Slick Grip
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Slick Grip

Little Rock, AR | Established. Jan 01, 2016 | SELF

Little Rock, AR | SELF
Established on Jan, 2016
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"Slick Grip"

New pop punk band Slick Grip from Little Rock, AR talked with us this week about their debut EP "Hellions" and what we can expect from them this year. If you haven't yet, listen to their tunes below!
​- Alexander Muller

1. Tell me about the band? How did the band start? Where are you from? Etc

We're a pop/punk band from Little Rock, AR and we formed back in the summer of 2015, but we didn't go public with it until 4 months ago or so. Basically, we're still very new. The other two guys in the group have been playing in metal/metalcore bands for years now, so we bring some interesting inspirations to this band.

2. You guys recently released an EP "Hellions" back in December tell me about it?

Hellions is a collection of three songs about my past that really just kind of shaped me into who I am. On the cover, you'll notice me staring up at an abandoned house. I find abandoned homes absolutely fascinating, and I think that goes for a lot of people. On the surface, they may appear eery, decrepit, and messy, and yet there's a beauty to them. And I guess that's how I feel about my childhood. I was far from perfect and I made a lot of mistakes along the way, but I wouldn't change a thing. Because I think messing up is a part of growing up. We're supposed to get into trouble and be imperfect. That's what makes us human. And so I guess that's why I tied the theme of a forgotten home with my past, because I really connect with imperfection. I think that's how it is with many others, too.

3. What song do you think most of your fans relate to most and why?

The title track Hellions. Our style is early 2000s pop/punk and when most of our audience checked our band out, they would bring up the idea of nostalgia, and that's basically what that entire song is about.

4. Can you tell me more about your song "Incessant Anxiety"?

It's a long story, but I'll shorten for the sake of whoever reads this. About 6 years or so ago, I had multiple friends using drugs to cope with mental shortcomings, such as depression, anxiety, and OCD. They weren't addicted by any means, but they were experimenting. And growing up, I always had a hard time speaking up and letting others know how I felt, but through this experience, where I was watching 2 of my best friends trying to destroy themselves to escape what they had dealt with for so long, I was able to communicate with them and help them out. In the end, they stopped what they were doing and sought the help that they needed, and we ended up being closer friends because of it. It was a very strange and dark time, but in the end I'm proud of the way the three of us handled it and used it to better ourselves as people.

5. What's your writing process like?

We have a really perfect system in place, because we're all three able to bring something awesome to the table. Our guitarist Jon writes all of the instrumentals. He's been in bands for 15 years and just has an incredible gift of not only songwriting, but diverse songwriting as well. From there he'll send the track to me and I'll make some suggestions, but from there I'll write the lyrics and melodies. I graduated with a journalism degree in college and have always loved the writing process, so that's really where I feel most comfortable. When I'm done Jon and I will meet up and just polish over everything together in person before we take it to the studio. Then when we get to the studio, our drummer Tyler, who has years of experience behind the kit, puts his own fills and flavor into the song and really makes the tracks pop the way we want them to.

6. Just listened to your cover of Closer! Good stuff, what made you guys choose this one?

Thank you! We're really proud of that one. We chose it because at the time it was the biggest hit on the radio, and also because it just seemed like it would translate into pop/punk so well. There's such a youthful and nostalgic spirit about it that we really enjoyed, and it seemed a lot more sincere than most pop songs on the radio today. Plus, it doesn't hurt that they mention Blink-182 in the song, aka the best band ever.

7. What can we expect from Slick Grip this year? Any touring?

7) Right now we're finalizing two more guys to play live for us, then we're practicing for shows. We're going to start playing this spring, and then hopefully tour in the summer time. We've also got a 2-song winter EP coming out very soon, and then a brand new 5-song summer EP, so by the time summer rolls around we'll have a lot of material to play off of, so we can play longer sets and such. So it's going to be a big year for us, we think.

8. Thanks Dustin! Anything else you'd like to add?

​Just wanted to say thank you to anyone who reads this, and giving our band a chance. We've already seen so much positivity from what we've done so far. Before Facebook so lovingly took our Closer cover down, it had about 100,000 views on it which we think is pretty darn awesome for a band who just started. So it's great to see that people are caring about what we do. We're excited to keep going! - VibeUp Magazine


"Mugen Music and Management's Green Country Fest"

"Slick Grip, another out of town group who hails from Little Rock, got their chance to impress. Slick Grip reminded us of the days of bands like Sum 41 and Simple Plan. With a good formula to their music and execution to back it up, they made a great showing for their first time ever on stage." - We Are Tulsa Music


"Slick Grip: Review"

Slick Grip’s sound is an interesting mixture of youthful reminiscence fueled with a desire to understand the unexplainable self destruction of human kind. Their singles, “Incessant Anxiety,” is a perfect example of this as the song speaks of self deprivation and loss of self, while another track of theirs I’m fond of is, “Hellions”, as it tells the story of the band’s childhood lives, describing all the faults they’ve committed, which we can all relate to.
2016 has been an eventful year for the young band, as they debuted their first EP, “Hellions”, which garnered public attention locally and state wide in Arkansas, a great step for Slick Grip. What I truly love about this band, is their sound and vocals as I can’t help but think of the bands, Blink 182 and Sum 41 mashed together creating this punk-rock vibe. Their vocalist is extremely important to the band as he brings that atmosphere of rough punk within each lyric he sings. Overall, as Slick Grip continues to grow and evolve with their sound, It’ll be curious to see where they’ll be in upcoming years, but for now let’s all enjoy the young punk-rock band from Arkansas.
Check out their music here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH5S7cbgsK5qP_nH4lsulrw - IndiePhobia


Discography

Hellions - EP (2016)
Winter Songs - EP (2017)
Mindful - Visual Album/EP (2018)

Photos

Bio

Blending an aggressive blend of pop/punk and a hint of metal influence, Slick Grip has quickly become one of the more popular bands in the Arkansas scene. With a handful of festivals and local shows under their belt, the band is poised to unleash their 4th release in 2019 and leave their mark on their home state.

Band Members