Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse Talk New Album, UK Tour And More

California-based Roots-Rock band Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse have a new 14-track album ‘Hot Nostalgia Radio’ and a 19-date April/May 2024 UK Tour. They sat down with JLTT to give us the lowdown: 

Who is in Beaux Gris Gris and The Apocalypse and what do they play?

The new album line up is:

Greta Valenti: Vocals

Robin Davey: Guitar

Stephen Mildwater: Bass

Tom Rasulo: Drums

Sam Robertson: Keyboard

But also Emma Jonson is a regular on Piano and Keys, and our USA tours include Chris Cunningham on bass.

When and how did you all meet?

Robin: Greta and I met in 2006ish we were friends first and then became a couple. Stephen played in a great band called The Feud and they opened a bunch of shows for my previous band The Hoax. Tom grew up in Orange County California which is where Greta and I live and we just happened to catch him playing a show a couple of years ago with another friend of ours and we needed a drummer for a show a couple of weeks later so we asked him and he has been with us ever since. Sam is also from the Los Angeles area who I met in a studio up in Idyllwild.

 You released a live album which was recorded from a selection of UK tour dates. How did you want to approach the making of the live album? 

Robin: At first we didn’t know we were recording a live album. Our sound engineer took a multitrack recording from the desk and after the tour we did a mix and thought this would be great as a live album. We had also done some simple 8 track recordings of other shows, mainly just for our own reference, but those recording had a really cool vibe so we used those for disc 2. 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

Robin: I love my MXR Classic Distortion pedal that I got from guitar center for $29, it was the cheapest in the store but sounded better than all the others I tried. I also just got the Line 6 HX1 which is 250 pedals in one and I use it to get some really fun tones without needing to add a bunch of pedals to my board.

Greta: I use the Shure KSM-8 which is the first ever dual diaphragm hand held mic. It’s ground breaking engineering for the live microphone world. As a live performer I am always shocked by the lack of options we have for microphones and effects, and this mic is impeccable. 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words? 

Robin: Devizes England – The southern delta of England.

Greta: Covington Louisiana USA – The southern delta of world.                                                 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the live recorded shows?

We did a show in Barnoldswick UK which turned into a sort of after hours dark comedy show where Stephens butthole became the topic of conversation. We actually post a bunch of full unedited shows on our bandcamp page with all the mistakes, jokes and extended jams left in so people can relive these memorable moments for themselves.

Who is in your touring band? 

Same as what is listed above.

Do you have any plans for live shows in Europe/UK in 2024?

We are doing a 19 date UK tour in April and May 2024 and we will also be headlining Upton Blues Festival in the summer then off to Europe in October.

 You will release your new album ‘Hot Nostalgia’ on 3rd May 2024. How did you want to approach the recording of album? 

We wanted each song to feel like a banger hit, regardless of genre, as if you were changing radio stations as you went along, hence the title. Since we threw genre out the window, it was important that the band had a consistent sound throughout, so it was always the 5 of us in the room and we worked the song until it felt right and then pressed record. Like they used to do, in olden times!

You also have your new single ‘Satisfy Your Queen’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

Greta: I imagined a world full of powerful strong women and what might happen of they were in charge.

Where did you record the album and who produced it?

The album is Produced us Greta Valenti & Robin Davey. It was recorded by our drummer and pro engineer Tom Rasulo with Assistance from Chris Cunningham who also plays bass with us in the USA. We recorded the album at our studio, Grow Vision Studios in Riverside, California and cut almost all of the tracks live (except vocals and a couple extra instruments). The studio itself we built during the pandemic, with help from studio design firm, Western Acoustics. It’s a one room, mini version of the 60s Motown “Hitsville USA” studio type setup. We have some vintage mics, and some new tech and we used a combo of what we felt was best for the band and the room. The final spark is having Chris Sheldon mix the album. He really gets the vision we had for the record and then Mastering by Oasis Mastering adding that final sparkle. Really a dream team that came together accidentally.

Which of your new tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?
a) “Oh Yeah!” Rock and roll bliss…but there are a lot of happy/fun songs on this album in general.
b) no angry songs on this album… maybe demanding “Satisfy Your Queen”! Or sad “Sad when I’m dancing”..but that’s really a love song.
c) “The Runaway” which became about my friend who died on Jan 2nd of this year, the day we started recording this song.

Was it a difficult album to write?

The hardest thing was choosing the songs to record as we had probably 100 written since we recorded the last album. 

How do you look after your voices?

Greta: I have to do a lot of things to look after my voice. Staying healthy, getting enough sleep. Drinking a lot of water constantly. I have a travel humidifier for the hotel rooms we stay in. I also have to build up stamina as we tour just like an athlete.

What makes Beaux Gris Gris and the Apocalypse happy and what makes you unhappy?

What makes Beaux Gris Gris happy is to see our songs at our shows making people happy. And cats!

What makes us unhappy…racists, hateful people, war, the terrible things that are happening all around the world. This is kind of a bummer to end this interview on, but it’s also weird to promote an album when there is awful things happening to innocent people. We hope that by making and sharing music with our musical family around the world, we are giving people moments to be themselves, to heal and grow, and to have fun. We are spreading joy and kindness, and hope the people pass it on. Be the Yang to the Yin of the world – be the light in the dark. 

Feature Image Photo Credit: Kaelin Davis

Beaux Gris Gris & The Apocalypse’s new studio album ‘Hot Nostalgia Radio’ is released on Friday 3rd May 2024 on GROW VISION + DEVIL HILLS ENTERTAINMENT.

The album’s first single ‘Satisfy Your Queen’ is out now on all digital platforms here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/beauxgrisgrisandtheapocalypse/satisfy-your-queen-radio-edit 

In addition, the band will embark on a a 19 date UK tour in April and May 2024 which will visit the following venues:

APR 16 Chislehurst Beaverwood
APR 17 Leicester Musician
APR 18 Edinburgh Bannermans
APR 19 Kinross Green Hotel
APR 20 Saltburn New Marske Institute
APR 21 London Pizza Express
APR 23 Ramsgate Red Arrow Music Club
APR 24 Leamington Spa The Temperance [SOLD OUT]
APR 25 Aldershot West End Centre
APR 26 New Milton Forest Arts Centre

APR 27 Stockton-on-tees Blues At The Bay [LOW TIX]
APR 28 Glasgow Blues Festival
APR 29 Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre* [SOLD OUT]
MAY 01 Stowmarket John Peel Centre
MAY 02 Hastings Black Box
MAY 03 “Hot Nostalgia Radio” worldwide album release day
MAY 04 Devizes Corn Exchange (album release show + guests)*
MAY 05 Cardiff Acapela Studios
MAY 06 Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre* [SOLD OUT]
MAY 07 Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre* [LOW TIX] – final tour show – “Pajama Show!”

*Performances will be filmed & recorded. All headline shows will be audio recorded (except festivals). More UK/USA/Euro dates on website.

Official Website: https://www.beauxgrisgris.com/

Bandcamp: https://beauxgrisgris.bandcamp.com

Online Shop and Cadiz Merchandise Store:

https://shop.beauxgrisgris.com/ 

https://cadizmerchstore.com/collections/beaux-gris-gris