B &W Bowers & Wilkins

Grindhouse (mondo cane)

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'You Think You Have It All'

The grindhouse cinema of 60’s America more often than not consisted of a double feature filled with themes of exploitation and excessive gore, sex, rebellion and mayhem. All the things that make life a little more interesting, especially if we can see them on the big screen rather than suffering the inevitable consequences of indulging in them ourselves.

Grindhouse (mondo cane) the band are also a double feature. Two for the price of one, they are at their heart a songwriting duo, Dominic Greensmith (Reef) and Gareth Hale.

The name Grindhouse (mondo cane) also draws heavily from another of their double feature qualities.

The song writing partnership was formed to write a soundtrack to a film, the band and resulting album grew out of the writing and recording sessions that followed.

Gareth Hale and Dominic Greensmith at Real World studiosGareth Hale and Dominic Greensmith at Real World studiosClick to enlarge
Dominic GreensmithDominic GreensmithClick to enlarge

To understand more of the sound and history of Grindhouse (mondo cane) it’s best to start at its core. Having spent 10 years in one of Britain’s most popular rock bands, Reef, Dominic went on to play with such musical legends as Peter Gabriel and Ray Davies as well as playing drums for the Mick Jones (The Clash) and Tony James (Generation X) collaboration Carbon/Silicon and chart bothering indie rock band Kubb.

Gareth’s musical history is a little less glamorous with the guitar being brought out at parties and get-togethers and his songs and song writing style evolving in the privacy of his own home without the usual pressures and attention of a struggling rock star to distract him. All this changed when Dominic’s wife and critically acclaimed filmmaker, Heidi Greensmith, approached the pair to write the soundtrack to her latest documentary Rock Star, the story of ultra chic jewelry maker and jet setter Stephen Webster.

Initial sessions went so well that it wasn’t long before Peter Gabriel expressed his interest in the pair and passed one of their early demos onto his Head of Publishing, Rob Bozas at Real World Works Ltd.

The soundtrack writing progressed over the following months until it became obvious that there was an album lurking in there too. A band was needed. Jesse Wood (son of Rolling Stones’ Ronnie Wood) and John Hogg, both of the band HOGG, fitted the bill perfectly and long time friends Martin Wright (Days of Worth), brought in to co-produce, and Sean Genockey (The Dykeenies, Tom McRea, Reuben) to engineer and mix the project.

The recording session that followed at Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire could only be described as relaxed. Band members routinely swapped instruments when the mood took them while Martin and Dominic shared the production duties. The group jelled so quickly they were describing themselves as a band within 20 minutes of playing together.

Gareth Hale and Dominic Greensmith at Real World studiosGareth Hale and Dominic Greensmith at Real World studiosClick to enlarge
Click to enlarge

The songs and the band’s sound evolved during the process in a very organic way with some surprising results. A feeling of importance that is reminiscent of Radiohead’s debut Pablo Honey and a yearning passion in Gareth’s vocals that hinted at Jeff Buckley came through. Also more classic and jovial moments appeared that harp back to the likes of Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones and showed signs of the fun the band were having in the studio.

These elements were all pulled together by Dominic’s love of traditional recording processes mixed with the freedom of sounds found in more contemporary R&B and pop production and the result was an album where even the quietest of the compositions is big enough to fill a cinema, or a stadium and the sound can only be described as Grindhouse (mondo cane).

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