Grace in the Woods | Bands We Love

I caught up with Grace in the Woods and asked them a few questions to get to know them better. Here is what they had to say:

What inspired you to start playing music in the first place?

Grace: I was inspired to start playing music because my dad plays the guitar, and would get me and my mom to sing with him when I was younger, and through the years music became a normal part of life.

Neem: When I was about 10 my parents had me take piano lessons. That lasted for a few years and then I dropped it. I took up the guitar when I was 16 or so because I had always loved music and a number of my friends had started playing music together and I thought it would be fun. I found a love for singing about 4 or 5 years ago.

Which bands did you grow up listening to? Who are your favorites now?

Grace: I grew up listening to The Beatles and The Beach Boys until I was old enough to buy my own music, and then I had a phase in high school where I was really into some shameful things like Evanescence and My Chemical Romance. Now I'd say my favorites are Bon Iver, The Civil Wars, and the Local Natives, and Pop artists like Sia and Lana Del Rey and Katy Perry.

Neem: I used to listen to things like Paul Simon "Graceland" and the "California Raisins" when I was a kid while riding in the back seat. During the 90′s I was big into the grunge movement. Bands like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Nirvana etc. I was into the whole sixties thing too, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Zeppelin.

What made you two decide to branch off into your own duo?

Grace: We branched off as a duo because as much as I loved being in a band, its kind of like a relationship, and patterns just build that are too hard to shake. And for us, it eventually became a storm of opinions when there were four of us, and we couldn't make the music we wanted to because everyone had different taste. It's still really hard sometimes as a duo! But we spend a lot of time together and sometimes we'd play, and we realized that we had something with just the two of us.

Neem: In my experience its hard to get along with most artists, myself included! Most of the projects that I have been a part of have ended for this reason. Grace and I have been able to work together fairly well recently but we have had our own issues over the last few years. It feels like we're slowly finding ways to inspire each other more and argue less.

What's your favorite song that you perform so far?

Grace: I think my favorite song to perform is a song of ours called "Melt In The Sun" because it's really passionate and has some really fun and weird harmonies. But we've just started playing White Stripe covers, and oh my, they are so much fun!

Nemo: "Melt in the Sun"

What advice do you have for bands just starting out?

Grace: For bands that are just starting out I would say, find that thing about yourself or your band that is special or unique, your own strength, and really bring it out. Lots of bands are technically perfect, but I really believe that it's the x-factor that matters. Just keep playing shows, and experiment with what it is about your performance that really gets people.

Neem: My first advice would be, continue to believe in yourself regardless of others opinions. Be careful choosing people to play with. Personality and ethics between band mates can be a make or breaker.

Band: Grace in the Woods

Band Members: Neem Wood and Grace Evans