Interview: The Grey (UK) discuss post-metal, 'KODOK' and underground focus.

 

The Grey are a UK post-metal project with gargantuan presence and emotional heft. Their recent record, 2025's KODOK engaged me more than any other post- metal album of recent years. The band have shared stages across the UK and Europe with bands such as Will Haven, Cage Fight, Glassing, Conjurer and more and have played Download, Uprising and other festivals of note. 

I had honestly never really heard them much before this year and on a whim I wrote to the band on social media after being very impressed with the scope and well woven conceptual and emotional spaces within their big and intentional sound. 

 The following is the interview that resulted! 

1, I love finding bands I hadn't heard from around the world and feeling the love and shared language and culture of post metal or whatever genres and fresh spark/creativity. How long have you been a band? I love Kodok and was blown away by the gloomy and comforting textures of it. I love stuff like Isis, Giant Squid, Marriages and The Ocean and stuff, so this record really tickled my fancy. 

ANDY (BASS) - Thanks so much! All of those touchpoints are great references - we're all fans of Isis and personally I love Giant Squid and all the various eras of The Ocean as well, so I'm chuffed with those references. We get Pelican and Russian Circles as references as well; personally, I hear bits of Alice in Chains in Charlie's guitar style as well.

Stevo (Drums): Thanks for your kind words! We've been a band for around 10 years now, 5 of which as our current lineup, with Andy on bass. Our first show with Andy was the day after the COVID restrictions were lifted here in the UK which feels like a lifetime ago now. 

Charlie (Guitar) – Totally! We’ve been lucky enough to play with so many incredible bands & have made lifelong friendships along the way, which all stems from the love of music.

The fact that you’ve been kind enough to have us onboard is a perfect example of how music connects people & how important that is.

It’s a trip to think that our music has found its way over to you Stateside & resonates with you!

2. The band name The Grey is so good. Simple but evocative. Reminds me of the June gloom I am experiencing here in SoCal or like broody, rainy mornings or a feeling inside trying to navigate a cruel world and find connection (and coffee) with other human beings. Or even calls to mind to me films I love like the 2004 horror film Nightwatch had some very gloomy scenes. Or like "The Nothing" in Never Ending Story coming to erase us all, haha. It could mean a lot!  

Stevo (Drums): If you think it's gloomy in SoCal, try being in the UK in the winter, haha! But yeah, the name is somewhat nebulous. It certainly represents the contrast between the heavy and light elements in or music and live shows.

I think coming up with a band name is always difficult when you're starting out because, ideally, you want something that helps define what you do. The reality is that, as you grow and develop as a band, the name develops with you and intrinsically becomes part of your identity, which can then be interpreted by the listener.

3. The instrumental sections in your songs - right now I am listening to the slow tumbling drum intro of "La Bruja (Cygnus)"- are so full of control and emotion. It is very cinematic and impressive. Also the recording quality on Kodok is so excellent. The tones and every detail feels cared for. What did it mean to you to cross the milestone of this, I believe, your third album? 

 

Stevo (Drums): Personally, it's only when we get asked questions like this that it makes me take a step back and reflect on all the cool stuff we've done over the years. I think it's so easy to get caught up in moving forward that it's nice to stop occasionally and think about everything we've achieved so far. 

Things like releasing three albums and working with some incredible collaborators have been amazing and I feel truly humbled that the music still resonates with people and they want to engage with us. 

 

ANDY (BASS) - We're really conscious of how the songs work and how they land emotionally, it's a really big part of the writing process, both in terms of how they make us feel, and also for the listener. The songs are consciously written to have a narrative 'feel', like a story. So there's peaks and dips and purposeful emotional swells. Given that we're a predominantly instrumental band it's really important to find different ways to find that emotional journey and it's brilliant when people come up to us at shows and tell us how the set made them feel; it's truly humbling.
 
In terms of the recording, Speaking as 'the new guy' it was a brilliant experience, really supportive from both Matty and Charlie and Steve.

It made what can be quite a stressful experience pretty relaxed and the outcome is something I'm really proud of. 

Charlie (Guitar) 

The Grey has always been a labor of love & no stone was left unturned to make KODOK the very best it could possibly be; musically, sonically, visually & as a journey. 

Matty Moon (Producer, Engineer) has played a huge roll in capturing our sound on every recording - we go way back & Matty is genuinely once of the most amazing humans on the planet & a master of his craft.

There were so many special moments whilst recording at Half Ton Studios in Cambridge & I genuinely feel so proud of what we've achieved - the stars certainly aligned! 

