Grey 8s
Gig Seeker Pro

Grey 8s

Miami, Florida, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2016

Miami, Florida, United States
Established on Jan, 2016
Band Rock Garage Rock

Calendar

Music

Press


"Grey 8s on Starting as a Church Band: "They Looked Down on Us Listening to Black Sabbath""

"If you add up the numbers in 2015, you get eight," says Danny Burns, singer, guitarist, songwriter, and numerologist for Miami garage rock band Grey 8s, when asked about his plans for the upcoming year.

The group began in Dania, where Burns and drummer Andres Bedoya formed the foundation of a church band. According to the guitarist, it didn't take long for them to realize their musical tastes and religion might not be a holy union.

"We weren't down with all the Christian Baptist rules," he admits. "They looked down on us listening to the Beatles and Black Sabbath. So we stopped playing for the church because we didn't want a double life."

With some prodding, Burns admits the schism wasn't as clean as he may make it sound. "Actually, we didn't let the church know we were quitting for a year so we could use their facilities. We recorded the album using the mic the pastor uses for his sermons."

That untitled album is not streaming, nor available on vinyl, iTunes, or CD, because Burns says he and his bandmates wanted to make their music more mysterious. It is only available on cassettes, released by Cheap Miami and sold at Grey 8s shows, including January 17 at Kill Your Idol and January 21 at Bardot.

Of course, fans will have to look elsewhere for the Walkman or boom box to play that audio tape. But anyone who can hunt down yesteryear's technology will find muffled garage rock reminiscent of the groups that inspired Burns and his buddies' band name.

"Andres and I were thinking of two piece bands we liked. The most obvious ones were the White Stripes and the Black Keys, so we went in the middle," explains Burns about Grey. And what about the 8? "We liked the infinity symbol, so we flipped it on its side."

They also added a third member, bassist László Piringer, in part, according to the guitarist, "so someone else could keep the rhythm."

In this year that adds up to eight, the Grey 8s already have a tour of Florida and some dates in Chicago lined up, but they're dreaming beyond American borders.

"It's very far fetched, but we're trying to get shows in Hungary," Burns says. "Laszlo is from there. He says he can set it up. I'll be happy to get out there and just play on the street." - Miami New Times


"This Little Underground: The Grey 8s and Heavy Drag at the Grand Collab"

Though still young in its run, multi-genre showcase series the Grand Collab is already becoming a good source for bright Florida talent discovery. At the November debut, West Palm Beach’s Hypoluxo gave me the surprise jolt of the night. This time (Feb. 22, Will’s Pub), it was, hands down, the Heavy Drag gang from Miami. I call them that because it seems several projects overlap in these four guys, and though Heavy Drag was on the bill, at least one other separate band was squeezed into the same set. As they tell me, most of the material played was actually the Grey 8s. Confused yet? I was. But the good news is that telling them apart didn’t matter too much because it was all exceptional.

Best I could tell, the beginning of the set was Heavy Drag. They’re part of the noisy new school of psych rock run by the likes of the Black Angels and the Warlocks, and they’re some of this genre’s best sonic dope dealers I’ve heard come out of Florida. After a little musical chairs on the instruments and a simple member substitution – presto! – they were suddenly the Grey 8s, who were equally dark and druggy but more punk. The deeper down the rabbit hole they went, their garage-hearted horizon even opened into some bluesy rock & roll. It’s a tangled little knot and a lot to process. But the versatile set by the two or so sister bands was a high-grade trip unified by great power and atmosphere. And so my list of Florida bands to watch grows by two.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

This Little Underground is Orlando Weekly's music column providing perspective, live reviews and news on the city's music scene. Read the latest column here.

Follow Bao on Twitter (@baolehuu)
Email Bao: baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com - Orlando Weekly


Discography

Still working on that hot first release.

Photos

Bio

Grey 8s are a psychedlic blues rock band from Wynwood, Florida. What started out as a church band in 2008, broke off into a two piece blues project in 2011. With front man vocalist and guitarist Danny Burns along side drummer Dres David. Using the facilities as a means to practice they couldn't keep that front, eventually the Grey 8s formed and paved new paths. A year later a strike of luck hit the Grey8s with the acquisition of bassist László Piringer, the trinity was birthed and it's rhythm began to formulate. With a fresh take creatively they were reborn and rewritten. László a derivative from Hungary was just what they needed to take the next step. A blend of eccentric guitar riffs, layered with a thick bass coat, surrounded by the unpredictable drum energy; makes for a wild ride.

In January 2015, the weekly magazine Miami Newtimes wrote a small biography on the Grey 8s, they captured more of their early struggles with the church and the plans for the future.  "If you add up all the numbers in 2015 it adds up to 8" this quote found in the article predicted the success that was to come for the Grey 8s in this year. Starting with some Florida tours in February, and the release of some music videos including the single "You made me look", recorded at Cutting Cane Studios and shot at the legendary club Bizerq. That summer  the band contininued to record singles and playing at high profile gigs like, III points music festival in the fall. 2015 was the year the band really built a reputation and set the tone for many years to come. 


Band Members