The Grates confirm line-up change

The Grates have had a change in the line-up. Alana Skyring has left the band.

The Grates have been living in the USA for the past year working on their third album.

Alana Skyring has left to pursue culinary arts, studying at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan. She will not be replaced. Instead, The Grates will continue as a two-piece and recruit additional members for touring and recording as needed.

Here is a statement from Patience Hodgson and John Patterson:

'Naive or ignorant - maybe both - but eventually Summer passed and the severity of the North America Winter was unexpectedly upon us and the slowly changing dynamic between us was as evident as the shift in season. Moving to NYC had successfully brought out the best in all of us but Alana was discovering that her best lay not with drums but with baking. To continue growing as people we decided to go our separate ways,' Hodgson says.

'With this new arrangement still seeping in John and I carried on writing. Losing time and losing light, we experimented in our tiny grey band room, making riffs out of feedback loops, fooling around with sounds and layering vintage synthesisers, for hours daily, sometimes without choice, being trapped by blizzards too terrific and terrifying to ride our bikes home in. We punctuated the day with ritualised trips for cheap beer and tamales,' Patience muses.

'Satisfied but not full, craving more sounds to eat, we began asking friends to fill in the gaps with bass and drums.' The Grates then recruited Brooklyn drummer Ben Marshall to bang the skins on the record. He's passionate about music with an insatiable appetite for good tunes. They hit upon the right mix with bassist and producer Gus van Go, also bringing in Werner F to help with production duties.

'After working with a handful of talented musicians we hit upon the right chemistry with Gus, one half of our production team, taking over bass duties and Ben on drums. We then took a month in the studio working through each song together, playing as a band, getting ideas and getting excited.'

'Recording has begun, songs are taking shape. Even through it's cold, we continue to bike daily to Gus & Werner's Williamsburg studio. Our producers are amazing, we love every minute,' enthuses Patience. 'That said we also can't wait to bring home a bunch of new music to Australia.'

Expect the third album from The Grates around June.


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