Three ex-producers, one rapper serve genre-transcending beats

By: KATIE ANDREW

Posted: 10/9/08

It's hard to find anything surprising in the local music scene these days, but there's nothing about Grand Prize Winners From Last Year that doesn't shock.

GRAND PRIZE WINNERS FROM LAST YEAR

When: 8 tonight
Where: Caledonia Lounge
Cost: $3 (21+), $4 (18-20)
More Information:
www.caledonia.com

As lead guitarist Believe said, "We're like The Beatles, but blacker."

Grand Prize, whose members prefer to go by their stage names, has laughed in the faces of obstacles since the group came together. For that, many fans can't help but respect the band.

"We all picked up instruments about a year ago and just became a band overnight," Believe said. "Before, I was a rapper and the other three guys were producers. None of us had ever played our instruments before or been in a band, so it was all new to everybody."

Within a few weeks, the band was already playing shows.

Clearly, these guys are not scared of being booed off a stage.

"We would do three or four shows a week when we first started," Believe said. "We had to get good fast. For the first four or five months, we had a weekly gig and there was never anybody there."

However, the band is doing a little better these days.

Besides the members' uncanny ability to learn musical instruments within a month, the only thing more intriguing about Grand Prize is the music it produces.

Every band in the world will talk about how unique it is to anyone willing to listen, but Grand Prize delivers a cornucopia of fun and bouncy, yet slightly edgy tunes with a little bit of this and that.

"We sound different because [our audience] isn't expecting to hear what they get," said keyboardist, synthesizer and trombone player Platipus Jones.

"They see our picture and automatically think that we're going to rhyme, but every song goes in every genre, from hip hop to rock to alternative to pop ... You might even hear a little bit of blues in there."

Even if they can't pigeonhole the music, people are liking what they're hearing.

"Last time we played a show in Athens, some kids started moshing," Platipus said. "[the music] just has that effect on people. It's refreshing and it never gets boring to listen to."

Refreshing it is indeed - but how do three producers and a rapper from different musical backgrounds collaborate to form a cohesive sound?

"We're really different guys, and if it wasn't for our strong love of this music, we all probably would have killed each other many months ago," said percussionist, vocalist and synthesizer player K. Slaughter.

"We've got a lot of strong-minded, bull-headed, brilliant individuals."

Bassist and trumpet player White Shoes Blue agrees.

"I probably couldn't put up with these guys under normal circumstances, but being on stage is probably akin to why people parachute or bungee jump - it's a total rush ... When you have that instrument in your hand and you hear the crowd respond to that, that's addictive."