Guitar, Synths, Backing Vocals and Production
“My first instrument was the keyboard, but I soon got bored of that (if only sequencers had been around). I joined my first band back in 1992 called ‘Broken Rose’ where I played drums and some
keyboard. After some member changes, the band reformed as ‘Wasteland’ where I played the drums. I started to learn guitar whilst in this band. Wasteland broke up in 1995 having recorded a 3-track demo tape at ‘The Old Dairy Studios’ in York produced by Phil Elliott. Who it turns out was a mutual friend of Reborn members in the future. “I was very much into grunge and heavy metal, but after hearing The Prodigy’s ‘Music For The Jilted Generation’ I started to get into rave/techno and started to produce techno based music as ‘Rave Generation’. I produced a limited run 12-track album, which was copiously copied and distributed in the underground scene. Word got back that it had even been played on pirate radio in London. What a buzz !”. Later on, Island Records showed a brief interest in a 4-track sampler that was sent to them by a friend of Griff’s, in particular a track called ‘Jedi Techno’ : “Unfortunately the licensing issues with the track negated any possibility of it being signed”. A new project ‘Bug’ was started when Griff met up with college buddy, Rich Walker. “The aim was to combine our efforts to produce some top quality modern dance and house music and to get it signed”. The ‘Splinter In Your Mind’ EP was born and had some interest from ‘Flying Rhino’ records, although they wanted something “a bit more trancey”. Industry buddies Al & El aka “Shaft” who have worked with Tom Jones and the late Kirsty McColl, previewed the bands EP and suggested it be sent to a local radio stations. Al told Griff ‘it’s all there, you need to do something with this’. After recording a the vocal version of
Reborn on a shoestring with the talented Joyce Stewart, the new EP was sent to Galaxy 105 who played the E.P within days of receiving it. “It was entered into their ‘Fly Or Die’ competition where it beat a dance track which was high in the charts at the time. It was a real buzz to hear our stuff getting played on the radio”. “As the band Reborn, we had a joint passion to combine hard, grungy guitar driven music with electronica. We had to learn how to record and produce what was essentially a new style of music. Bands like Linkin Park and more recently Evanescence have done what we set out to do, but we did it first. It’s been hard work especially on a tight budget, but I think this latest demo really captures the Reborn sound we set out to achieve back in 2000, burning the candle at both ends has proved worthwhile.”. “I’d describe my main influences as Nirvana, The Prodigy, Slayer, William Orbit ( the Strange Cargo series), Fifth Amendment , Gabba (Dutch Techno) and anything Grunge.” “What else can I say?…I play guitar….I produce…I talk shit….I need sleep…and a record deal”