Grades of Shade
Dublin, Leinster, Ireland
Music
Press
the impressive Grades of Shade, fronted by vocal powerhouse Hazel Peters. Grades of Shade are like a cross between Massive Attack and Groove Armada – one to watch - Herald AM
Discography
Reality / Ejector Seat - Double A-side single - 21st March 2009
OK4U - October 2009
Photos
Bio
Grades of Shade was conceived as a live band project mid 2007 stemming from Eugene Somers virtuoso at programming beats and skilful use of synths, bells and whistles! Eugene booked some studio time in Experimental Audio and recruited old friends Robbie Stanley, Barry Brennan and Mairead Heffron to complete a live band. Recordings went well (Silk & Come Home can be heard on the bands Myspace site, www.myspace.com/gradesofshade)
The recordings were finished and Barry & Mairead both carried on with their own solo projects and Eugene and Robbie set about enticing permanent members to the assembly. Paul Maguire was the obvious choice on Guitars as he had played with Eugene & Robbie in prior outfits and brought a melodic bite to the fledgling outfit. Auditions were set for a singer. Hazel Peters came and impressed the guys with her powerful voice, competence and complete confidence in what she was doing and got the job hands down!
The new 4 piece embarked on a few live shows in Whelans and Transformer to see how the sound went down. Herald AM sent a journalist to the Whelans gig and compared Grades to a cross between Massive Attack and Groove Armada, nothing short of perfect for the bands 1st review.
More recording were to follow and on board came JMC rapper extraordinaire, again from the Northside, just to even things out, originally for the song Ejector Seat but the band soon realised his MCing could be used on numerous tracks so there he stayed. The band recorded a live session with Cormac Moore from P-Boy studios, tracks from which are currently doing the rounds as excellent live demos. The bands debut double A side single was released early 2009 accompanied by the Ejector Seat video which can be found on YouTube. GoS returned to Pboy studios in March 2009 to begin what became their debut album OK4U which was released in October 2009 and gained positive reviews from various publications. The band have enjoyed packing Eamonn Dorans, Whelans, The Button Factory and other such venues in Dublin in the short time they have been together and are elated at audiences' reaction and their sheer energy at live shows. The band played their first out-of-town show in Kilkenny in January 2010 and will be making several trips around the country in the coming months, if you havent been to a show yet, they'll be coming your way!
Links