4.I have always loved Will Haven since I saw them play with I think Neurosis, Soulfly and maybe it was Hatebreed years ago. My old band Divest opened for Bad Brains and Red Tape once (Red Tape featured the very nice Jeff Jaworski who sang on their The Hierophant album). How did you connect with Grady Avenell, the group's most well known vocalist, to collab on your song "Sharpen The Knife"? Also, how did the recent remix come about? 

Charlie (Guitar)

Haven is no doubt part of my DNA by this point, I was instantly hooked & have since been a lifelong fan - then seeing them open for Deftones (Around  The Fur era) was a game changer. 

I had the opportunity to work with the band in the early 2000's & our bond grew from strength to strength over the years; I consider them family.

Lots of tours & crazy adventures (many of which with legend that is 'Jaws' Jaworksi) & once Stevo jumped onboard as Drum Tech / Vibe Curator / Hype Man, there was no stopping us! Grey then had the honour of opening for Haven on several tours & I joined the Haven squad on guitar duties for their 2023 UK & European tour - certainly bucket list moments, for which I am eternally grateful. 

I have the upmost respect & passion for the Will Haven Legacy, and to make music together is pure magic. The track 'Better Off Dead' features Pag (Haven / Horseneck) & Lance (Deftones / Eightfourseven) on vocals, Paloma (Gradys wife) worked her magic on 'La Bruja' & Jeff (Haven) went to town with his signature sounds on 'El Brujo' alongside Grady's immense vocal.

'Sharpen the Knife' was specifically written for Grady & we toured the UK last Summer, which was bonkers; live was a whole other level! 

Grady is a force of nature & I love him dearly. 

ANDY (BASS) - Much like Charlie & Steve, I'm a massive Will Haven fan, one of my core memories was hearing 'I've Seen My Fate' on a Kerrang! CD in about 1997 in my University dorm room and my brain chemistry just shifting. It was crazy to me being able to play that song with Grady on our UK tour with him last year, let alone having Grady sing on one of our songs in the first place. The first time we rehearsed with him and he hit that long scream in the middle of the song I had to concentrate so hard on actually continuing to play, it was amazing. He is an absolute legend, the loveliest guy.  

 

5. What was it about where you all live in Cambridge that perhaps added to making the type of music you make? I love seeing the flyers on your insta story feed of shows and realizing I don't know a bunch of the bands and have more cool scenes to discover. With the state of the world being so ugly and fascistic creep happening everywhere right now, do you feel the connection of art and DIY counter cultural spaces is vital? 

 

ANDY (BASS) - Ha! We don't actually all live in Cambridge, we're a bit more spread out but it's a convenient base for us. But your point stands, the scene in the UK more broadly is brilliant at the moment with some absolutely incredible bands making some incredible music. I love that the scene is, for the most part, really supportive too; all of the bands we play with support each other. I think it kinda helps that everyone in the scene that we play in tend to be really into the music, so there's always a commonality and baseline appreciation that brings everyone together.  It's a wonderfully knitted together and accepting group of bands, and it grows by the day. We're mega lucky in that we get to play quite a bit and we get the opportunity to share stages with some absolutely brilliant bands and lovely people - from our extended family in the wonderful Hundred Year Old Man, through new bands like Koba to the opposite end of the spectrum with our awesome friends in Kakihara, it's just a great community. 
 
To your other point - yes, society is becoming inherently more divisive, limited and controlled, and at this point the connective tissue of art and music has never been more important, both as a challenge to that system, but also as a safe space and respite from it. I think it's a natural response and it will always be there; while there are humans there will always be art as a response to the world, whatever shape that world is. I do think that it still needs to be protected though, and I do think it is somewhat under threat as the barrier to entry gets tougher - everything costs more, be it instruments or practice spaces and smaller music venues which are foundational to the survival and growth of the experience of live music are constantly under threat. So we need to be prepared to fight for it!     
 

Stevo (Drums): So none of us actually live in Cambridge now, but is where our studio is located. What has shaped us is being part of a wider UK DIY and underground music community. Wherever we've lived, we've always been drawn to small venues, community run spaces, independent promoters, and the network of bands that support one another outside of the mainstream music industry. 

 

One of the things we love about touring and playing shows is discovering local scenes that are completely under the radar.  We’ve been lucky enough to play shows with bands we’ve not heard of and ended up making a real connection with them, one of the most exciting parts of DIY culture is there's always something new to discover. 

