Review Fix Exclusive: Grej Talks “Part 3” And More

Review Fix chats with Grej who discusses the unique “Part 3” single, as well as inspirations, creative process and goals for the future.

Review Fix: Why is music important to you?

Grej: It’s really the only thing I know how to do… other than playing Smash Bros. (N64).
It was really one of my earliest hobbies.  Growing up, we had a 4-track reel-to-reel that somehow still worked.  I remember recording layers of sounds and shit I’d find around the house and I’d make an album on cassette to give to friends.  Little did I realize the value of doing that at the time.

Review Fix: How did you first get involved in music?

Grej: My dad is a drummer and singer-songwriter.  I used to sound check his drums when I was a little kid. I got transfixed my every aspect of it.  I soon started taking drum lessons. In high school we had a guest percussionist (Mark Adam) who performed marimba with loop pedals and did some Steve Reich phasing.  My mind was blown and I decided to study with him at Acadia University.  From then on my main focus was classical music, until I moved to Toronto and started incorporating drums again.

My time in school really opened up my ears to new and interesting music.  I think the combination of that and my keenness of recording technology paved the way to making experimental art music.

Review Fix: How did the band get together?

Grej: I had a conversation with myself and said “ok.” This particular project was commissioned by Form Contemporary Dance Theatre in Feb. 2017.  Afterwords I thought the music would make a nice standalone EP.

Review Fix: How was “Part 3” written?

Grej: It started with me trying to figure out a way to incorporate Columbian music into the piece (being commissioned by a Columbian dancer and all).  I was having a hard time deciding what/ how I could incorporate certain elements… so I decided to try chopping up a track of traditional Columbian folk music.   That was really the backbone of the whole piece, and you can hear it pretty much throughout the track.

Review Fix: What makes it a special single?

Grej: I think it has elements of the whole album in it.  The theme of cymbals/ synths are there, however this movement features a lot more percussion.  I ended up rigging an acoustic guitar so I could bow it and smash it with drum sticks.  This provides the rhythmic hocketing pattern, as well at stabbing strings throughout the piece.

Review Fix: How is i/Variations unique?

Grej: I think the concept of cymbals being manipulated to create melodic lines was interesting.  It opened a lot of doors on how to feature that instrument (which normally gets squashed via overhead compression, mp3s, etc).

Review Fix: What do you think is the best reason to listen to this album? Why?

Grej: I think it evokes strong emotions of tension and release through waves of acoustic treated sounds and a Juno synth. If you’re interested in letting foreign sounds take you to a another place, then this will work out for ya.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Grej: Thinking of doing an album for drum kit/ electronics. “grej” is an excuse for me to do whatever I want.  This means each album will likely be a concept album.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14262 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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