Vending Machine Mention in Outside Magazine, June 2008

Our friend Jonathan Kiersky at the Hi-Tone Cafe put "Desert Sun Played" on his summer mix. Check out the side bar below from Outside Magazine's June 2008 issue.

The perfect party mix...doesn't exist. But some people know better than others. And few can be trusted more than the folks at the Hi-Tone Cafe, in barbacue capital Memphis, Tennessee. The pizza joint hosts about 1,000 bands for 300 shows a year--both local and national touring acts. "If a tremendous band is playing rooms our size," says owner Jonathan Kiersky (who suggests the rootsy starter mix here), "they will be playing the Hi-Tone."

1. "Honey, I'm Too Old for You" Jack-O and the Tennessee Tearjerkers
2. "Push and Pull," Viva L'American Death Ray Music
3. "T New," Antenna Shoes
4. "Desert Sun Played," Vending Machine [Buy on iTunes]
5. "Is There a Ghost," Band of Horses
6. "So Much Trouble," Matt Pond PA
7. "Ugly Things," Unknown Hinson
8. "The Cry of Melora," Black CObra
9. "Last Day of Winter," Pelican
10. "Veni Vidi Vici," Black Lips

Article: Rockin' Rockey, Redbirds mascot, gets his own theme song

From the Commercial Appeal:
Rockin' Rockey, Redbirds mascot, gets his own theme song

By Jim Masilak
Wednesday, May 7, 2008

In a bid to get more fans shuffling down to AutoZone Park, the Redbirds are launching a new interactive marketing strategy based on their most identifiable, ahem, personality: Rockey the Rockin' Redbird.

The nonprofit ballclub commissioned a song from a local artist, shot a music video and choreographed a dance all based around their popular beaked mascot.

The St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A affiliate hopes that the result, "The Rockey Shuffle," will capture the imagination of the team's youngest fans and help lead families back to the ballpark after six straight years of declining attendance.

"We're always looking for a way to improve the fan experience," said Jason Potter, the Redbirds' director of marketing. "Looking at who is behind the decision to (go to the ballpark), I think it's the kids. If you can win the hearts and minds of the little ones, you're halfway there."

In considering the team's main selling points and the most logical subjects to base a campaign around, Potter decided Rockey was the obvious choice. Unlike the Triple-A club's players, who rarely stay in town for more than a year or two, Rockey is established as the face of the franchise.

"Rockey's our No. 1 marketing asset," Potter said. "We want to emphasize the individual experience at AutoZone Park. What's something we can get the kids engaged in on an individual level? We decided to put Rockey on a more interactive level."

Toward that end, Potter recruited Robby Grant, frontman for 1990s rockers Big Ass Truck, to create a new theme song for Rockey. Performing as Vending Machine, his pseudonymous solo project, Grant composed three songs and solicited input from his 8-year-old son, Five, and 3-year-old daughter, Sadie, before recording the version of "The Rockey Shuffle" now being heard at AutoZone Park.

"We've been to Redbird games and my son definitely knows about Rockey," Grant said. "That's kind of the impetus for me doing it -- my kids, and getting to share the whole process with them.

"They told me what was good."

Grant recorded "The Rockey Shuffle" at Easley McCain Studios. The two-minute, 45-second track features Robert Barnett, Quinn Powers, Doug Easley, Sean Faust and about two dozen kids who can be heard in a dueling chant of "Rockey! Rockey!"

Potter said Grant's participation "lends it a certain amount of indie credibility. We're borrowing some of Robby's cool."

The song debuted recently to rave reviews at AutoZone Park, where about 150 kids took part in a postgame video shoot on a cold Sunday afternoon. The song encourages listeners, among other things, to "put your elbows out beside you and flap them like they're wings" and "take a step to the right and do a loud scream."

The Redbirds hope the song and dance prove popular enough with fans that they'll submit video of their own interpretations. The best ones could end up on the stadium scoreboard between innings.

Potter, who said there are also plans for T-shirts based on "The Rockey Shuffle," said fans have already been requesting encore performances at home games.

"We really want this to be an element that kids come to the park expecting to hear and that adults get in their heads and sing on the way home," said Potter, who talks about marketing Redbirds games to families as "nine-inning vacations."

The song has already hit the local airwaves, making the play list at WEVL-FM 89.9, the city's volunteer radio station.

The Redbirds are selling CD singles for $5 each at the Backstop Baseball Emporium adjacent to AutoZone Park, and fans can listen online at memphisredbirds.com or at vendingmachineband.com.

-- Jim Masilak: 529-2311
-- Pic by Nikki Boertman/The Commercial Appeal

Link to story:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/may/07/rockin-rockey/

Mouserocket | Commercial Appeal | Mouserocket likes it Pretty Loud

On second album, band maintains spirit of collaboration, improvisation
By Bob Mehr
Friday, April 25, 2008

Although they've been playing together since 2001, the members of Mouserocket did something for the first time recently: They took a band photo.

It's odd that it should take so long -- nearly a decade, a handful of album and single releases, and countless shows -- for a band to get around to such a basic task, but Mouserocket has always operated in fairly unconventional manner.

A local "supergroup" of sorts, the band features guitarists/vocalists Alicja Trout (Lost Sounds, River City Tanlines) and Robby Grant (Big Ass Truck, Vending Machine), cellist Jonathan Kirkscey (Rob Jungklas Trio, Hi Electric), and drummer Robert Barnett and bassist Hemant Gupta.

Though it started it out as a side project for most of its members -- and remains that way to a large extent -- Mouserocket has become a fixture on Memphis' indie rock scene, while the band's recordings represent some of the best work any of them has done. Tonight, the group celebrates the release of its second and latest effort, Pretty Loud, with a show at the Hi-Tone Café.

"When we started," says Trout, "for me, Mouserocket was the band I'd go to and be like, 'This is a group where I can just enjoy music' -- as opposed to feeling stress or the pressure of touring or a career."