 

As for the second part of the question, yeah, I think those spaces are incredibly important. Not because they're all explicitly political, but because they create opportunities for people to come together, share ideas, make things, and build community on their own terms. In a period where so much feels fragmented, commercialized, or driven by division, there's something powerful about people organizing a gig, putting on an exhibition, starting a zine, or simply creating a space where people can connect. 

 

 Also, is it hard to pull of some of your sounds if a club doesn't have the best sound system, or how do you get around that? I feel like your tones and the thunderous nature of some of the music is important to sonically capture correctly.  

 

ANDY (BASS) - One of the nicest comments we got in a review is a chap that saw us twice in a couple of months, once in a massive venue with a huge PA, and once in a tiny venue with a very limited sound system. He said that we always sound consistently great, which I took as massive praise. Honestly I think a chunk of that is spending the time dialling in our sounds in the practice space and knowing our gear. Charlie in particular is incredible, he puts an enormous amount of time, thought and energy into his sound and how the different layers of sound interact to get the sound he has in his head out into the world. It never ceases to amaze me and I frequently get goosebumps when we play, just from the intensity and texture of the sound. 

 

Stevo: We’ve got tonnes of shows coming up including returning to Arc Tangent festival and a UK/Ireland tour with Urne which will be amazing. We’re also working on a new record so can’t wait for people to hear that.  

 

When it comes to the live sound you’re always somewhat at the mercy of the equipment and backline available however we do investigate in advance and will take our own rig if we think its going to be whack.  

 

With us being a mostly instrumental three piece the sound is very important part of the live experience and Charlie provides most of the real sonic wizardry behind the band, with Andy and myself providing more of the rhythmic and percussive elements. He’s got his guitar rig nailed down tight though, and we can pretty much deal with any problems that occur.  

 

We’re also fortunate to have Jimmy (Rat Boy) our old bassist as our tour manager & Charlie's brother Lomas as part of our touring unit (who also captures tour footage incredibly) . Not only do they both know the music inside and out but Jimmy also has a background in pro audio for huge festivals and events - so is able to gently steer the sound guys at venues when they really haven’t got a clue about what they’re doing with us, haha.  A pair of Legends & we are so lucky to have them onboard. 

7. What was one of the first records that gave you a window into underground metal or punk, etc? Like we all had a moment, where...say, Napalm Death and the family tree of all those bands like opened our eyes to the wider scene or meanings. What was an access point for you that then blossomed into the continued love for the artforms and culture today? 

 

Stevo: I first got into alternative music in the mid to late '90s through the US punk bands that started making it big after the grunge scene began to fade, with bands like NOFX, Pennywise and No Use for a Name. 

The energy and unpredictability of those bands were what I loved as a teenager, and they were what first drew me towards wanting to play the drums. From there, my tastes naturally progressed into hardcore and metal over the years and eventually developed into what I listen to today. 

ANDY (BASS) - I grew up in a family with, like, no music. My Mum has an inner ear problem and music is a problem for her. I discovered an Irish band called Therapy? at 16 or 17, I was (and kinda still am) obsessed with their album 'Troublegum', it flipped a switch in my head, opening up riffs and serrated guitars. It was like seeing colour for the first time. Later switches were flipped by Kyuss' 'And The Circus Left Town', Fear Factory's 'Demanufacture', Will Haven's 'El Diablo', Strife's 'In This Defiance' and Isis's 'Celestial', as well as thousands of other bands to be honest, but it all started with Therapy?, and that is a record I absolutely still spin regularly. 

Charlie (Guitar) - Hmmm, the window into the underground for me would probably have been MTV Headbangers Ball & Kerrang magazine in the early 90's. I think some of the obscure / underground acts they showcased certainly led me down the path to many bands that continue to be an influence to this day.

On the subject of underground bands (and some that you may already be familiar with) please do check out these incredible Artists from over this side of the pond; Lonely The Brave, Hundred Year Old Man, Worn Out, Codespeaker, Pengshui, Leeched, Beneath A Steel Sky, Partholon, Koba, Lebrique, KAKIHARA, Mastiff, Old Horn Tooth, Giant Walker, Din Of Celestial Birds, Wildernesses & Urzah, to name a few & certainly a great place to start connecting.

Please hit them up on their socials, Bandcamp & help spread the word! 

 

 THANK YOU!! 

 

Thank YOU! Truly a pleasure to connect & thank you for taking the time to listen to the music & for the thoughtful questions - hope we see you over there in 2027! All the love from team Grey x