Grimus

Artist Information

Biography

Grimus are a Transylvanian based indie rock 6-piece that impressed from the very early stages of their career back in 2006. Led by a talented songwriter, Vali Rauca, and fronted by a brilliant singer, Bogdan Mezofi, Grimus quickly received recognition for their highly dynamic live shows and exciting original songs. The year 2006 saw them recording a self-produced 3-song demo, which significantly raised their profile as the track Solitude was declared “Best Song of 2006” by Bucharest’s leading rock station, City FM. The band’s current line-up was established in the summer of 2007 and it easily makes for one of today’s most homogenous and synergetic acts of the Eastern European music scene.

In December 2007, Grimus won the local phase of the Global Battle of the Bands and represented Romania at the World Finals in London. Their performance landed them a one-album label deal with Italy’s Cramps Records and a one-album publishing deal with UK’s VoodooToddler. The increasing local fame had Grimus play on the big festival stages, along with renowned artists such as The Prodigy, The Rasmus, The Dandy Warhols and Sophie-Ellis Bextor.

The highly anticipated debut album ‘Panikon’ came out in October 2008 and it exceeded anyone’s expectations by selling out at shows and receiving a unanimous “Best Album of the Year” vote from Romanian music press. Over the following 9 months, the three main singles from the album all reached the #1 spot in national radio charts. Grimus continued to get excellent festival slots, alongside headlining acts such as Moby, Motorhead, Macy Gray and Eros Ramazzotti. They played shows outside of Romania, in Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia and Rep. of Moldova. The end of 2009 saw them meeting their first dream, by getting to play an acoustic gig for the writer Salman Rushdie in Bucharest. He was very impressed and declared that he “enjoyed the band more than his debut novel” bearing the same name, ‘Grimus’.

In 2010, UK producer Adam Whittaker (Amy Winehouse, Doves, Lily Allen, Kate Nash, Starsailor) stumbled upon their myspace profile, was very impressed with the songs and he immediately offered his services. His fruitful collaboration with Grimus began with the release of a digital single, ‘Started’, under British label Eden Music. The new single release was supported by a series of UK shows in London and Reading, including an opening set for Does It Offend You, Yeah? and ‘BBC Introducing’ radio airplay. Globalpost reacted by calling Grimus “a band that will be popular far beyond the borders of Romania”. The song ‘Started’ caught Tuborg’s interest and it resulted in a major beer commercial synchronization running until April 2012. The year ended with another “Best Song of the Year” prize. This time around it was the other 2010 digital single, ‘Umbre’, the band’s first official track with Romanian lyrics.

Grimus’ sophomore album ‘Egretta’ has recently been finished and includes 12 tracks in the Muse/ Killers/U2 vein. The album was produced and mixed by Adam Whittaker and mastered by Ue Nastasi at Sterling Sound in New York. The first single “Face the Light” was released on June 13, 2011, and it debuted straight at #1 in the chart on national radio. The album release date is October 6th for the Romanian territory and will be supported by a 20-date nationwide autumn tour, adding to the total of 350 shows in the band’s career so far.

Instrumentation

Bogdan Mezofi - Vocals
Valentin Rauca - Vocals, Guitar
Cristian Csapo - Guitar
Lehel Kiss - keyboards
Titus Vadan - Bass
Tamas Adorjani - Drums, Cajón

Discography

Panikon (LP, 2008)
Umbre (single, 2010)
Started (single, 2010)
Egretta (LP, Oct 2011)

Radio #1s (Romania):

Vanity (2011)
Face the Light (2011)
Umbre (2010) - song of the year
Started (2010)
Insanity (2010)
Confused (2009)
In A Glimpse (2009)
Backseat Driver (2009)
Solitude (2006) - song of the year

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Youtube Official
• Youtube Fanpage

Audio

• In Your Eyes
  Listen  
• Vanity
  Listen  
• Face The Light
  Listen  
• Started
  Listen  
• In A Glimpse AW mix
  Listen  
• Backseat Driver
  Listen  
• Umbre
  Listen  
• Insanity
  Listen  
• Political Animals
  Listen  
• Elephants
  Listen  

