: I am the primary lyricist, and I write the vocal melodies. Drew is the riff-master who inspires me. Al is quality control. He vetoes things. We generally have lots of ideas going on at one time and regularly swap bits from one song to the next. There’s one riff we’ve had since 2002 that’s so good that we’ve tried to wedge it into every song written since. It just hasn’t worked with anything yet. I might sell it down at the pub.

SKRATCH: Oh no! Don’t sell it! Jokes aside though, I love your style because you only have three band members. You are each unique, but it meshes into this awesome post punk metal trio. How long have you all known each other? Were you always punks or did you one day finally agree to give in to your inner need for this music and start your band?
GROG: We don’t really think of ourselves as punk but then punk has different connotations in the U.S. I think I’m a post punk metal alt rock stoner - help! Punk was all about deconstruction and so post punk is about putting everything back together in interesting ways. The stuff that hangs over from 1976 are the DIY ethics and the equalitarian attitudes of punk and more importantly Drew’s haircut. Drew and I have known each other for about 15 years, he’s my best friend, my bro! Al we knew from the North London music scene. We nicked him from another band. There was a rumble. I have scars.

SKRATCH: Nice! You are even more hardcore than I thought... So Al was in another band before he was a part of Die So Fluid? What about you and Drew?
GROG: My first band was called Flinch and we were indie media darlings for a while, but to take that where I wanted it to go I had to bring in the skills of Mr. Drew and form Feline. He had played for Xmal Deutschland and Miranda Sex Garden. Al was in a band called Gigantic and is an accomplished session player in the world of ska and dub, having toured and recorded with The Selecter, and Lee Scratch Perry for which he won a grammy. None of these bands exist anymore due to a policy I have of setting fire to the rehearsal room when I know I’m leaving it for the last time. I’ve been known to do session work too. I’ve played bass for Melanie C, the Kelly O band and keyboards for Ozzy and Kelly.

SKRATCH: So all three of you have established yourselves as musicians in and outside of Die So Fluid. If you could play at any one venue or location where would it be and why?
GROG: Red Rocks looks amazing, like a Martian landscape. I’d actually love to play the Astoria here in London before it gets turned into flats. Time’s running out!

SKRATCH: What age range do you see your music as appealing most to? Would you be surprised for example if I said that my 13 year old niece loves you guys, which she does?
GROG: Well I have seen video evidence of a five year old head banging to ‘Bitterness by Discipline’ but toddlers generally don’t get let in to our shows. The clubs don’t like five year olds because they only buy one drink before passing out and I can never sell them any merch because they never fit the T-shirts. They’re seriously useless.

SKRATCH: (Laughing) That is awesome... Are all three of you from London? What effect does living in a city like London have on your music, specifically genre and lyrical choices?
GROG: Al’s from London, I’m from Kent, and Drew’s Jamaican but even the two out of towners have now spent most of their life in the city. London is like a space station really – I mean everyone here is from somewhere else and a lot of them seem to be from another planet. And so it’s a great place to be to watch stories unfold and draw inspiration from them. It is really expensive here so it’s no wonder that our music sounds urgent and defiant because we are constantly hungry. In terms of style we’re really on our own here. Most people playing rock in London are retro. Like there’s this whole little scene which kind of thinks it’s 1987 and the Marquee’s still in Wardour Street. When we formed the band it was a reaction against the kind of REST ON YOU LAURELS bullshit that swamped British music at the end of the ‘90s, all that Brit pop crap – rewriting The Beatles, etc. Meanwhile on your side of the pond the ‘90’s were pure innovation and just way more exciting. I suppose it still helped to be in London in that if SOAD or a band of that stature were touring Europe, we’d know all about it and get to see it first.

SKRATCH: Alright, because you obviously have deep and existential tendencies, let me give you an existential question: Do you think life imitates art or art imitates life?
GROG: I think life is art and it’s all about creating that masterpiece people will remember you for. It could be a child you create or a deed you do that changes another persons life forever. Drew’s uncle Chinna once threw a party that people still talk about thirty years later. That was his masterpiece. At the end of the day though I suppose it could literally be a fucking huge painting.

Don’t forget to check out Die So Fluid’s CD just released in the U.S.: NOT EVERYBODY GETS A HAPPY ENDING from Renaissance Records. When you pick it up, pay attention to track three, ‘Existential Baby’, which will kick your ass with minor chords and back-breaking drum beats. Die So Fluid is currently on tour throughout the U.K. To contact this band, please write to DieSoFluid@gmail.com or to see upcoming tour dates go to their myspace page at www.myspace.com/diesofluid.

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