Grim Smiley

FROM PARADISE TO A ROCK MECCA,
GRIM SMILEY RELEASES CD AFTER MOVE TO SEATTLE

For three-piece grunge-pop band Grim Smiley, its relocation this summer from Honolulu to Seattle was the realization of a lifelong inevitability, a permanent pilgrimage to rock’s great Mecca.

The band brings with it an exotic and unique brand of sweet ‘n’ dirty grunge-pop called “lava rock,” and has left behind all it has accomplished in the islands so that it can reach the audience that raised up some of its idols. “I felt the rich tradition of music up here almost as soon as I stepped off the plane,” said Grim Smiley singer/songwriter/guitarist Ben Henry, 29. “It is an honor to be in a place that lionizes quality rock music.”

The group became one of the premier rock bands in Honolulu (where it was known as “The Crud”), opening up for Hawthorne Heights and Alien Ant Farm, and playing at all of the city’s top venues, including Pipeline Café, Wave Waikiki, Hard Rock Café, Anna Bannana’s and many others. The band has garnered tens of thousands of MySpace plays with thousands of online friends, and a music video for its single “Ain’t It the Truth” received regular daily airplay on the Oceanic 16 show “TRX-TV.”

But living in paradise wasn’t always easy. Henry grew up poor in Hawaii, the son of a single dad strained by long hours as a cab driver. While in eighth grade he lost his older brother to a drowning, and eventually lost his father to cancer. But while in high school, it was the music of the Pacific Northwest that gave him an escape from his life.

Henry was inspired by his rock awakening to pick up a guitar. In 2003, he started a project that went on to become one of Honolulu’s top alternative rock acts, receiving critical acclaim and a rabid following. Respected music critic Wayne Harada of the Honolulu Advertiser said the band “could emerge as the catalyst to inspire and nurture a culture similar to what happened to the Seattle landscape some years back. These chaps rock.” John Berger of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin said the band’s material had the “components of an alt-rock hit, perfect for radio airplay.”

But the band decided to leave it behind. It was its second mainland tour — a 12-city jaunt of the West Coast with two other Honolulu bands — that planted the seeds for an eventual relocation. “It really was an eye-opener for us,” said drummer Justin Vincler, a bandmate of Henry’s since 2003. “We realized how big of an audience is out there and that it was time to do what we could to try to reach them.”

For the band, which also features Hawaii transplant and New York native Mark DiNitto on bass, a new location meant a new start. So it changed its name and started from scratch. “Grim Smiley represents the struggles I had growing up, and some of the bitterness that comes from that,” Henry said. “But it also represents a positive silver lining, an optimism that, while insipid, has helped carry me through the darker days.”

The band is re-releasing its debut album, “Antidote,” which was recorded right before Vincler, a former Navy medic, was deployed to Iraq for a six-month tour. “We had never considered us a ‘political’ band,” Henry said. “But living in today’s times, it’s hard NOT to get political. A lot of the angst we experience today is a direct result of some bad politics.”

Both Henry and Vincler are reconnecting with parents and siblings who live in the Puget Sound area.

“I think our music could be exactly what people in Seattle are looking for,” said Vincler, who has considered Seattle a second home for 25 years. “I used to come to Seattle to watch all the great bands. The music scene here is legendary and people really want to see something cool and different. Out here, rock is just a way of life.” (read less)

FROM PARADISE TO A ROCK MECCA,
GRIM SMILEY RELEASES CD AFTER MOVE TO SEATTLE

For three-piece grunge-pop band Grim Smiley, its relocation this summer from Honolulu to Seattle was the realization of a lifelong inevitability, a permanent pilgrimage to rock’s great Mecca.

The band brings with it an exotic and unique brand of sweet ‘n’ dirty grunge-pop called “lava rock,” and has left behind all it has accomplished in the islands so that it can reach the audience that raised up some of its idols.... (read more)