Originally built around a handful of children's songs Trout wrote in the late '90s, she began rehearsing with drummer Barnett and guitarist Grant, veterans of Big Ass Truck and Vending Machine.

"Originally, I was just going to come in and play loud guitar," says Grant, who soon began contributing his own songs to the mix.

Then, Gupta and Kirkscey came along, the two being old friends, roommates and band mates. "In high school, Jonathan played guitar in the band and I played sitar," says Gupta, whose mother is an accomplished sitar player. "She was teaching me for a bit but it didn't work, so I got a bass."

Kirkscey, who joined the Memphis Symphony in 1999, connected with Trout via their work together on the soundtrack to Craig Brewer's debut film, "The Poor & Hungry," and later, Kirkscey briefly played with her in the notoriously combustible Lost Sounds.

Kirkscey was invited to play with Mouserocket, and Gupta arrived with him, his bass in tow. "They came as a package, one day they both showed up together," says Grant. "And that was the band."

Mouserocket's self-titled debut, released in 2004 on Empty Records, was a quirky, angular affair that merged an early-'90s lo-fi/four-track aesthetic with the big-tableau pop of XTC and the odd blast of Sonic Youth-styled guitar noise.

Although they continued to play as Mouserocket with some regularity over the next few years, the group ultimately took a backseat to the band members' individual pursuits. Trout was busy with the Lost Sounds and later the River City Tanlines, and then the birth of a baby girl; Grant and Barnett continued with their quirk-pop combo Vending Machine and families of their own; while Gupta finished law school, got married and took a job at the firm of Butler Snow. Kirkscey is the only one in the band who's single or doesn't have kids.

"Be sure to print that," jokes Grant. "'Jonathan is single ... and he likes taking long walks on the beach.'"

Finally last summer, the band decided to try to complete work on its sophomore album, Pretty Loud. Recorded at various home studios in fits and starts over the last four years, it combines news songs as well as polishing up a few nuggets from Trout's and Grant's back catalogs.

Although Grant and Trout generally provide the original impetus of the songs, Mouserocket has, over the years, evolved into a more collaborative unit -- something that adds a unique texture to its indie-rock concoctions.

"For me, the songs start as something really simple that would sound good with big parts and people adding their own layers to it," says Trout. "Or it's something that's really unfinished and we work on it at practice -- 'cause we don't really practice our set; we just sort work on new material when we get together."

A kind of flowing improvisational element -- with each member adding his or her own touches to the songs -- has come to define Mouserocket, particularly on stage. "We all sort of enjoy the freedom to experiment and be creative," says Kirkscey. "That's a good environment to play music in."

"Although sometimes at shows, we don't know what we're supposed to be playing," says Trout, to gales of laughter. "It's like, 'Um, I think most of us played the D chord there.'"

Perhaps the biggest difference, both in concert and on Pretty Loud, is Kirkscey's cello work. Beyond his job with the symphony, Kirkscey has become the go-to cellist in local pop and rock circles, playing with everyone from Cat Power to Al Green to Harlan T. Bobo. His keening, sometimes dissonant playing has become a defining part of Mouserocket's sound.

"At first, trying to compete with these guys was incredibly difficult," says Kirkscey. "I tried a lot of different pickups, amp and pedals. I didn't have anybody to tell me how to play rock cello in a band, so it was trial and error. I think I've gotten it to where I can compete volume-wise with these guys. It's only taken seven years to get there."

Following a recent industry trend, Pretty Loud is being released this week, by Chicago's Tic Tac Totally! label, as a vinyl LP with a CD of the recording packaged inside. The vivid cover art that accompanies the album is the creation of New Orleans musician Miss Pussycat, depicting the band as furry, tribble-like creatures.

"She made a different puppet of each of us, but I had to describe everybody over the phone to her," says Trout, chuckling, "'cause we had no pictures. . . . They're pretty good interpretations, though."

Although the disc is already generating good reviews (including a recent nod on the Los Angeles Times Web site), it's unlikely -- given the band members' personal commitments in Memphis -- that they'll hit the road to promote the disc.

"This band has tons and tons of potential to do stuff, except most of us are not in the position to tour it," says Trout.

They will make the local rounds beginning with tonight's CD release at the Hi-Tone, continuing with an acoustic show at Goner Records May 1, and an in-store at Shangri-La Records later next month.

Although Mouserocket's members continue to stay busy with various projects, the band is something none of them plans on ever leaving behind. In fact, they all agree it's one group they can see playing in when they're old and gray.

"It's weird to think that," says Trout, "but it's true."

"Well, it's because we never have fights," says Kirkscey. "That's a rare thing to have in a band."

"That kinda is the deal with us. We don't have any drama. Which probably makes us boring," adds Grant, laughing. "We're happy to manufacture some if you want, though."

--Bob Mehr: 901-529-2517


http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/apr/25/mouserocket-likes-it-pretty-loud/

Mouserocket | Memphis Flyer Article | Meeting in the Middle

Robby Grant's "pretty" and Alicja Trout's "loud" morph into Mouserocket.
BY CHRIS HERRINGTON APRIL 24, 2008

The Midtown Memphis music scene has long been an incestuous network. It's almost hard to find prominent musicians who haven't worked together at one point or another. But one of the more interesting pairings in this world might be Robby Grant and Alicja Trout, who co-front the underrecognized indie-rock quintet Mouserocket.

Grant made his name on the local scene as the frontman for '90s notables Big Ass Truck but has lately recorded most of his music via the somewhat-solo project Vending Machine, a home-recording-oriented "band" in which Grant tends to write quirky, dreamy songs about subjects such as his wife, kids, and home life.

Trout became a major player on the local indie/punk scene via the synth-rockers the Clears and, later, as a co-conspirator (alongside Jay Reatard) in the ferocious Lost Sounds. More recently, Trout's signal band has the blistering power trio River City Tanlines. In Mouserocket, Grant and Trout meet halfway: Trout tones it down, and Grant amps it up.

