Irn Bru, The Lochness Monster and Haggis, three things which have put Scotland on the global map but forget all those for now, the only export worth mentioning here is a producer whose music will soon have every inner-drum shaking from Glasgow to Guatemala – everyone, meet Grum.
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For someone who only produced his first track in the spring last year, Grum’s rise to prominence has been one of Justice-style proportions. Since tracks such as “Heartbeats” first started appearing on blogs like Discodust, Grum’s music has been in such demand that HYPE MACHINE recently calculated he was the second most blogged act in the world, behind Radiohead.
Life has not always been this way for Graeme Shepherd. Born in Edinburgh and growing up in the nearby Linlithgow he was surrounded by Scotland’s fascination for techno and trance. “I remember hearing lots of electronic music in the charts and stuff,” he remembers. “This got me interested in how to make it so I got a Yamaha DJX keyboard… I made some dreadful tunes.”
Then In 2001, the 15 year-old Grum bought a record that would change all of that. “Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ has been a massive influence on me,” he explains. “That and ‘Dare!’ by The Human League are pretty much the best records ever made. I’m also a massive fan of Stuart Price’s remixes under his various guises. The Thin White Duke remix of Felix Da Housecat’s ‘Silver Screen Shower Scene’ is one of my favourites of all time. I just love the whole feel of it – all the elements fit together perfectly.”
Grum’s love of electronic music kept him hooked on production and by 2004 he was studying Music Technology full time. “I kept practising and messing around in different genres. Now I’d say my stuff is a real mash-up of French house, Italo-disco, new-wave, and soft rock. I’m really into melodies and clever chords”
By 2008, Grum had build up a solid collection of original tracks and remixes (“I started out remixing tracks that I liked, for fun, by slicing up and filtering the original”) and began sending them out to the blogs. Discodust – one of the leading electronic sites – began featuring Grum’s music heavily. From that came remixes for Late of the Pier, Anorak and Tronik Youth and a record deal with Heartbeats.
Fast-forward a year and Grum is already drawing comparisons with his teenage mentors. His first single, “Runaway” is one of those deceptively brilliant pieces of music that, like Daft Punk’s “Around The World” swirls around in your brain refusing to leave – blissful, bass-heavy and undeniably cool. It was picked up by Aeroplane for their Mixmag covermount CD and featured on the play-lists of Pete Tong, Zane Lowe and Annie Mac. Rob Da Bank put him straight on the bill at Bestival saying, “With Daft Punk out of then picture we can at least rely on our very own UK house impresario to rinse out the electronic future in their absence.”
His second single – the infectious and driving “Sound Reaction” – has cemented his position as a Radio 1 favourite with more heavy plays from the likes of Zane and Tong. “That song is just me letting go with my music and doing something big, fun, noisy, and designed for the dance-floor,” Grum says. “It’s a mixture of rave and electro with a hint of disco. I’m very into 80s new-wave and Italo-disco and came across this sample…it all just grew from there really”
As well his music, Grum’s artwork is making a serious splash on the net. “LOVE the barcode campaign,” writes Travis from the influential Big Stereo blog. “Genius. I had seen the barcode readers for the iPhone before but never really understood a purpose. Very clever… could do a lot with that.”
The campaign Travis is so excited about is a pioneering design, developed by David Ross, the artistic and creative brains behind Mylo’s ‘Destroy Rock N Roll’ poster and artwork campaigns. For Grum he has incorporated a unique 2-D Barcode into the artwork, which when photographed by your mobile phone (using the appropriate application) takes you directly to the music where you can hear great quality streamed versions of the track, with an option to buy there and then. A fully interactive experience for fans to get the music they want, when they want it – see the poster on the street or an advert in a mag, snap the logo, and get direct to the music.
Currently living in Leeds, Grum is finishing his debut album and planning his live show (both scheduled to be ready for the end of the year). The live experience is a collaboration with Pier Schneider @ 1024d who built Etienne De Crecy’s “Square Cube” Live show.
Discography
Original tracks:
Heartbeats
Broken
Go Back (Original & Le Castle Vania Remix)
Runaway
Sound Reaction
Recent Remixes:
Friendly Fires “Skeleton Boy” (Grum Remix)
Tommy Sparks “Miracle” (Grum Remix)
Magistrates “Gold Lover” (Grum Remix)
Passion Pit “To Kingdom Come” (Grum Remix)
Armand Van Helden “You don’t know me” (Grum edit)
Anoraak “Nightdrive with you” (Grum Remix)
Tronik Youth “Laugh Cry Live Die” (Grum Remix)
Revolt “Ironical sexism” (Grum Remix)
Peace Fire “Saphire” (Grum Edit)
“Grum’s super-cool D.I.Y. ethic and taste for electronic music old and new means he’s probably our hottest tip since Aeroplane first took off”
Ralph Moore, Mixmag
“If Grum is what the future of electronic music sounds like (and we’re pretty sure he is), save us a spot on the dancefloor”
Luke Crisell, Nylon
