GRiZ

Last updated
GRiZ
GRiZ Press Photo 2014 Josh Hanford.jpeg
2014 press photo by Josh Hanford
Background information
Birth nameGrant Kwiecinski
Born (1990-05-31) May 31, 1990 (age 33)
Southfield, Michigan, U.S.
Genres Electronic, trip hop, dubstep, glitch hop, future funk [1]
Occupation(s)Producer, songwriter, saxophone player
Years active2011–present
LabelsAll Good Records (formerly Liberated Music)
Website mynameisgriz.com

Grant Richard Kwiecinski (born May 31, 1990), also known by his stage name GRiZ, is an American DJ, songwriter, and electronic music producer from Southfield, Michigan. [1] He is known for playing the saxophone along with producing funk, electro-soul, and self-described future-funk. [1]

Contents

Early life

Kwiecinski was born and raised in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In elementary school, Kwiecinski was first introduced to the alto sax as well as the piano. After growing up on big horn sounds of funk groups like The Meters, Kwiecinski found himself gravitating towards that influence when he first began making his own music in college. He attended Birmingham Groves High School and then Michigan State University for several years before he dropped out to focus on a music career. [2] It was also during his college years that he had become personally comfortable enough to openly identify as gay. [3] While at Michigan State he would frequently DJ parties at his friends' fraternity houses and play shows in the East Lansing area. GRiZ first became popular with the release of his free debut album, End of the World Party, in 2011. [4] With the release, he ended up supporting bigger artists such as Pretty Lights, Gramatik, and Big Gigantic on their respective tours, eventually leading to his own headlining tour. [1] Following such success, GRiZ released six more albums, Mad Liberation in 2012, Rebel Era in 2013, Say It Loud in 2015, Good Will Prevail in 2016, Ride Waves in 2019, and Rainbow Brain in 2021. Griz currently resides in downtown Denver and Downtown Detroit.

Career

Kwiecinski created the All Good Records (formerly Liberated Music) label to promote his music, along with electro contemporaries Muzzy Bearr (who also plays guitar live with GRiZ and on several tracks), The Floozies, The Geek x VRV, and Manic Focus. All Good Records describes itself as a label that "reps old school motown soul, future funk, new disco, cutting edge electronica, and anything on the forefront of new sound." [5] Kwiecinski travels across the U.S & Canada playing at festivals such as Summer Camp, Electric Zoo, [6] Electric Forest, Hard Los Angeles, TomorrowWorld, North Coast Festival, Decadence, SnowBall, Lollapalooza and Shambhala. [4] He has collaborated with other artists, including Gramatik, [4] ExMag and Big Gigantic. [7] His fourth album, Say It Loud, was released on March 31, 2015. [8] In 2016, GRiZ released Good Will Prevail which was his first time charting in the Billboard 200. In 2017, GRiZ released a remixed version of Good Will Prevail, named Good Will Continue. The year 2019 saw the release of his sixth album, Ride Waves, that exhibited a new sound style with more rapping and singing than ever before. During the COVID-19 pandemic, GRiZ turned to live streams held via Instagram, Twitch, and YouTube to continue spreading his music.

12 Days of Grizmas, an annual event hosted by Griz, is intended to generate attention and revenue for non-profits. During the twelve days leading up to his annual two-day festival in Detroit called GRiZMAS, all proceeds generated from events are donated to a variety of charities, and fans are often rewarded for their participation. [9]

GRiZFam and Liberators

The GRiZFam started out as a way for fans of GRiZ to connect with each other through music, pictures, and other associated art. Liberators are the street team for GRiZ, and help raise awareness for shows, spread the music, as well as help with charitable organizations. The fans work by the mantra that GRiZ popularized: Show Love, Spread Love. [10]

Awards, nominations and accomplishments

In 2013, GRiZ made top reviews in publications such as Detroit Music Magazine, [11] SPIN, [12] and The Untz, who put GRiZ as the "#1 Breakout Artist of 2013." [13] At the 2015 High Times Cannabis Cup in Denver, Colorado GRiZ won the People's Choice Flower category for the strain GRiZ Kush created in collaboration with Native Roots Apothecary. [14]