"The whole pretext for me was that I wanted to make a lot of noise and play guitar and not write songs," Grant says. "I think Alicja turned to me one time at band practice and asked, 'What song are you going to do?' So it's kind of morphed into that. But what I like to do in this band is play really loud guitar and sing really loud."

Mouserocket started out, a decade ago, as a Trout side project of sorts — an outlet for lighter, poppier, more playful songs that didn't fit her other projects. But it's developed over the years into a classic, collaborative band.

"Here you can bring a skeleton of a song, or less, and make something," Trout says. "Everyone can come up with a part. It takes a lot to get to that point, but it's a true band. The sound isn't determined by the songwriters."

The band members who have coalesced around Trout and Grant include former Big Ass Truck drummer Robert Barnett, cellist Jonathan Kirkscey, and bassist Hermant Gupta. Barnett also plays with Grant in Vending Machine, and, in a Midtown landscape where there seems to be a handful of talented drummers who serve an entire scene, he stays busy, playing with Rob Jungklas, Hi Electric, and a jazz trio with guitarist Jim Duckworth and Jim Spake.

"He probably plays in more bands than any of us," Grant says.

Kirkscey plays in the Memphis Symphony Orchestra but lately has been bringing his classical chops to the rock world. Gupta, alone among his fellow Mouserocketeers, is a one-band man.

With its members involved in so many projects, Mouserocket is not the type of band that practices regularly or lives together in a tour band. But everyone agrees that, with a familiarity born out of a decade together, the band thrives on its looser framework.

"We've gotten to the point where we don't play a lot together, but we've played together for a long time," says Grant. "We're not a band that practices once a week and that practices our old songs. We can play shows and come together without that."

"Our shows are boring if we practice too much," Trout says.

This fruitfully ramshackle quality is reflected in the band's new album, Pretty Loud, only its second official full-length release and one that was recorded over several years. It features new versions of several previously recorded songs — two from Mouserocket's past ("Missing Teeth" and "Set on You," previously poppy rock songs here gone electro and country, respectively), one from Vending Machine ("44 Times"), and one from Trout's solo project Black Sunday (the epic "On the Way Downtown," which richly deserves a second life).

Along the way, the album presents a sonic variety — especially in guitar sounds — perhaps unique among Grant's and Trout's myriad projects.

"That's probably a result of it being recorded over such a long time in so many different places," Grant says of the variety. "But I love that about it."

"What are you supposed to do when you're a songwriter and you record a song on a seven-inch that sells 300 copies or whatever and then you record a better version with a band that's playing live?" Trout asks about reusing old songs, particularly "On the Way Downtown." "Black Sunday is my solo thing, but if I'm playing [that song] live and the version is totally different, I think you have the license to record it again."

If Mouserocket has, at times, been secondary to Grant's and Trout's other musical outlets, now the band seems to be moving to the forefront. As the father of two, Grant isn't as free to tour (or as interested in touring) as he was in his Big Ass Truck days. Trout, the mother of a six-month-old girl, is in a similar place.

"For me, when I was in Lost Sounds, it was very stressful, and I needed this band to remind me that music was fun," Trout says. "I've put it on the backburner because touring was taking up so much time. Now that I'm not touring ... You know, having a kid has given me less time in some ways, but it's given me more time to think about [my music]."

http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A42381

The Rockey Shuffle - Vending Machine does a song for the Memphis Redbirds baseball team

The new Vending Machine song AND dance, "The Rockey Shuffle" will debut as a part of this Sunday's (April 13th, 2008) "Baptist Pediatric Care Kids Opening Day" festivities at the Memphis Redbird's AutoZone Park.

As is the Sunday tradition at the park, kids will be invited to run the bases at the conclusion of the game, which will be followed by a special invitation for all to stick around and be a part of the making of the Rockey Shuffle video which we will use throughout the season both in-game and on the Memphis Redbirds website.

Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 1:35 PM, and tickets are available at http://www.memphisredbirds.com/ or by calling (901) 721-6000.

The song was recorded last month at the new Easley McCain studio and features Robert Barnett, Quinn Powers, Doug Easley, Sean Faust and a cast of kids.

Check back here Sunday night as well to hear the song. We will be posting it here!






April 16, 2008 - Update! Take a listen here: http://drop.io/rockeyshuffle

Memphis Pops Video

Check out this short video from last year's Memphis Pops fest:

Check out this video: Memphis Pops 2007

Memphis Pops Pics

Thanks to everyone for coming the Memphis Pops last month.

Check out some of the photos here.

Thriving pop scene gets its props

Daylong inaugural festival will showcase rising local stylists

Bob Mehr

July 27, 2007

During the past year, something struck Shangri-La Projects owner and veteran Memphis music impresario Sherman Willmott as being very strange.

"I was noticing all these pop music festivals around the country -- in San Francisco, in New York, and Los Angeles -- that were featuring bands from Memphis or bands that were affiliated with Memphis," says Willmott. "And I wondered why we didn't have something like that here."

Addressing that oversight, Willmott is staging the inaugural Memphis Pops festival this Saturday. The daylong event will feature 10 bands -- covering a panoply of pop styles -- playing at the Shangri-La Records store and at the Hi-Tone Cafe.

Though the lineup includes several bands with long-standing local roots, the emphasis is mostly on new and up-and-coming acts -- ranging from the sweet-sounding trash-pop of The Perfect Fits to the expansive chamber pop of Antenna Shoes.

"I really do think this is the best time for Memphis music I've seen in my life. And there also seems to be a civic movement to promote current arts," says Willmott.

"That's the whole idea behind putting everyone on a bill for one day. To give people who can't get out to the clubs all the time an opportunity to see and enjoy what's going on in town and the region right now."

