THE GRAMS

Grade: A
" Love Factory"
The Grams
Self-released
By Jim Trageser

(as featured in the North County Times, April 2008)

Augmented to a full five-piece since they issued their self-titled alt-acoustic debut as a trio two years ago, the Grams' follow-up disc displays not only the fuller sound a larger combo provides, but tighter playing and growth in their songwriting. And winning San Diego Music Awards in each of the past two years has no doubt contributed to the band's increased confidence.

It all adds up to a sophomore effort that is markedly improved over what was a very good debut. Guitarists Chuck Schiele and Craig Yerkes and violinist Sweet Elise Ohio could always flat-out play, and they remain virtuosic on "Love Factory." What is added to that mix are arrangements that highlight each player's strengths, and that put Schiele's singing in complementary surroundings. Having Tony Sandoval
(bass) and Bill Coomes (drums) flesh out the band's sound adds a new dynamic. (Schiele dubbed in bass and drum tracks on the first album.)

It all comes together on "Heads Above Water," a gorgeous little nugget of pop-music goodness. With a nod to local music icon Cindy Lee Berryhill in the opening stanza followed by some wonderful wordplay, and with Ohki's delicate violin lines dancing above Schiele's vocals, it's a near-perfect song.

The Grams play Wednesday at Anthology in San Diego.

OB Well-represented at SD Music Awards
by Bart Mendoza

(as featured in the Penninsula Beacon, September 2007)

The Grams, of Ocean Beach, winners during last year's San Diego Music Awards, have again been nominated again in 2007. Other OB bands are up for awards this year as well: acoustic duo Podunk Nowhere (whose CD Schiele produced), indie-rockers Vinyl Radio, reggae group Vegitation and three-time hip-hop award winners Al Howard & The K23 Orchestra.

For area musicians, there is probably no more important annual event than the San Diego Music Awards. Taking place this year on Sept. 17, the ceremony has had an impact for bands even outside the local music community, earning international press for both the artists and the local music scene in general. Major labels have also taken notice, placing nomination announcement stickers on albums by their performers.

Though dividing the dozens of nominees by neighborhood is no easy task, it's clear that Ocean Beach is once again well-represented. At least five artists from the area are among the potential winners this year. It's a diverse group, including acoustic duo Podunk Nowhere, indie-rockers Vinyl Radio, reggae group Vegitation, the Grams — last year's winners in the Americana category — and three-time hip-hop award winners Al Howard & The K23 Orchestra.

Though artists do their best to win the category by getting the word out to potential voters, there is surprisingly little competition between the acts and zero friction. Within San Diego's tight-knit music community a "one for all" attitude prevails.

Anyone in this group is worthy of the prize in our opinion," said Heather Janiga of Podunk Nowhere. The sentiment is echoed by Vinyl Radio's frontman, Matt Binder, who said he is a major fan of the other nominees in the "Best Rock Album" category. "It's a real honor to be in the same category as Delta Spirit and Dirty Sweet," said Binder. "I think Delta Spirit is just about the best thing going this side of Arcade Fire."

Grams frontman Chuck Schiele noted the benefits of an award nomination.
" It doesn't change your life or anything like that," he said. "But it opens a few doors at the point-of-sale when locating shows, radio play, exposure, etc. It has more impact when we're reaching out-of-town venues than it does in San Diego, actually."

For Al Howard, there is a degree of validation in nominations and more so in winning multiple awards.
" It feels good to be recognized for doing something that you feel is different," Howard said. "Being within that creative circle, we recognize it, but it adds a degree of credibility, fortification and legitimacy when someone else does as well."

Schiele agrees. "I suppose it looks pretty good on our resume," he said. "(Plus) the exposure from being part of event grew our fan base. And club owners only respect fan base. Schiele considers the media's focus on San Diego's music community during the time surrounding the event a great way to introduce new listeners to artists. "I think it's cool in that it creates awareness of our thriving scene, "he said." People definitely start talking about the music in San Diego and it introduces a lot of people to (it)."
He considers the awards ceremony to be one of the year's highlights.
"It's one of the few nights in a year where all the musicians have the same night off," he said. "So it's a good visit among us, while also being a good networking situation."