Lyrics

• In Your Eyes
• In A Glimpse
• Backseat Driver
• Insanity
• Elephants
• Political Animals

Video

GRIMUS _ IN YOUR EYES.mp4

Photo Gallery

Press

• Album of the year 2008, rating: 9,7/10 [+ Show ]
  

  “…the best Romanian album of 2008, featuring excellent and mature compositions… they’ve got huge pot...“…the best Romanian album of 2008, featuring excellent and mature compositions… they’ve got huge potential and we believe they will come up with an even better second album in the near future”
  
  http://www.muzicisifaze.com/alt_articol.php?id=36
  
  extended review:
  http://www.muzicisifaze.com/trupa.php?alb=753

• Album review
  

  “Grimus are much more than any common indie-rock band”

• Panikon review [+ Show ]
  

  "each and every track amazes, with catchy and memorable choruses, featuring every now and then excel..."each and every track amazes, with catchy and memorable choruses, featuring every now and then excellent and surprising tempo changes"
  
  http://www.sapteseri.ro/ro/articole/dinspre-muzica-spre-text/

• Panikon review, rating 9/10 [+ Show ]
  

  “You can listen to Panikon intimately, discovering all the delicate musical tricks, or together with...“You can listen to Panikon intimately, discovering all the delicate musical tricks, or together with your friends, at a party”

• The Future sounds Grimus [+ Show ]
  

  "great songs, played by professionals, a sensational lead singer, excellent performers… a mix of Mus..."great songs, played by professionals, a sensational lead singer, excellent performers… a mix of Muse and other British sounds, spiced up with some Depeche Mode or INXS influences..."
  
  http://www.ziua.net/display.php?data=2009-02-23&id=249629

• A Certainty
  

  "Panikon is indispensable" http://www.dilemaveche.ro/index.php?nr=250&cmd=articol&id=9565

• Album review: Grimus - Panikon [+ Show ]
  

  "it’s audible that the band has gone into the studio with more eagerly itching musical fingers than ..."it’s audible that the band has gone into the studio with more eagerly itching musical fingers than say veterans Thom Yorke or Brandon Flowers... Panikon is ambitious, and the band’s not afraid to play around with sounds and structures"
  
  http://consequenceofsound.net/2009/01/22/album-review-grimus-panikon/

• Friday Fix [+ Show ]
  

  "I am totally impressed by how much this band rocks. Why they’re not a bigger name in the spotlight,..."I am totally impressed by how much this band rocks. Why they’re not a bigger name in the spotlight, beats me"
  
  http://www.indiepaws.net/archives/friday-fix-12192008

Setlist

Live songs list:

Face the Light
Egretta (As If It's Real)
Attracted
Started
Fingerprints
Love Me Lover
Cave
Fool
Nature Falls
Promise
Vanity
Spacegirl
Backseat Driver
In a Glimpse
Insanity
Confused
Just Pray
Different Color Shoes
Elephants
Ready for It
Addiction
Mild Disease
Time to Be Good Friends
Political Animals
Solitude
Umbre
Satellites
Strangers
Silence

---------------------------------------------

Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down (Johnny Cash cover)
Crazy (Gnarls Barkley cover)
The Suburbs (Arcade Fire cover)
Rock'n'Roll Queen (The Subways cover)
Protect Me From What I Want (Placebo cover)
Megalomaniac (Incubus cover)
Somebody Told Me (The Killers cover)
Teardrop (Massive Attack cover)
Sunburn (Muse cover)
Fade Out (Radiohead cover)
The Rip (Portishead cover)
The Tanbark is Hot Lava (Dredg cover)
Irish Blood, English Heart (Morrissey cover)
Where I End and You Begin (Radiohead cover)
Anna Molly (Incubus cover)
After Every Party I Die (IAMX cover)
Fuck You (Placebo cover)

Basic Requirements

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