Willmott notes that Memphis' legacy as a town rich in roots music -- blues, R&B, soul -- has tended to obscure the city's identity as a thriving environment for pop.

"I don't think people have ever really considered Memphis a pop center," he says. "At a certain point in the mid-'60s it was, but even then it was so overshadowed by what was going on at Stax and Hi," says Willmott. "But if you go back to that period and look at Sam the Sham, the Box Tops and the Gentrys, they all had big pop hits."

That trend toward pop music continued -- albeit with less chart success -- into the 1970s, with several bands revolving around Midtown's Ardent Studios, including Big Star, The Scruffs, The Hot Dogs, Cargoe and Tommy Hoehn.

"And there are bands in town that still carry on that tradition," says Willmott. "But I don't think anybody immediately thinks of Memphis as a place for pop, unfortunately."

Memphis Pops will begin Saturday at 3 p.m. with a series of free in-store performances at Shangri-La Records. The lineup features several interesting fledgling bands -- Jared McStay's Nice Digs, Quinn Powers' and Alix Brown's The Arch Rivals, the Scott Rogers-led Perfect Fits, and the Wallendas, fronted by former Reigning Sound bassist Jeremy Scott and ex-Panther Burns guitar ace Jim Duckworth.

The nighttime festivities at the Hi-Tone commence at 6 p.m. with the first public screening of a 2006 documentary on the history of Ardent Studios by The Commercial Appeal's former music writer Larry Nager.

Live performances start immediately afterward, beginning with the Tim Lee 3, the new project from the Mississippi native and legendary Windbreakers front man. Local left-field indie pop crews Vending Machine, led by Robby Grant, and Antenna Shoes, featuring Tim Regan, will follow.

Atlanta's fast-rising punk-pop outfit The Carbonas will also appear; their set will offer a preview of their album due on the local Goner Records label this fall.

Memphis power-pop veterans Rick Camp and Jeff Golightly of 1980s favorites The Crime unveil their latest project, The Everyday Parade, while art-pop ensemble Viva L'American Deathray , featuring former Memphian Nick Ray and celebrated local tunesmith Harlan T. Bobo, will cap the night.

The fest's $10 cover charge also includes a limited-edition four-song vinyl single featuring cuts from various Memphis Pops artists, including an unreleased Viva L'American Deathray track.

Willmott says the event is something of a dry run for what he hopes will be an expansion of the festival into a multi-day event next year. He cites the success of the locally produced garage rock extravaganza Gonerfest -- the fourth edition of which will take place in late September -- as an example of how specifically targeted music fests can succeed without the need for expensive headlining acts and pricey tickets.

"That's kind of where cultural tourism is going – people just want to go and indulge in their passions a long weekend," says Willmott. "That's why Gonerfest is so successful. It's not because they have the biggest bands in world playing necessarily, it's because everything they have that weekend appeals to that audience and gives them ten reasons to come to town instead of just one."

More info:

Music preview

Memphis Pops

Free in-store at Shangri-La Records, 1916 Madison, at 3 p.m. Featuring: Nice Digs, The Arch Rivals, The Perfect Fits and The Wallendas. Call 274-1916.

Festivities begin at the Hi-Tone, 1913 Poplar, at 6 p.m. Cover is $10. Music starts at 7 p.m. Featuring: Tim Lee 3, Vending Machine, Antenna Shoes, The Carbonas, The Everyday Parade, and Viva L'American Deathray Music. Call 278-8663.

Vending Machine

The Carbonas

Everyday Parade

Viva L'American Deathray

Memphis Magazine March 2007

Family Affair

BY CHRIS HERRINGTON

Robby Grant spent most of his 20s touring the country with popular Memphis band Big Ass Truck, singing and playing guitar in front of packed crowds at college bars and rock clubs.

But now that he's 33 years old and a father of two, music functions differently in Grant's life. Recording solo albums under the moniker Vending Machine, he makes his music at home and rarely plays outside the city.

"With Big Ass Truck, the last year we were touring, my son Five was born. So I wasn't around [much] his first year," Grant says. "He's 7 now and

I've also got a 2-year-old daughter, and I can't imagine being gone for two or three weeks."

Grant builds websites by day, but records music by night -- or morning -- at the home studio he's fashioned in the attic of his Midtown bungalow.

"I get a lot of work done early, before the kids get up," Grant says. "Setting your own schedule is a big benefit [of not touring and recording at home]."

Grant's new album, King Cobras Do, his fifth solo album and fourth under the Vending Machine name, is the first he's recorded entirely in his current attic studio.

"I feel like I get good drum sounds with the angled ceilings," Grant says of his upstairs respite. "I tend to play, record, and write all at the same time. It's rare that I sit down and write a song on an acoustic guitar and then go record it. So the home studio gives me the luxury to play around and record whenever I feel like it."

King Cobras Do is not only home-recorded, but also homey. As indie-rock records go, it has an unusually cozy feel. The intimacy of the recording process and Grant's penchant for referencing his home life in his songs give the album a unity of tone and content. The result is an album that feels like a hymn to domesticity in both spirit and subject matter.

"It's definitely a family affair," Grant says of the record. His son, Five (Robert Grant the fifth), contributes free-associative lyrics to the album-opening "Rabies" and to "Saturn National Anthem. "He comes up with me in the mornings when I'm recording sometimes," Grant says. The rest of the family shows up as song subjects.

The second song, "Rae," is a hand-clap-fueled love song to Grant's wife. The memories here are charmingly lived-in: "When you developed photos there/And we hung out and I sat in the chair/Nervous and scared around you" and "Remember when our room was just a bed." The album-closing "Tell Me the Truth and I'll Stop Teasing You" is a delicate tribute to Grant's 2-year-old daughter, Sadie. "The animal noises that you make never sound all that fake/It feels like there's an elephant in the room," Grant testifies, before a great little moment where he catches her yawning. And the theme is completed with "Good Old Upstairs," which personifies the attic studio/guest room where King Cobras Do was created: "In my sleep, she nudges me/To come up and play around some more."