Once the glitz and the glamour of the ceremonies dies down, what might become of the coveted trophies? Ocean Beach's potential winners have already made plans. Schiele will place it on a shelf in their recording studio with a bunch of other San Diego Music Scene souvenirs. Janiga will make a shrine for it and place it next to her duo's guitars.
Howard will place his in a more down-to-earth location — his bathroom.
" I spend a lot of time there," he said.
Finally, Vegitation's guitarist, Mason Boogie, knows where the trophy will end up, though it might take a while to get there. "We'll probably keep it in the jam room where we practice," he said. "Although I could see it going on a little tour from house to house before that, like the Stanley Cup."

The San Diego Music Awards will take place at 7 p.m. on Sept. 17 at Viejas Concert in the Park, 5005 Willows Road, No. 213, in Alpine. Tickets are $30 and $50.
For more information, visit www.sdmusicawards.com.

The Grams Weigh In
The Antomy of a Modern Working Band
By Simeon Flick

(as featured on the cover of the
San Diego Troubadour, Feb 2006)

It is still many hours before his band's gig later that night as Chuck Schiele saunters somnolently down the stairs in search of a cup of joe. His wife Joanna had just let me in moments before, greeting me with a warm hug and a smile, and trailing the scent of many enticing culinary delights in from the kitchen behind her. I have entered nothing if not the cozy HQ of Charles Schiele Creative, Beach Music Mafia, and a number of other joint and singular ventures on which the still somewhat recently married Mr. and Mrs. Schiele collaborate.

It is also ground zero for The Grams, Schiele's latest musical project. Everything about the Grams (as in the movie 21 Grams, which is the supposed weight of the soul that leaves the body upon death) begins and ends here in this halcyon two-story house and accompanying backyard garage. These edifices both literally and figuratively bespeak the anatomy of a modern working band.
(Now, by “working,” I mean to imply two things: one; the Grams “work” in that there is a symbiotic synergy between them, that each band member has his or her own complementary function, ergo it works in a way that won't find them disintegrating anytime soon, and two; they seem to be working like mad these days, gigging frequently, taking advantage of every available opportunity that comes their way, and building a successful career in music outside the confluence of the flagging major label system.)

Schiele picks up a snack-laden tray that Joanna has prepared and leads me out through the small backyard, past a congenial sea of deck chairs and barbeque grilles (where much colloquial revelry has obviously transpired) and into the converted garage. Here is where his growing collection of instruments, eclectic trinkets, eccentric furnishings, band posters, memorabilia, and recording equipment is housed. This is the creative womb where Schiele conducts rehearsals for the Grams and other local bands as an ancillary service provided by his Beach Music Mafia, or simply the Mob.
This tapestry and rug-laden room is the principal-if not always literal-birthplace of Schiele's music, and the locus where it usually passes through sundry bits of recording equipment to find quasi-physical form. He is the chief songwriter and lead vocalist for the Grams and a veteran of the San Diego music scene.

Schiele's formative years transpired in upstate New York, but you would hardly know it from the laid-back bohemian air he now emanates. It's necessary to wait for the brusque New York frankness to spill out of his Sagittarian mouth to confirm his East Coast origins. When he was four or five he matter-of-factly informed his parents he would be heading out West when he came of age. Perhaps the shock of his leaving was more due to the realization that the time had finally arrived than to any disbelief of the child he had been when he'd made the promise. Even at such an early age, Chuck Schiele already had a supple grip on his destiny like Babe Ruth's hands on a baseball bat.

While the time-biding child languished in Syracuse, he vainly set about trying to get his elementary school music teacher to learn him the drums. Schiele was diverted to at least three other less enchanting instruments before quitting music altogether. It wasn't until college that he picked up the trail again, inspired by the Beatles, Queen, Aerosmith's “Sweet Emotion,” and his dad, who was a professional jazz bass player in San Diego at the height of the '70's club scene.

