Concert Crap: You are embarking on The Beginning of the End Fall Tour 2017 which is going to take you through 80 cities over 3 months. How did this tour come about?
Michale Graves: It’s a strategy of saturation and outreach. I have such confidence in this band and the team that I have around me right now that I find it high time for this kind of dedicated focus on the performance and show. We are going to get out there and play hard and heavy. I am going to get back to doing makeup and building on the theatrics and visual side of the show. Everything that is Michale Graves really does revolve around the LIVE experience and it’s important to me as an artist and for the fans sake that I do everything I can to continue to expand and grow. Some day I want to have more lights, more monsters, more sets, more visuals… a larger production. Right now the tour bus is my truck. But I am trying.
CC: How did you pick your musicians – Loki, Christopher Dean and Tony Baptist – to accompany you on this tour?
MG: I’ve been working with Loki for almost 18 years. He and I go back to the days of Graves and before. We formed Gotham Rd. together and wrote a ton of killer tunes. He is an incredible performer and often I think his ability and talent is stifled by my primitive songs. Tony Baptist is a show unto himself if you watch him behind the kit. He and I go back a long way and have been playing together and have known each other for over 15 years. I remember when Tony STARTED playing drums. Having Tony join us on this one was important. He raises our level of playing. Dean was the choice for bass because of his playing ability and dedication to the music. He is a well-rounded player with a good deal of experience. He seems to have the mettle one needs to accomplish an 80 city tour and not totally freak out. Dean also loves the music we are making and pours himself into it. Together we are going to by far be one of the best touring bands out there.
CC: What are some things you’re looking forward to doing or places you’re going on tour?
MG: I really love going for walks and just wandering around sometimes while we are out. I enjoy finding sushi places and eating by myself. I am always on the hunt for good coffee shops. Also, I really enjoy standing at the merch booth meeting folks and talking to them and listening to there experiences and connections. The human connection part of tour is what I think the most important part of what I do is and I very much look forward to that mission.
CC: What are your tour must haves?
MG: Duct tape and electrical tape is most important. Gum is very, very important as well. I HAVE to have coffee in the morning or I can’t live. Where it’s legal I will smoke a joint or two, alright. Fairlife chocolate milk for after the show and I am good to go. I am a simple man and do not need much.
CC: If your life had a theme song, what would it be?
MG: “A Hard Rains Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan
CC: Do you have anything else you’d like to add to this interview?
MG: Check out officialmichalegraves.com for all of the upcoming tour dates and more as the site is built. For tons of music and I mean tons of really great music from demos to live cuts please go to Hydraulic-Entertainment.Com…! Lots of videos, podcasts and updates from the road and more coming soon!
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Post and interview by Karen Shalev
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