Vending Machine started as a side project during Grant's stint in Big Ass Truck. Though he fulfills his itch to play in a "band" alongside Alicja Trout in Mouse Rocket, and gets plenty of help from an extended family of former Big Ass Truck bandmates (ex-Truckers Steve Selvidge, Robert Barnett, and Grayson Grant -- Robby's younger brother -- appear on King Cobras Do), this one-man-band is now his primary creative outlet. And it's one that allows him more freedom than ever before.

"With Big Ass Truck, everything was a collective effort, so the big difference is that Vending Machine is all me," Grant says. "I write all the songs and record everything. When we were recording albums that we knew we were going to be touring behind, we were always aware of how an audience might relate. You're not as open as a songwriter in that situation. It's hard to get intimate in a bar full of 600 college kids."

If Grant misses anything from the old days, it's less the travel and the packed clubs than the networking opportunities. He's releasing King Cobras Do via Shoulder Tap Records, a new label he's started with a New York-based Big Ass Truck fan he met on the road.

"I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of people, which is what I miss from touring," Grant says. "But things have also changed a lot with the Internet. You're able to get out there, make contacts, and let people hear your music without touring. I don't really care how many records I sell, but I do want my music to be heard."

Grant seems content with a situation that affords him the luxury of creating music on his own time and meeting his own specifications.

"Another great thing is there's no deadline," Grant says. "This album came out when it was ready. And that's how I want to make music. I feel that's what resonates the most. In Big Ass Truck, it was hard to be personal because I felt self-conscious a lot. With this, the more specific you get about your personal life, the more people can relate to it." M

Link

King Cobras Do Review From The Commercial Appeal

2.16.2007

King Cobras Do
Vending Machine
Shoulder Tap Records

Time magazine last week ran an article about a new generation of hipster parents seeking to stay cool while raising a family; locally this trend is best expressed in Rock-n-Romp, a group that Memphis musician Robby Grant co-founded, that hires local alternative bands to play in family-friendly settings. But Grant, whose home studio band Vending Machine has just released its fifth CD, could also turn out to be the hipster parents' Dylan.

Musically, Grant has never walked the straight path. In all his other various projects -- from defunct alterna-funk band Big Ass Truck to current outlets like the cover band the Glitches, the Alicja Trout collaboration Mouserocket, and Vending Machine -- Grant brings a quirky, punkish sensibility laced with a love for classic pop but just out of synch with expectations. You can hear it in the jerky rhythms he prefers and the strange harmonics that imbue his melodies. This anti-pop stance does not, on a casual listen, make for very accessible music; previous Vending Machine records have been, on the surface at any rate, jarring efforts with little visceral engagement.

But on King Cobras Do, Grant has struck a nice balance between pop songcraft and his own yen for angular detours. With lilting tunes and pared down lyrical imagery, tracks such as the bubblegum love song "Rae" (about Grant's wife) and the bluesy "Recording Your Thoughts" are some of Grant's most immediately appealing songs.

Even the more challenging material has a new depth. The father of two is very good at exposing the childlike whimsy in the current vogue of twee pop, going so far as to even give his 7-year-old son writing credit on "Saturn National Anthem." And even a song about death like "Desert Played Sun" is populated with children and animals, and full of playful humor. - Mark Jordan

Man and Vending Machine

Grant sings, plays, writes songs, builds Web sites and satisfies his urge to create
By Bob Mehr
February 2, 2007
FROM: The Commercial Appeal

On the surface, there's nothing really remarkable about Robby Grant. A quiet, unassuming 33-year-old, he's a husband, a father of two, a homeowner and has a job with a big title ("senior solutions architect") with local a advertising company. But Grant is also one of Memphis' more interesting singer-songwriters -- and has been for more than a decade.

Though he's probably best known as a member of now-defunct rock band Big Ass Truck, he's quietly built an impressive catalog as a solo artist, mostly recording under the name Vending Machine. Last month, Grant released his fifth album, King Cobras Do. A charmed collision of styles and sounds, its 12 tracks refract everything from '50s doo-wop to early '80s Australian pop through his own skewed kaleidoscope. Grant will mark the release of the disc -- and the launch of his new label, Shoulder Tap -- with a show at the Hi-Tone on Saturday.

Born in Little Rock, Grant grew up in a musical environment. His mother, who emigrated from England to the United States with her family during World War II, was a massive Beatles fanatic. His father was a Memphis native who'd fronted a mid-'60s garage outfit called the Deltas. "I have these vague, very early memories of him when he was singing and playing," says Grant. Grant's father was killed in a car accident when he was just 5, and the family left Little Rock and came to Memphis.

Grant first picked guitar as a teen and was soon playing in a succession of groups. "I've been in bands since seventh grade, and every group has been the logical extension of the previous one," he says. In high school, Grant, along with his classmate Steve Selvidge, formed Thrill of Confusion, which later became Fester, which -- after the pair graduated in 1991 -- evolved into Big Ass Truck. The latter group would enjoy a decade-long run and considerable national success, recording four critically acclaimed psych-tinged albums (including 1996's standout Kent) and touring heavily.

In the midst of his tenure with Big Ass Truck, Grant decided to indulge his avant-pop sensibilities, cutting an eclectic solo album as Robert Grant for North Carolina indie Yep Roc, before switching to the Vending Machine moniker with 2000's Chamber from Here to There for Boston's Powerbunny label. That year Grant joined his Big Ass Truck bandmates in the studio to write and record an experimental album called The Rug. But the group broke up soon after the album was released in 2001.

Meanwhile, Grant had begun teaching himself how to write computer code and do Web site design. "I was always interested in computers, long before you could go to school for that," says Grant. "So I had two tracks going at the same time. As a touring musician, you're not on the road all the time, so I had other jobs. Eventually, I stopped touring and those other jobs took over."