In December 2015, GRiZ, The Liberators and All Good Records were awarded the 'Spirit of Detroit' for the 12 Days of GRiZMAS campaign that raised over $30,000 for Little Kids Rock. The initiative found the Boulder-based artist leading a 12-day series of charitable activities in his hometown, from collecting coats for the homeless and bringing supplies to dog shelters to spreading Christmas cheer throughout the economically depressed city via free shows, industry panels and a "Night Before GRiZMAS" benefit warehouse concert. [15]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Clinton (funk musician)</span> American singer and record producer

George Edward Clinton is an American musician, singer, bandleader, and record producer. His Parliament-Funkadelic collective developed an influential and eclectic form of funk music during the 1970s that drew on science fiction, outlandish fashion, psychedelia, and surreal humor. He launched his solo career with the 1982 album Computer Games and would go on to influence 1990s hip-hop and G-funk.

Clarence Eugene "Fuzzy" Haskins was an American singer. He performed with 1950s and 1960s doo-wop group, The Parliaments, and was a founding member of the groundbreaking and influential 1970s funk bands Parliament and Funkadelic, also known as Parliament-Funkadelic. He left Parliament-Funkadelic in 1977 to pursue a solo career. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. In 2019, he and Parliament-Funkadelic were given Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bootsy Collins</span> American bassist

William Earl "Bootsy" Collins is an American bass guitarist, singer-songwriter, and record producer.

The music of Michigan is composed of many different genres. The city of Detroit has been one of the most musically influential and innovative cities for the past 50 years, whether in Michigan or anywhere else in the United States. Impressively, for 48 straight years (1959–2007) a greater Michigan-area artist has produced a chart-topping recording. Michigan is perhaps best known for three developments: early punk rock, Motown, and techno.

Electro is a genre of electronic music and early hip hop directly influenced by the use of the Roland TR-808 drum machines and funk. Records in the genre typically feature heavy electronic sounds, usually without vocals, although if vocals are present they are delivered in a deadpan manner, often through electronic distortion such as vocoding and talkboxing. It palpably deviates from its predecessor boogie by being less vocal-oriented and more focused on electronic beats produced by drum machines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birmingham Groves High School</span> Public school in Michigan, United States

Groves High School is a public, magnet high school in Beverly Hills, Michigan, United States, in the Birmingham Public School District. Groves' colors are green, white, and yellow and its mascot is Freddy the Falcon. The current principal is Dr. Susan Smith.

Dennis James Coffey is an American guitarist. He was a studio musician for many soul and R&B recordings, and is well known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single "Scorpio".

Electric Forest is a multi-genre music festival produced by Madison House Presents and Insomniac Events with a focus on electronic music and jam band genres. Originally named Rothbury Festival in 2008, it is held in Rothbury, Michigan at the Double JJ Resort. The event was not held in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pretty Lights</span> American electronic music producer (born 1981)

Derek Vincent Smith, known by his stage name Pretty Lights, is an American electronic music producer. Pretty Lights was originally a music project consisting of Smith and Michal Menert, who left after the release of their first album. Rick Rubin once described Pretty Lights as "the face and voice of the new American electronic music scene".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Music of Detroit</span> Music traditions in Detroit, Michigan, US

Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Gigantic</span> American musical duo

Big Gigantic are an American instrumental electronic hip hop and jazz musical duo based in Boulder, Colorado.

Paul Randolph, aka "Randolph" is an American bass player, singer, songwriter, and producer from Detroit, Michigan. His musical style ranges from jazz, funk, soul, house, rock and electronica. He is best known as the vocalist for the German collective, Jazzanova. Randolph has performed with well-known musicians, including Tony Allen, Odetta, Alice Cooper, Amp Fiddler, Hubert Laws, Josh White Jr, Mark Farner and Nigel Hall.

Denis Jašarević, known by his stage name Gramatik, is a Slovenian electronic music producer, originally from Portorož, Slovenia. He currently resides in New York City.

<i>Mad Liberation</i> 2012 studio album by GRiZ

Mad Liberation is an album by the electronic musician Grant Kwiecinski, released under the pseudonym GRiZ on 5 September 2012 under the All Good Records. It is his second album after the release of End of the World Party (2011). The album is a collection of songs recorded during 2011/2012. The songs range from original compositions to varied sample works.