“ There was a guitar in the corner, so I asked him to show me how to play it,” Schiele reminisces. °ßHe explained music theory to me and I was off and running. I never really had any formal music training, but I took a lot of classes in college, went to recording school, and then learned mostly by jumping in. I could write songs before I could play guitar and have written them all through my life. Early on I often wrote stuff I couldn't play, so my lesson became the act of learning how to play the music I heard in my head.”

“ Before I knew it I was in a band,” Schiele continues, “and have been in a band ever since. My favorites include The And (rock and groove band), Modern Peasants (rock/groove/world), Mysterious Ways (rock/acoustic), the Gandhi Method (folk rock/acoustic), and now the Grams.”
Along the way he also made a point to play solo, fleshing out the musical concepts that stemmed from what Jim Earp had taught him regarding alternate guitar tunings during their time together in the Modern Peasants. In a live performance scenario with the Grams, Schiele draws on this erudition by providing the perfect foundation for his bandmates: a bass-heavy sound with solid, driving rhythms. He is, in effect, a self-contained rhythm section.
The music that flows out of Schiele now is at once Southern sass (think N’awlins, Cajun, Zydeco), classic rock, and implicitly evocative of old world locales where ancient religions have roosted for eons. “I write mostly from spiritual motivations, often associated with travels,” Schiele relates. “I also write from explorations in my personal music learning. I learn something new to do everyday... something to pick on my own skills about... and I'll always be in that school.”

We’re conversing over the hors d’oeuvres in the darkened garage studio when the husband and wife team of Craig Yerkes and Elise Ohki finally arrive. They’ve left their gig clothes and instruments up front in the living room and have joined us in the studio. “Craigness” and “Sweet Elise,” as they are familiarly known, are usually late for Grams-related events because they have to commute all the way from North County. The married musicians also have full-time careers - Yerkes commutes to Orange County five days a week for his job, and Ohki works in the biotech field.

The trio harbors no old-fashioned dreams of—and have no time or patience for—the idiosyncrasies of rock stardom, but they may still be able to enjoy some kind of success and notoriety due to the growing number of resources and marketing avenues now available to independent artists. Their recent inclusion on a Japanese radio playlist, Schiele’s recording sessions at the legendary Sun Studio in Memphis, his solo appearance at New York's renowned CBGB, The Grams appearance at the reknowned Kenny’s Castaways (also in NYC), and their San Diego Music Award nomination this past September are all evidence of such emerging possibilities.

Elise Ohki grew up in the greater Buffalo area of upstate New York and discovered the piano and the violin while still in single digits. She played the latter in school and county orchestras, including the Buffalo Suzuki Strings, and found her way to Oberlin College, where she would arrive at the crucial musical crossroad of her life. Ohki felt too much pressure to be perfect on the path to becoming a professional classical violinist, so she made the decision to pursue a career in science and keep her musical activity free on the side. She was determined to obtain a degree in a field that would enable her to provide for herself financially, since the classical music profession seemed to be a glorified crapshoot for even the most proficient of players. Nevertheless, she continued to play violin through graduate school at SUNY Buffalo as well as with the Amherst Community Orchestra, and finally moved to San Diego to pursue employment opportunities in 2002. Ohki now works in the gene regulation division at the Invitrogen Corporation.
By the time she met and befriended Schiele through a mutual acquaintance at an Ocean Beach bar, Ohki had all but abandoned the violin. The plot gradually thickened, however, as Schiele discovered and slowly drew out Ohki's musicality. They began their collaboration in 2003, and the result was a creative detour for Ohki's classically trained hands, which, although still well regimented, were liberated by their first foray into contemporary music.
The two outspoken, yet also somehow reserved, upstate New Yorkers fell into (and still enjoy) an older-brother/younger-sister kind of rapport, full of acerbic yet lighthearted jabs, quips, and jovial razzing. The male Grams will be the first to tell you that Ohki is the band's barometer of relative goodness, as she is blunt in her views and deft with the power of veto when it comes to such things as new song choices, stage volume, and the length of her husband's solos. The sardonic twist to the “Sweet Elise” nickname is that she is decidedly curt and brusque with her opinions and judgments, though not maliciously so. The fact that she is more often astute in these observations and conclusions than not lends a paradoxically endearing puerility to her general countenance.