In 2000 Grant began working at local firm, Ringger Interactive -- the company's head, Paul Ringger, had been an early Big Ass Truck supporter and had actually released the group's first album. Ringger Interactive was eventually bought and Grant has been working at the new company since 2005.

Since the demise of Big Ass Truck, Grant's put out a series of largely one-man band, home-recorded and self-released Vending Machine titles: 2002's Five Piece Kit, 2004's Kicked & Scratched, and a limited-edition CD of holiday songs, released late last year. A prolific songsmith, Grant is constantly writing and piecing together songs from fragments before refining them in his attic studio.

"Mostly, I just record these 10- to 30-second ideas on a little tape recorder, and build a collection of those and then take them upstairs and flesh them out as songs."

Musically, Grant's latest, King Cobras Do, mixes his well-defined brand of left-field pop with more meditative moments. "I've been listening to a lot of quieter stuff. And as far as writing songs, I've gotten more personal than I have in the past. I write more specifically about what's going on in my life," says Grant, referring to numbers like "Rae" and "Tell Me The Truth and I'll Stop Teasing You," sweet odes to his wife and baby daughter.

Grant's unique recording process also dictated the warm, easy feel of the album. "I work in the mornings -- really early, before the kids get up," he says. "My studio is removed enough from their bedrooms so I can record -- I can't play drums but I can play guitar and sing."

While generally working around his kids, Grant did end up in an unlikely collaboration with his young son, Five, who provided the lyrics for the track "Saturn National Anthem."

"I played it for him and he was kind of free-associating some lyrics, and I pulled them together and put them in the song," says Grant who gave his son co-writing credit. "I mean, I won't be a stage father by any means, but I'd be lying if I said that it wouldn't be great to have a family band someday with my daughter playing drums and my son playing guitar."

Unlike his last few albums, King Cobras Do received a proper pressing and release -- a change made possible thanks to MTV. In 2005, through a connection with local roots rockers Lucero, the network contacted Grant to license instrumental versions of a pair of Vending Machine songs for placement in its "Real World: Austin" series.

"It was funny 'cause I made more money from one placement than I ever made selling records or CDs with any other band I've been in," says Grant. With his MTV windfall, Grant decided to start a small label, Shoulder Tap, with his friend, New York City-based musician Yazan Fahmawi. The new album was released to stores a couple weeks back, as well as on I-tunes -- and Grant already has secured further placements for songs from the CD for the new season of MTV's "Pimp My Ride."

Although largely a recording project, Grant does occasionally play out with a live version of Vending Machine. The core group includes Grant's younger brother Grayson on bass, Circuit Bender veteran Quinn Powers on guitar, and his longtime Big Ass Truck bandmate Robert Barnett on drums. Recently, the group added a second drummer, the Secret Service's John Argroves. "Fortunately, neither one of the guys are 'check me out' kind of drummers; they really listen to each other. Plus," jokes Grant, "playing with two drummers makes me feel a couple feet taller than I really am."

In addition to doing a handful of local shows over the next few months, Grant will mount a brief tour later in the summer. "In the days of Big Ass Truck, you really had to tour and get out there and play just to connect with people," he says. "With the Internet, connecting with fans is much easier these days. My only regret is that MySpace wasn't around in 1996."

Grant's other band, Mouserocket, which he co-fronts with singer/guitarist Alicja Trout, has been on a semi-hiatus while Trout's been touring with her main project, the River City Tanlines. However, Mouserocket will be going in to Memphis Independent studio later this month to complete tracks for a new album, the band's first since its 2004 self-titled debut.

For Grant, the commitments of a family and full-time job don't allow for music to be a 24-hour-a-day passion anymore. But he says his wife, Rachael, who teaches art at the Montessori school that the couple's children attend, has allowed him to pursue his muse. "I've known my wife since we were in high school, so she's very aware of the things that are important to me," says Grant. " In the end, I'm just creating. As long as I can do that, I'm happy."

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Vending Machine’s Robby Grant On Music, Family

FEBRUARY 1, 2007 - 03:44 PM

I’ve known Robby Grant since the sixth grade. (We also went to religious school and high school together.) We always ran in the same circles, but didn’t really get to know each other until about a year ago when I cornered him at the Children’s Museum and convinced him to help me get a Rock-n-Romp started. Now Robby and I often call on each other for favors—me more than him—and meet up for lunch downtown when we have the time. I recently sat down with him (tape recorder in hand) at the Majestic to talk about music, parenting, and the intertwining of the two. — Stacey Greenberg

When did you start playing music?

Robby: I was in 7th grade, so age 12, no 13. I had piano lessons when I was really young. I sucked at sports for the most part. Music was always a part of my life. My mom had a lot of great old 45s, a lot of great records. She was a fan of music. I got to choose what I wanted to play. I chose an electric guitar. I bought one with my cousin—we split it, but he never played it.

That was a good deal for you.

Robby: Yeah.

Why the electric guitar?

It looked cool. We went in the music store and it was the coolest thing in there. It was an Electra Phoenix with a whammy bar and it cost $100. My dad was a singer and my uncle played drums. My dad passed when I was really young (5). But I saw him sing when I was really little. Once I had the guitar, I immediately formed a band in seventh grade with my friend, Tom Martin. It was just the two of us for the first two albums. I like to learn by doing so I bought a guitar, formed a band, and started recording music.

How did you record?

With a jambox, and a tape recorder so I could multi-track. (This was all prior to being able to afford a 4-track.) It sounds a lot fancier than it was. We had skits and songs. We played at my Bar Mitzvah. We tried out for my high-school talent show every year. In 10th grade we did Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.” In 11th grade we did “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, which probably wasn’t a smart choice since my high school had such a big hearing-impaired program. In 12th grade I played drums and we played “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”

Did you ever win?

No.

So how did you go from not winning talent shows to being in the very successful band, Big Ass Truck?

