Unsigned Spotlight: Grieve
Hailing from Central Florida, Grieve are a 5-piece American Metalcore act combining Modern Hardcore, Deathcore, and Progressive elements into a unique and sonically diverse package.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
Scott Ellis - Vocals
Evan Draper - Guitar
Tommy Henthorne - Guitar/Vocals
Michele Becker - Bass/Vocals
Ian Currie - Drums
For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to Grieve? How long has the band been around?
Scott: Prior to Grieve I did vocals in I, The Jury (2014-2017) and played drums for Magnolia Park (2018-2020). The current iteration Grieve was founded in 2022.
Michele: I filled in for a few bands here and there but mainly was filling in on guitar. I actually tried out for drums when joining Grieve, but shortly after took up bass instead.
Evan: Grieve is actually my first band. I’ve filmed a lot of music videos for Florida bands, including Grieve’s first video in 2018, but I was in film school back then and didn’t have time to commit to being in a band. In 2020, I had just graduated, and I thought “Hey, I actually have time to be in a band now.” Scott suggested I join Grieve as a second guitarist. I genuinely enjoy Scott’s vocal style and wanted to write music with him, so I joined on the spot.
Tommy: I’ve been playing in the central Florida metal scene since 2014. Previously I fronted The Iliad, and played guitar in a band called Delineate for about 4 years or so.
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
Scott: The original inception of Grieve comes from the disbandment of I, The Jury. Shortly after disbanding a few of us wanted to get back together and continue to make music but in a different direction, something darker and heavier than our previous endeavor. During the naming stage, I had to take a trip to NJ due to the passing of my grandmother.
I remember sitting in my aunt's house alone after the funeral just trying to process everything. I had lost people before but never someone this close, and it was a different grieving process that I had no idea how to traverse. Later that day I messaged the band chat with the name Grieve, and the rest is history.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
Scott: Evan has the heaviest hand in writing the instrumentals for Grieve, with the rest of us pitching in. I write a majority of the lyrics with input and feedback from the others as well. Most of our songs center around mental illness, abuse, and loss. While I don’t believe these will ever change, it will also not be the limits of topics Grieve will touch on.
Evan: I generally write the instrumentals, and Scott will lay down lyrics over them. I’m in California while the rest of the band is in Florida, and lately we’ve been writing as a group over Discord. I’ve started writing some of the lyrics as well, touching on similar topics, but also trying to create interesting mental images and metaphors. I find it easiest to write from the standpoint of a fictional character. We plan to lean into that more in the future.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
Scott - Sworn In, Like Moths To Flames, and Angelmaker for starters.
Evan: Loathe, Knocked Loose, Alpha Wolf, and Spiritbox, to name a few recent sources of inspiration. I love bands that don’t stick to one sound, or do something unique within their genre. I grew up listening to a lot of Prog/Djent bands like Periphery and Tesseract as well, so progressive elements tend to sneak into Grieve songs.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Scott: I can contribute the musician I am now to 3 artists, but the one who made me realize I wanted to front a Metalcore band was Tyler Kasch (Tear Out The Heart, Hard Loss). The day before their show was Tyler’s birthday, I took my shot and invited them to a Disney trip AND IT WORKED.
Tyler was very supportive of my drive to be in a band and gave me all sorts of advice. The next day at the show I got to watch them from right up front, and the show Tyler put on just inspired me to make the switch from drums and form a Metalcore band as a frontman.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
Scott: Absolutely nothing.
Tommy: I run through some stretches about 10-15 minutes before our set, and spend the entire day throwing back as much water as I possibly can. I also spend a good amount of time reminding Scott to eat and warm up.
Scott: This is true.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
Evan: Getting a song on a Spotify Editorial Playlist was a big one for me. We woke up one morning to find our song “Empty, Like Me. (ft. Joshua Roberts)” on The Core, a few months after it was released. It was really an “oh shit, this is working” moment, and it’s led to a lot of people finding us.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
Michele: If I could tour with any bands, I’d say Great American Ghosts, Landmvrks, and Paledusk. These bands all have similar sounds, and in my opinion would be super cool to tour with. I also think having a mixed line up is always fun so to be on a tour with bands or artists who aren’t in our genre like Post Malone or brakence would be super cool too!
Scott: Warped Tour 2013, send tweet.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for having us! Our new EP “Bound to the Hurt” comes out July 14th.