Up Close and Personal With The Feed

Every once in a while, you'll hear me making whining noises and looking at the old space where CBGBs once was. But there are bands that keep the punk sound alive, and keep the whining noises out of my throat. I recently got the chance to talk to The Feed, one of those bands that brings back blues-y punk rock and makes us all feel a little better about belonging to this generation of music.


First, please introduce yourselves!
D: Dave Grelle (keys, vocals) 
K: and Kevin Bowers (drums) of The Feed here


One of my go to openers is always to start at the beginning—what got you involved in music? What artists have inspired you the most?
D: Listening to music with my parents as a kid.  Dancin around the house to Michael Jackson with my mom, rockin out to The Cars and Tom Petty with my dad in the car.
Kevin: I got into music from my parents’ 45 records at a very young age. Music from the 60s will always be close to my heart.


You guys are based out of St Louis, which historically has a very diverse music scene. Has this impacted your sound?
D:  I think so.  It’s hard to escape the blues and soul side of St. Louis.  We definitely embrace our roots and spin hometown favorites Chuck Berry, Donny Hathaway, Ike and Tina Turner, and Miles Davis all the time.  There’s a ton of new and exciting music coming outta St. Louis as well. 
K: Yeah, getting to collaborate and share the stage with so many great players in this city has definitely been an influence on our original music. Everyone has their own creative spin on music. You learn new ideas from each other, and throw them into one big wash to see how it dries out.

You have a new album coming out in August, do you feel like it’s a follow up to your current releases or something in a new direction?
K: We are heading into new creative territory with more grit, and swinging harder in our music too.
D: There’s still some of that high energy, tongue in cheek delivery from the previous record, but there’s definitely some movement in a new direction as well.


Your band garners a lot of comparisons to The Black Keys and T. Rex. Do you ever feel the need to move away from those comparisons?
D:  That’s kinda new to us. We’ve been around a few years now, and those comparisons just started poppin up.
We weren’t ever really trying to sound like either of those groups.  They’re just 2 names that people know and they both have a lot of elements in their sound that I personally dig, so I take it as a compliment.  If you listen to tracks off the new record like “Outsider”, and a few more of our uptempo edgy numbers, I think those two comparisons couldn’t be more off.  Again, we’re just writing tunes.  Everyone can call it whatever they want.  I’m just glad so many people are listening.


Alt Press described your sound as having a classic influence with a modern energy— in one sentence, how would you describe your music?
K: Rock & roll played with fire and soul. 


What are you most excited for with your upcoming album cycle?
D:  I think the album has a great flow and I can’t wait to get it in people’s hands, especially the vinyl.  The artwork is ace.  Tyler Gross did an incredible job and it really enhances the ‘Outsider’ record as a whole.
K: I can’t wait for people to hear “Outsider” since I feel the audience is the final touch on the creative process of making an album.

The Feed's new single Stella just premiered on Nylon, and you can keep up with all the band news on their facebook page and website.