It was a natural progression. We got a 4-track and did some recording with that. Then in college [The University of Memphis where Robby got a film degree] I got together with some friends [including Steve Selvidge] and started playing in a band called Thrill of Confusion. I spent a lot of time making videos too. TOC disintegrated and morphed into a band called Fester. Our drummer went away to UT, so we never practiced. We got together and just played noise for 45 minutes when we opened up for The Simple Ones and surprisingly Jared (the lead singer) liked it. However, I wasn’t interested in pursuing a noise band at that point. Steve got five friends together to open for the Simple Ones at the Antenna in 1991 and that was basically Big Ass Truck. We had a lot of friends and hung up a lot of flyers. We played frequently—once a month for four or five years. Then did more regional shows. Then we toured the U.S. for four years.

What was the band’s peak?

Our peak was the last record we made—we wrote it in the studio. It was the culmination of all the time we spent together. We were on some weird MTV show “Oddville.” We had a video—Robert Gordon shot it. It was on “120 Minutes” on VH-1. We had five CDs total.

Where in all this did you get married and start having kids?

Rachael and I dated as seniors in high school and have been together ever since. We got married when I was 24, so 1997. I was gone a lot during that time. I was on the road a lot. There was the whole “absence makes the heart grow fonder” thing going on. We had a lot of time to do our own things. I think that contributes to the fact that we are still married almost 10 years later. Five was born while I was still touring. I missed the whole first year of his life.

What was that like?

I missed being there—we were really busy—but having never been a father before I didn’t know what I was missing. We were the first ones of our friends to have kids.

Was Rachael like, “You suck?”

Not really. I’d be home for a few weeks at a time. I could never do it now. Five is seven now and he’d have like a million questions I couldn’t answer.

Did having Five contribute to the band’s break up?

Not really. We quit when we all still liked each other. We’d been doing it for 10 years and it had just run its course.

So what did you do when Big Ass Truck broke up?

After Five was born, I started doing side work for Paul Ringger at Every CD and then later for Ringger Interactive. I took a laptop on the road and built Web sites while I was in the van. I didn’t have to wonder what I was going to do when we broke up. I just started going to work more. I had a desk at Paul’s house. I was always home every couple of weeks—it wasn’t like I was out of sight out mind for very long. Paul taught me a lot and gave me a lot of books to read. We built a lot of sites together and I just learned that way.

So Five is two, you have a day job, how do you express yourself musically at this point?

Three or four years before Big Ass Truck broke up, I was already doing my own thing—I released two solo records, one under the name Vending Machine. It actually gave me a chance to express myself without the constraints of being in the band When it’s just me it’s like, “I like the beat, let’s record it.” I also just wanted to play guitar and not necessarily write songs, so I started playing in Mouserocket with Robert Barnett (from Big Ass Truck).

Do you have like a whole in-house recording studio?

I’ve recorded all my records at home. I wouldn’t call it a recording studio, but I can go up at 5:30am and record what I want. I can’t schedule a whole session with other people—that’s hard to do. I like recording early morning, but no earlier than 5:30am.

When do you go to sleep?

Robby: I usually go to bed at 11pm or midnight. I’ve got bags under my eyes.

What about including Five in your music?

The record before this, he’d scream and I’d loop it. On the last one I hit a wall a couple of times when writing a song and I’d play it for Five and say, “What does this sound like to you?” On one of the faster ones, he was like, “It sounds like cobras.” It actually inspired me to name the album King Cobras Do. He even wrote the lyrics to the Saturn National Anthem. He was sort of free associating words. I rearranged them a bit, but they’re his words. We also do a lot of recording where he’ll come up and he’ll play drums or guitar or keyboards and just make some noise on the weekends. We’ll take turns being boss. He’s a hard boss. For the past three years we’ve done a holiday song as a family and sent it out to friends.

Is Sadie (Robby’s two-year-old) getting involved?

She’ll bang on the drums and do her thing. She inspired a new song called “Tell me the truth and I’ll stop Teasing You.”

How often do you play shows?

Once every other month. My other band, The Glitches, has a few gigs.

Ok, wait. You are in another band?

I saw Jared (from the Simple Ones) at a PTA meeting—our kids go to the same school—and the school and I said, “We need a band to play at the thing at the end of the year.” We hadn’t had a chance to play together so we formed the Glitches, which is a cover band, and now we’re good friends. We play a lot of the school functions and it’s fun. We’re currently looking to play private parties…you know if anyone is interested?

So what do you do when you have a late show? Does Rachael come?

Sadie is experiencing the terrible twos so it’s hard to find a babysitter. Rachael probably comes to every other show. But we practice at the house so she’s very aware of our set.

Do the kids ever get to see you play other than at Rock-n-Romp?

Yeah we did a show at the Shell and the Center for Southern Folklore. I got Sadie some big soundproof headphones so she could listen.

So is being in three bands now somehow easier than being in Big Ass Truck?

Big Ass Truck was a lifestyle commitment. We practiced two times a week, we had beers after practice, we toured, etc. Now I’m more focused on end goals, like finishing a record. I have a show next week and the band has practiced for the last month so we can do several shows now.

Do you go out and hear music very often?

I don’t go out near as much as I used to. But with the Internet I can keep up with music via Myspace, web sites, and various message boards. It’s a pretty good alternative to going out. I can get 10 firsthand accounts of any show sitting at my desk.

What are your musical ambitions at this point?

At this point, just to keep making music. Big Ass Truck did some shows with Ben Harper and he was touring with his family. They had a separate camper. I saw him kiss his daughter goodnight before going to a show. I could see us doing that in a few years (not quite at that scale). Rachael likes to travel. For now, music from my last two albums was featured on “The Real World” and I just released some new songs to “Pimp My Ride.” I’m interested in doing movies. I just scored Glenn Hopper’s movie—The Hanged Man.