Ohki and her violin provide the group with a connection to both old and new musical idioms. The lyricism of her neoclassical violin melodies provide a traditionally fresh counterpoint to Schiele's lead vocals, and the modern “fiddle” context of the instrument itself connects the Grams with a more contemporary folk and bluegrass tradition. When she's not recapitulating vocal melodies or introducing new motifs, she's adding staccato and sustained pedal tone textures underneath Schiele's vocal expositions. The occasional addition of her own mezzo-soprano voice at the top of three-part group harmonies rounds out her contributions to the Grams' sound.

Ohki was eventually drawn into the overlapping spheres of Schiele's myriad musical connections, and it didn't take long for her own circle to expand and create the perfect conditions for a fateful meeting with Craig Yerkes. Brother to fellow San Diego musician Marcia Claire of the Citizen Band and the Cathryn Beeks Ordeal, Yerkes had known Schiele for some time and traveled in the same circles. The pieces slowly fell into place and by the end of 2003 the Grams had become a band. Yerkes and Ohki would eventually marry in July of 2004, and it is a point of pride for Schiele that he not only got them together but also brought them both out of semi-retirement.
Yerkes is the only California native of the three, having spent most of his life in San Diego County. He got an early start and was playing guitar in a touring teenybopper group with his sister by age 12. He also played in his high school and college jazz bands until he realized he was “a rock guitarist doing a bad imitation of a jazz guitarist,” as he self-deprecatingly put it. “I was really into the chops thing to a fault when I was younger,” Yerkes continues. “I just wanted to keep getting faster due to influences like Al DiMeola and Steve Morse. Now it's all about the solo singing its own song, whether I'm playing one note or 100.”

After a brief, failed stint as a guitarist with two Grammy-winning gospel artists, Yerkes decided to downgrade his musical pursuits to hobby status. He had only occasionally picked up the guitar during the previous 12 years when Schiele came calling.
Yerkes is a lead guitarist in the old tradition of axe men who don't always double the rhythm part under the vocals but add another complimentary texture or melody to the underlying work. Yerkes' leads are concise, rich in tone, and wildly entertaining. When the gig is long and space needs filling, Yerkes is the Gram who is most ready, willing, and able to step in and fill it. He has the chops and exploratory mindset to improvise lengthy, interesting solos within the live milieu, and the restraint to compose ingenious countermelodies and instrumental harmonies for him and Ohki live and in the studio. His curtailed jazz aspirations led him to an ideal grotto where the wild, histrionic waterfall of technique met the pool of mature melodic restraint.

Yerkes adds his clear, crisp tenor to the Grams' vocal palette, performing close harmonies with Schiele and even singing lead on “Poor Little Rich Girl” from the recently completed, eponymous debut album (reviewed on page 13). The general gist is that Yerkes may be singing more songs in the future. For now, though, he is content with his predominantly supportive role in the band.
While we've been talking in the studio, Joanna has been occasionally popping in and out with updates on the sumptuous meal she is preparing. A few minutes pass after one such visit when we collectively realize that Joanna is as much a part of what goes on behind the scenes at Grams Central as her husband. Yerkes and Ohki are as anxious to hear our new pertinent subject's story as I am, for they are equally as uneducated as to exactly what it is she does on behalf of the Grams.

Joanna also grew up in New York and cut her music, marketing, and networking teeth at Manhattan Design, the same company that was responsible for the MTV logo among many other pertinent icons of pop culture and music. She brings these years of big-city marketing experience (not to mention her own unsuccessful history of singing in bands-she lent background vocals to some of the songs on the record) to what she does administratively for the Grams. Her understanding of both sides of the commercialization of art sums up her contribution to the trio's behind-the-scenes machine.
Schiele had already become quite proficient at executing the administrative functions that most musicians bemoan and are poorly suited for when Joanna came into his life. Now they are virtually as unstoppable as they are thorough in their combination of complementary attributes. They work together in the conjoined pair of bedrooms on the house's second floor, unearthing predominantly Internet-based marketing opportunities for the Grams, and shouting updates back and forth to streamline their efforts.

