Interview – Oakley “O.G.” Grenell
The word veteran brings connotations of age, and yet with such a status, Oakley “O.G” Grenell is anything but a wisened patriarch – instead, this youthful “veteran” is so full of vim and vigor that in his thirty years short he has already cut a wide swath, intent as he is in putting as much of his creativity in the hands of his listeners as often as he is able – whether by performing, DJing or releasing records on his label Central Records.
“This is my sixth release in New Zealand, so it’s kind of what I’m here to do, release music and put it out there as much as I can,” he responds sincerely. “I’m hoping to do an album a year. When i first started out I knew my stuff wasn’t really going to be commercially viable to get signed so I decided to throw it down on my own label. I’ve had six releases in seven years, I think.”
Having been brought up by legendary New Zealand musician John Grenell may go some way towards explaining his already significant output, but other facets of his environment also played their part. His country upbringing and the influence of his siblings, including Shapeshifters drummer, Redford Grenell, may have had as much to do with his musical direction as the nutrient rich influence of his parents and schooling.
“My dad’s a country singer, so we grew up on country as kids. Also, my older brother (Redford) had a wicked record collection. We were 80s kids and big into glam rock and that kinda stuff, and blues, heaps of blues.” he recalls, gently exploring the thematic underpinning of his music and giving a nod towards those elements that he finds essential to his work. “Anything to me, that has come from the blues and roots elements, that has enough soul and feeling in it that lets me contribute something … being a guitarist and studying jazz guitar, that gives me enough technical knowledge to be able to compose and arrange and write – things like that. It’s great to be able to improvise and to have the knowledge, and just having jams with bands.”
Living and breathing a life surrounded by individuals involved in the musical world may have also had a separate knock on effect that allowed Grenell to really hit his stride through the years, in that musical collaborations are, for him, second nature. Used as a way of extending his own unique compositions, his recent album Moving On, with its smorgasbord of guests is a perfect example of his ability to work with others to enhance his music.
“I guess working with such a wide array of artists brings the best of both worlds,” he explains. “You get their musical history, my musical history, and you mold it together and it comes up with something quite unique. When I listen to the album, I listen to each song as an individual song and composition, and everyones musical history is kind of thrown in together with that.”
With such mastery under his belt, its no surprise to hear that an important equation behind a Grenell performances is his ability to traverse the lines between DJing and live performance, and that its all a part of a gently unfolding plan that could very well lead to more success than he anticipates.
“You have to think about what’s going to put on a good show,” he muses. “I can DJ enough to hold a crowd, but that’s why I want to then jump on the guitar and then have people go “whoa!” You have to think about, that you want to do a show that people will remember and that they want to come back to, and hopefully from what you show them they are going to want to go and pickup some more music. Being a guitarist by trade that’s kind of my main strength, but I definitely enjoy DJing and selecting music. When ever there’s a party, I’m always the one with the CDs or the Ipod out, trying to create a vibe.”
(this is a pre-edit draft which may differ to that found in press)< >< ><–>
Tags: Hip Hop & Urban, inpress, jazz, O.G., oakley grenell, tour