Do you see yourself having a family band someday?

Five takes piano lessons. I see music as a way to express myself, and I hope Five has something like that. I want him to be happy and have something that he enjoys doing forever. I might get Sadie to take cello lessons. We need someone in the family to play a classical string instrument.

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Stacey Greenberg's blog
Memphis Rock n Romp

One-Man Bands

BY ANDRIA LISLE | FEBRUARY 1, 2007
FROM: The Memphis Flyer

Recorded under the moniker Vending Machine, Robby Grant's latest, King Cobras Do, is scheduled for release this weekend. On Saturday, February 3rd, he's having an album-release party at the Hi-Tone Café; the self-released CD is also available at Goner Records and Shangri-La Records.

With 12 songs and guests ranging from former Big Ass Truck bandmates Robert Barnett and Steve Selvidge to current Glitches bandmates Adam Woodard and Jared and Lori McStay, King Cobras Do runs the gamut from frenzied pop ("Babies," the album's opener) to blues rock ("44 Times") and surreal space music ("Saturn National Anthem").

The stylishly experimental, electronic-flavored music favored by artists such as Beck -- and, closer to home, former Memphian Shelby Bryant -- factors in on "Memories and Actions," "Desert Sun Played," and the aforementioned "Saturn National Anthem," while "Yawp" shares the same sonic space as Santo & Johnny's "Sleepwalk" transmogrified with, say, Southern Culture on the Skids' "8 Piece Box."

"Shelby has had a big effect on me," Grant admits. "When Big Ass Truck was recording Kent at Ardent, he lived right across the street from the studio. Later, when I started doing a lot of four-track sessions at my house, he was the first person I collaborated with. Recently, we've been in touch, writing and collaborating on songs over the Internet."

By now, Grant has bypassed the four-track machine for Sony Vegas, a program similar to ProTools -- and on King Cobras Do, he partnered with an up-and-coming lyricist, his 7-year old son, Five.

"He does a lot of free association," Grant says. "Sometimes I use his words as-is; other times, I'll turn a phrase around or just build on something he said.

"Upstairs, in my home studio, I have a piano and an acoustic guitar. I'll start with little ideas, just bits and pieces that I'll build on until the songs become what they become. I go back, listen quite a bit, and do a lot of editing, then move onto the next song. It's a constant revision," he says, noting that the process to complete this album, his fourth CD in six years, took 28 months.

"On 'Saturn National Anthem,' I had the song and the lyrics, but I felt like it needed something else," Grant explains. "I extended the first part of the song, but it still needed a solo, and it popped into my head that Steve [Selvidge] could do a spacey, wicked guitar part. I gave him the files, and he recorded it. In the case of Robert [Barnett], a lot of times I have ideas in my head that I can't play. He's such a creative drummer, and I'm a more keep-the-beat kind of guy."

When Vending Machine plays at the Hi-Tone this Saturday night, the band will be a five-piece, with Grant's brother Grayson Grant on bass, guitarist Quinn Powers, and two drummers, Barnett and John Argroves. For more information, visit Vending Machine's Web site at ChocolateGuitars.com.

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REVIEW: The cozy comfort of Vending Machine's homemade pop.

BY CHRIS HERRINGTON | FEBRUARY 1, 2007

FROM: The Memphis Flyer

So much indie rock these days can feel so insular -- consciously separated from the larger world. But King Cobras Do, the fifth solo album from former Big Ass Truck singer/guitarist Robby Grant and fourth under the Vending Machine moniker, makes insular work in its favor. Recorded at the attic studio of Grant's Midtown house, King Cobras Do doesn't sound estranged -- it sounds homey, cozy. It radiates a unity of production, tone, and content.

The cumulative impact of this intimate album is that of an energizing hymn to domesticity in both its subject matter and musical spirit. With images of dancing in the den to daylight, the second song, "Rae," is a hand-clap-fueled love song to Grant's wife. The memories here are charmingly lived-in: "When you developed photos there/And we hung out and I sat in the chair/Nervous and scared around you" and "Remember when our room was just a bed."

The album-closing "Tell Me the Truth and I'll Stop Teasing You" is a delicate tribute to Grant's 2-year-old daughter. "The animal noises that you make never sound all that fake/It feels like there's an elephant in the room," Grant testifies, before a great little moment where he catches her yawning. And Grant's 7-year-old son makes a more tangible appearance, contributing some free-associative lyrics to "Babies" and "Saturn National Anthem."

On "Good Old Upstairs," Grant expands the theme with a personification of the attic home studio where the album was recorded. ("In my sleep, she nudges me/To come up and play around some more.") And, with his one-man band bolstered by an extended family of siblings (Grayson Grant), former bandmates (Big Ass Truckers Steve Selvidge and Robert Barnett), and friends (Jared and Lori McStay), the intimacy of the record is more inclusive than most bedroom pop.

Even the songs that don't take domesticity as subject matter -- the gently melodic acoustic/electric "Runaway"; the relaxed, toe-tapping "Desert Sun Played" -- sound like testaments to the creative comfort zone that home provides. The album feels like a spring breeze blowing through an open kitchen window; a front-porch packed with family and friends. -- Chris Herrington

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Pulp Faction Review

From Pulp Faction:

I haven't listened to Vending Machine's previous albums in their entirety, but I know that "Chocolate Guitars" sounds like the best of Ween and therefore I am a fan. Plus, they always put on a live show that knocks my socks off. Love these guys, and love the new album King Cobras Do, too. Order it early or go to
a show and buy it like I did.
http://www.pulpfaction.org/2007/01/mixed-bag.html

Podcast: 10 Degrees of Dungen with Steve Selvidge

Listen to Steve play some Vending Machine in this podcast:
Rachel and the City: Podcast #4: 10 Degrees of Dungen with Steve Selvidge

He talks about how we collaborated on Saturn National Anthem.

Some great song pics. The download is really big and slow but worth it.