“ With Joanna coming into my life, things have only gotten better and healthier, including music matters,” Schiele says. “We work together very closely, and I am astonished by what happens when we combine our strengths to fix on and obtain our goal. We are furthering our involvements to include the movie industry as well as alternative markets and distribution. We're also big on serving our community and go so far as to get them involved. We've grown so fast that we're in the process of reorganizing and building our team.”
We wrap up the interview and head inside, where Joanna's delectable dinner awaits us. We watch something about the end of days on the History channel while we eat and drink wine and revel in the sense of unity and nourishment we've established throughout the day. Then the time comes for them to do the fun part of their work and, after changing into their performance attire, the Grams disappear into the inviting night to show a new audience the weight of the soul.
The Grams will hold their CD Release Concert at the Belly Up on March 15, 8pm. www.theGrams.net

PLEASE SIGN THE LIABILITY RELEASE FORM BEFORE YOU TOUR 'LOVE FACTORY'
By George Varga

(as featured in the San Diego Union Tribune, Night & Day section, April 2008)

The Grams have won Best Americana honors at each of the two most recent San Diego Music Awards. The accolade is deserved, even if Americana is just one musical facet of this eclectic San Diego band, which performs a CD release concert Wednesday at Anthology in Little Italy.

The show celebrates The Grams' second album, “Love Factory.” Its title may suggest The B-52's, but the album thankfully eschews the latter group's retro-kitsch-pop approach for something that is both more earthy and more exotic.

Recently expanded from a trio to a quintet with the addition of bassist Tony Sandoval and drummer-vocalist Bill Coomes, Grams co-founders Chuck Schiele, Elise Ohki and Craig Yerkes are skilled musicians who realize that achieving a cohesive group sound is more important than individual showboating.

Drawing from rock, country, blues, flamenco, Celtic, Indian ragas and more, the members of The Grams mix and match styles to fit each song. A highlight is “Via Katalin,” the new album's sole instrumental, which begins as a mournful ballad before assuming a faster tempo and a Moorish flavor created by Ohki and Yerkes' sparkling unison lines.

Too short at three minutes, “Via Katalin” may well be the most arresting instrumental number by a (non-jazz) San Diego band since Nickel Creek's “Smoothie Song” in 2002. Not all the vocal numbers rise as high, although “Goin' Down” and the rockabilly-flavored “Yummy” come close. Kudos, too, for Schiele's incisive lyrics on “Little Do They Know,” which contains such choice couplets as: They've got one thing in common / Two different points of view and Three strikes coming / Four more lies to tell.

The Grams
San Diego Music Matters
By Bart Mendoza

Billed right on the cover of their new album as “acoustic rock,” that assessment of The Grams sound is right on the money. Basically a showcase for Schiele’s well-written material, the recording is completely unplugged, taking in elements from the singer-songwriter and rock genres. The disc features Chuck Schiele (vocals, guitar), Sweet Elise Ohki (violin, vocals) and Craig Yerkes (guitars, vocals), layering their instruments and harmonies, with occasional percussive touches from producer Jeff Berkley. Schiele also penned nearly all of the songs and takes the lion’s share of the vocals, though to be fair, the group’s defining element is Ohki’s violin. The best tunes here have a strong pop element, while the arranging of the instruments is superb, giving most of the tracks a lush and intricate sound.

Separating the album a little from the pack of acoustic acts making the rounds these days is its interesting hodgepodge of influences. There is definitely a smattering of prog-rock in some of the guitar runs. Check out the song “One Thing to Say” just before the last round of choruses, to cite just one example. That three-second guitar riff could pass for Yes guitarist Steve Howe or Mike Oldfield.

