GRiZ is the stage name of Grant Kwiecinski, an electronica producer hailing from Detroit who was born in 1990. He became one of the hottest names on the Detroit EDM scene with his blend of futuristic electronic sounds and live instruments playing earthy funk, classic soul and smooth jazz.
No matter how many Skrillex records they might claim to like, never trust a rock fan who thinks that EDM artists are intrinsically less musically talented than any other kind of artist. The easy joke to make seems to be that all an electronica artist has to do to make music is push a space bar and sample other records. However, what they don’t know is that the best EDM producers are nearly always the ones who can play every instrument under the sun and have an almost encyclopaedic knowledge of music theory. These folks are far more common than one might think, with Grant Kwiecinski, A.K.A GRiZ being one of the best in a very long line of them.
Like many of these producers, Kwiecinski was classically trained from a young age. Unlike many others, he was classically trained as a saxophonist, an alto one to be precise. However, his aspirations changed dramatically when he was around 14, with the combination of discovering the likes of Squarepusher and Aphex Twin, and getting his first copy of the music software Fruity Loops. His calling shifted from the concert hall to the club, and he set about combining every influence he had, from the jazz and funk he’d play on his sax to his newfound love of EDM.
By 2011 he’d put out his first album, “End Of The World Party” and with his energetic live show that combines live sax, guitar and vocals with laptop backing tracks, he became a riotous festival mainstay. Coachella, Electric Forest and Lollapalooza have all seen him play to packed out tents full of revellers and the party is just getting bigger. His subsequent albums “Mad Liberation” and “Rebel Era” were both released for free on the internet, and because of that he’s playing to a bigger audience than anyone else at his level has ever been able to play to.
He’s an artist carving out his own path and making his own history with every release and every live show, and he’s only 24 years old. GRiZ in his prime is going to be an absolutely astounding sight and sound, and we should all be around to see it. Highly recommended.
Sara Bareilles
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