<i>Rebel Era</i> 2013 studio album by GRiZ

Rebel Era is the third album by the electronic musician Grant Kwiecinski, released under the pseudonym GRiZ on 15 October 2013 under the All Good Records. The album is a collection of tracks made during 2012-13. On his blog Kwiecinski states the current global events was the biggest source inspiration for the album.

<i>Say It Loud</i> (GRiZ album) 2015 studio album by GRiZ

Say It Loud is the fourth album by the electronic musician Grant Kwiecinski under the pseudonym GRiZ. It was released on March 31, 2015 under his own label All Good Records.

<i>Good Will Prevail</i> 2016 studio album by GRiZ

Good Will Prevail is the fifth album by the electronic musician Grant Kwiecinski under the pseudonym GRiZ. It was released on September 23, 2016 under his own label All Good Records. It peaked at number 169 on the Billboard 200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haywyre</span> American electronic music producer

Martin Sebastian Vogt, better known by his stage name Haywyre, is a Grammy nominated American electronic music producer, pianist, and performer. He is known for fusing elements of classical, jazz and funk into various genres of electronic music, as well as his unique style of piano improvisation within electronic music. In 2014, Vogt released a performance video showcasing his re-interpretation of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" which saw viral success on YouTube. Vogt has toured with artists such as Mat Zo, Gramatik, Zedd, GRiZ and Rezz, as well as playing festivals such as Coachella and Bonnaroo and headlining his own North American tours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Terry (saxophonist)</span> Musical artist

Andrew Alexander "Mike" Terry was an American saxophonist, songwriter, arranger, producer and musical director. His baritone sax solos feature on the breakthrough hits of Martha and the Vandellas, and The Supremes. As a member of the Funk Brothers he performed on thousands of Motown recordings from 1960 to 1967, including at least seven US #1 hits. As was Motown's policy at the time, none of the studio musicians were credited by name. Terry was the musical arranger of the 1966 hit "Cool Jerk" by The Capitols, and later became a record producer, with partners including George Clinton, Sidney Barnes, and Jack Ashford.

Grant Richard Kwiecinski, also known by his stage name GRiZ, is an American DJ, songwriter, and electronic producer from Southfield Michigan. He is known for playing the saxophone along with producing funk, electro-soul, and self-described future-funk.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Thump Staff (2013). "GRiZ Is The Shiz". New York: Thump. Archived from the original on 2014-10-31. Retrieved 2014-10-28.
  2. ↑ Brian McCollum, "Griz finds the funk in electronic music's future", Detroit Free Press , May 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ Kwiecinski, Grant (2017-06-06). "My Name is GRiZ and..." Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
  4. 1 2 3 Frazier (2013). "Detroit Music Producer GRiZ Bends Soul and Electronic Genres in the EDM World". Detroit: Huffington Post Detroit.
  5. ↑ Kwiecinski (2013). "Liberated Music". Detroit: Griz Official Website.
  6. ↑ Shepherd (2014). "12 Best Things We Saw at Electric Zoo 2014". New York: Rolling Stone.
  7. ↑ Guarino (2012). "GRiZ – Mad Liberation (Album) : Must Hear Full Electro Soul / Dubstep / Future Funk Free Album". Boulder: ThisSongIsSick.
  8. ↑ "[PREMIERE] GRiZ – Funk Party : Must Hear Future Funk Anthem". thissongissick.com. March 12, 2015. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
  9. ↑ Middleton, Ryan (December 15, 2015). "GRiZ On "Fantastic" Next Record, Sustaining All Good Records, Grizmas: Interview". Music Times. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
  10. ↑ Moon (2013). "Team GRiZ Gives Back To The Community". New Orleans: Compose Yourself Mag.
  11. ↑ Why (2014). "Interview: GRiZ". Detroit: Detroit Music Magazine.
  12. ↑ Spin Staff (2014). "Holy Ship!!! 2014: Disclosure Crack a Few Smiles, and the 5 Best Things We Saw Friday". New York: SPIN.
  13. ↑ Anand (2013). "Top 10 Breakout EDM Artists Winner". Philadelphia: The Untz.
  14. ↑ "DJ/Producer GRiZ Creates Own Weed Strain, Wins Big at Cannabis Cup". Billboard. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  15. ↑ "GRiZ Raises Over $30,000 for Children's Charity, Receives 'Spirit of Detroit' Award | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved 2016-01-18.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.