Hip-hop also makes an appearance in the form of a cover of “Crabbuckit” a song by Canadian artist K-OS. Transformed into a sunny, folk sing-a-long with attitude, the tune is easily one of the album’s best cuts. Other highlights include “Poor Little Rich Girl,” which has echoes of Paul Simon and Van Morrison at their 1972 best, while “Perfect World” could be garage-rock if electrified.

This album is a solid debut, well worth searching for anyone who is looking for acoustic music that’s a cut above the typical coffeehouse fare.

The Grams CD Review
North County Times
By Jim Trageser

San Diego's The Grams play an edgy, experimental folk music - think of it as acid folk. Built around the stellar musicianship of the trio's members (Chuck Schiele, guitars and percussion; Craig Yerkes, guitars; Sweet Elise Ohki, violin), the band takes its collective virtuosity and puts it to a pretty stiff test on nearly every song.

On their new self-titled CD, those tests come in the form of arrangements that bring in everything from Indian raga to Spanish flamenco to entirely new forms springing from the muses of the band. With just two guitars and a violin on most tracks, the ethereal sounds they create are downright amazing. The playing is just so darn good and makes for fun listening.

The Grams CD Review
San Diego Troubadour / April 2008
By Mike Alvarez
The Grams serve up yet another helping of catchy, smart acoustic rock on their new disc Love Factory. Driven by upbeat rhythms, appealing melodies and interesting lyrics, this album is instantly likeable and becomes even more so with repeated spins. Frontman, guitarist and principal songwriter Chuck Schiele has an interesting voice that is sometimes reminiscent of Peter Gabriel or Roger McGuinn. It’s a warm, textured instrument that is very much at home in the various stylistic genres the band explores on this album.

A song simply entitled “Love” sets the tone for Love Factory with its wall of acoustic guitars and violin licks. Schiele sings its intentionaly silly lyrics with conviction, taking point as The Grams work their way through its numerous musical changes. “Little Do They Know” is a spirited romp through country-rock territory that tells a tale of self-deception as it bumps along. One of my favorite tracks is the Craig Yerkes-penned instrumental “Via Katalin” that prominently showcases a tasty unison guitar and violin melody over an interesting 7/8
world-beat rhythm.

Also of note is “Goin’ Down”, a psychedelic-flavored jam that fools you into thinking it’s going to be an instrumental until about two-thirds of the way in when the vocals kick in. “ Heads Above Water” is a charming Byrds-style tune with a lot of lyrical references to local music icons like Cindy Lee Berryhill, Jeff Berkley and Michael Tiernan. Scoring a coup of epic proportions, The Grams got the latter two to sing backup on this song (the roster of guest musicians on this album is a veritable who’s who of San Diego talent). The Grams’ classic rock, world beat, folk and country influences are joined by some blues (“Big Dangerous”, “Perfume“) and old-time rock’n’roll (“Cinderella”), resulting in a varied,
original and satisfying sound.

The arrangements are deep and complex, comprised as they are of multiple layers of guitars, vocals and percussion. There’s a lot going on, but it’s all designed to drive the songs forward. The sound of this recording is well-balanced and immaculate. All of the parts are mixed and panned to maximize their musical impact. They can each be heard distinctly, yet they also work
as parts of a greater whole.

Often leading the charge is Sweet Elise Ohki’s tastefully nimble violin leads. Whether she’s playing single lines or multi-tracked orchestrations, her contributions perfectly complement the tunes without ever overpowering them. She takes charge when the occasion calls for it but also holds back where necessary. As with every element of Love Factory, it’s apparent that a lot of thought went into finding her place in The Grams‘ sound. The guitarists have ample opportunity to solo too. Electric and acoustic leads punctuate many of the songs to great effect. Schiele, Yerkes and Ohki are fantastic musicians who clearly relish the chance to strut their stuff in this collection of great tunes. This will surely be considered a major release in the San Diego music scene this year.

Get a fresh one of your own on April 16, 2008, 7:30 PM where the Grams host their
“ Love Factor CD release Concert at the prestigious Anthology in downtown San Diego.