The Speed of Sound - Album Bio (2009)

You guys have been working OUT!" would be a good summary of responses to the new album, 'The Speed of Sound'. It is definitely the most rocking album Grand Prix have made so far. They were excited going in to the studio - they had new songs, a new direction and they would be recording them live in a room together as a band for the first time. And they're happy with the results. It's rock that might have come from the 70's, an evolution from the dark surf sound of the previous albums.

Each Grand Prix album so far has moved forward through roughly a decade of music. At some point the idea came up to start at the beginning [in this case whenabouts blues met bluegrass] and evolve forward again and again, avoiding some of the dead end streets that have happened, and evolve to something they can call our own. Although they live in New Zealand, Grand Prix are influenced by music from bigger cultures like America and Europe. They wanted to feel that they had done some homework on the roots of popular music, and see where they ended up.

Album number four signals a move towards the Seventies, and the testosterone seemed to come to the party in accordance, Grand Prix found themselves kind of revisiting their youth. Andrew remembered why he picked up the guitar in the first place, and with Nato and Davey in the band, it had to get a bit heavy.

Many of the new songs were written by Andrew in his hometown of the Hawkes Bay, where he has returned to live for a while. Strangely, all the old country songs from previous albums were written in Wellington, but the new rock songs were written in the country. Andrew has no TV, no internet, just guitars hanging on the wall, a tape machine and coffee, and he's never bored.

Grand Prix – Terraplane Twilight (2007)

"The Funeral"

On a dark and stormy night, when Grand Prix were tracking Terraplane Twilight, something strange happened. At the Car Club, which is an isolated hall by some fields in Newtown’s hills, they set up their equipment and engineer Brett Stanton plugged in the portable recording studio as usual. Among the model cars and rally prize ribbons (the Car Club is a combined classic car enthusiasts club and also rehearsal space) the band started playing and working on a new song. All of a sudden, the storm outside struck and the lights began to flash on and off, the studio equipment jammed up and a thundery atmosphere filled the cavernous old hall. Then it occurred to the band: was this because the song they were working on was called “The Devil”?

Some bands might have gotten the message and called it a day, but Grand Prix continued undaunted – and Terraplane Twilight is their third album. Recording the album (appropriately) at the Car Club has kept the automotive theme alive, but it has now become a subtler metaphor. As Andrew McKenzie enigmatically explains, although the words may suggest otherwise “none of the songs are really actually about cars”

Another important change for the band is a significant line-up reshuffle. McKenzie (vocals, guitar) and Davey Geard (drums, vocals) remain – but they are now joined on the bass by Nato ‘the Force’ Hickey (Paseload, Fly My Pretties) and on keyboards by Adam Ladley (Velvetones, The Bonnie Scarlets). These changes (and the brush with ‘The Devil’) have bought a more confident 1960s and 1970s musicality to their sound. It also brings a little more drive at the low ‘ass moving’ end, a touch more burning organ in the middle and a smidgen more widescreen trem-reverberation up at the top. Of course McKenzie’s thunderous voice remains, which has been described as “a cross between Nick Cave and Kiwi country icon, John Hore Grenell”

Behind the controls from the Car Club tracking to the finishing mixing touches at Lee Prebble’s (soon to be legendary) “The Surgery” studio, was Brett Stanton - who works with the Phoenix Foundation. He is most certainly one of Wellington’s finest soundmen. In the studio, more time was put into this album than the previous, allowing the band to experiment and be more specific in how they wanted things to sound. It also meant they were able to bring in guests including the “Grand Prix Boys Choir” of Age Prior, Luke Buda and Craig Terris, as well as other guests on instruments such as glockenspiel, violin and trumpet.

Terraplane Twilight is a big step forward for Grand Prix. The sound is more developed and the songwriting remains excellent. While tracks from the last album were extremely popular on b-net radio, Kiwi FM and National Radio, and received excellent reviews (see below), this album has even more songs that will appeal. Grand Prix’s live show is now full steam ahead, with recent support slots with the Lemonheads, the Phoenix Foundation as well as having their own solid following the capital city.

Grand Prix - The Way of the Racer (2005)

"The Way of the Racer"

"The Way of the Racer" Bio (2005)

Wellington’s Grand Prix released their second album with Arch Hill Recordings on November the 7th 2005 – called “The Way of the Racer” .

The first Grand Prix album, “Racing Lines” (2002), was a low-key event. It was preformed and recorded without drums or bass, featuring only a stripped back vocal and twin guitar set up. In the early days they played in full racing overalls and helmets, which was rather uncomfortable under the hot stage lights. However, during this time they did compose some local classics, like “Donuts in the Sand”.

Since that casual beginning, the line-up has expanded to four, with original member Andrew Mckenzie on guitar and vocals; Davey Geard [Letterbox Lambs, D-super] on drums and vocals; Mike Banks [the Del Burgoes] on bass; and Viv Treweek on trumpet. Songs are still central to what they do – but now they have a hi-revving rhythm section (that can match any in the land) complemented with tex-mex trumpet - transporting you straight into the remotest dessert drag strip.

In late 2004, with this new line up, a new set of songs, and new attire, the band headed into Wellington’s Inca studios to begin recording “The Way of the Racer” with Mike Gibson. They recorded all their songs live in the studio – meaning what you hear on record is what you hear coming from the stage – there’s no studio trickery hiding musical inadequacy on this album. And as Phil Reed (Real Groove) writes, they have a “kick-ass live set”…which means Grand Prix are a pretty tidy combo. The initial recording sessions were followed up by a second with Brett Stanton, early in 2005.

Why, you may ask, are all the songs about racing cars? Well, a few years ago and faced with writers block, songwriter Andrew McKenzie came to the realisation that racing was the perfect metaphor for life. Speed, victory, loss, death, love, honor, power, going in circles; all the grand narratives – they are perfectly encapsulated in the dusty oily world of racing car culture. And the more Andrew explored the highs and lows of this super octane world, the more the inspiration flowed, the more the songs kept coming. In other words, less equaled more.

D Dylan D of a A Low Hum describes Grand Prix’s sound pretty accurately when he writes: “While the first release could be described as 'country' music, 'The Way of the Racer' is far more Morricone/ Mariachi than Weissberg /Grand Ole Opry, that is to say, more Nuevo Laredo than Tennessee and it's that south of the border element that defines Grand Prix's latest work.”