Grandaddy
Grandaddy is an American indie rock band from Modesto, California. The group was formed in 1992, and featured Jason Lytle, Aaron Burtch, Jim Fairchild, Kevin Garcia and Tim Dryden, until Garcia's death in 2017 following a stroke.
After several self-released records and cassettes, the band signed to Will Records in the US and later the V2 Records subsidiary Big Cat Records in the UK, going on to sign an exclusive deal with V2. The bulk of the band's recorded output was the work of Lytle, who worked primarily in home studios.
Grandaddy released four studio albums before splitting in 2006, with band members going on to solo careers and other projects. Grandaddy reformed in 2012, and after several successful tours, released its fifth studio album, Last Place, in March 2017. Following Garcia's sudden death, the band cancelled its touring plans for the release and re-entered an extended hiatus.
In 2024, Lytle revived the Grandaddy name to release the project's sixth studio album, Blu Wav, ahead of a full 2025 reunion tour in celebration of the 25th anniversary of The Sophtware Slump.
History
1992–1997: Formation and early independent releases
Grandaddy was formed in 1992 by singer, guitarist and keyboardist Jason Lytle, bassist Kevin Garcia and drummer Aaron Burtch. The group was initially influenced by US punk bands such as Suicidal Tendencies, Fear and Bad Brains. Lytle has also cited new wave influences including Talk Talk, A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins, OMD, the Human League, Thomas Dolby, Depeche Mode and a-ha. A former professional skateboarder, Lytle had turned to music after a knee injury forced him to stop skating. He began working at a sewage treatment plant to fund the purchase of music equipment. Several of the band's early live performances were at skateboarding competitions.The band members constructed a studio at the Lytle family home, and their first release, also in 1992, was the self-produced cassette Prepare to Bawl. This was followed in April 1994 by a second cassette titled Complex Party Come Along Theories. The singles "Could This Be Love" and "Taster" were released later that year. The guitarist Jim Fairchild and the keyboardist Tim Dryden joined the band in 1995. Fairchild, who left another band to join Grandaddy, was another former professional skateboarder and had already guested with them; Dryden had been Fairchild's "jam-buddy". A third cassette, Don't Sock the Tryer, was withdrawn, and the band instead released their debut mini-album A Pretty Mess by This One Band in April 1996 on the Seattle-based Will label.
In 1997 they released their debut full-length album Under the Western Freeway through Will, and, with the help of Howe Gelb, signed a UK deal with Big Cat Records – by then a subsidiary of Richard Branson's V2 Records – who reissued the album the following year. The album included the single "A.M. 180", which was featured during a sequence in the 2002 British film 28 Days Later. It was also used for the theme song for the BBC Four television series Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, and in an advertisement for Colin Murray's BBC Radio 1 show. "A.M. 180" was also used in television commercials for the Dodge Journey automobile. One of the album's singles, "Summer Here Kids", was rated as "Single of the Week" by popular British music magazine NME, and was also used as the theme music for another Charlie Brooker-fronted show, BBC Radio 4's So Wrong It's Right. The album led to an increase in the band's popularity in Europe, and a main stage performance at the Reading Festival in 1998. The album was only a success in the US when later reissued by V2. With the band busy touring in 1999, their next release was the compilation The Broken Down Comforter Collection.
1998–2005: V2 record deal and mainstream success
Unhappy with the efforts of Will Records, the band signed a worldwide deal with V2 Records in 1999, their first release on the label being the Signal to Snow Ratio EP in September that year. In May 2000 they released their second album, The Sophtware Slump, to critical acclaim. NME later placed it at number 34 in their "Top 100 Greatest Albums of the Decade", and The Independent described it as "easily the equal of OK Computer". The album reached number 36 on the UK Albums Chart, and the band's fanbase increased, including celebrities such as David Bowie, Kate Moss and Liv Tyler. By early 2001 the album had sold 80,000 copies worldwide. The first single from the album, "The Crystal Lake", became the band's first UK top 40 single when it was reissued in 2001.Around the time that The Sophtware Slump was released, Grandaddy was invited to open for Elliott Smith on his tour for Figure 8. On some nights, Smith would join Grandaddy onstage and sing lead vocals on portions of "He's Simple, He's Dumb, He's the Pilot". The band later opened for Coldplay on their US tour in mid-2001. Also in 2001, the band's version of The Beatles' "Revolution" was used in the film I Am Sam.
On December 20, 2002, Grandaddy released The Ham and Its Lily under the alias Arm of Roger via their private label Sweat of the Alps. The songs were recorded prior to the release of the Signal to Snow Ratio EP, and were initially created as a prank on their record label: the band initially submitted The Ham and Its Lily to V2 executives as a practical joke. The album was sold at their concerts during 2003, and in 2015 reissued on vinyl and cassette by PIAPTK/Soiled Gold Records.
Their third album, Sumday, recorded in Lytle's home studio, was released in 2003. The band promoted it with a pre-release US tour with Pete Yorn followed by a three-week European tour and a larger US tour. Lytle described the album as "Grandaddy influenced by Grandaddy ... the ultimate Grandaddy record".
In 2004 and 2005 Lytle recorded Just Like the Fambly Cat, which was released as a Grandaddy album, although by then the band had decided to split up. The title is a reference to Lytle's desire to leave Modesto, a town which he complained "sucks out people's souls". Lytle created the album over a year and a half in his home studio in Modesto, "fueled by alcohol, painkillers for his body aches and ... recreational drugs", with only Burtch from the remainder of the band playing on it. At the same time as working on the album, Lytle created the EP Excerpts From the Diary of Todd Zilla, which was released first.
2006–2011: Breakup and post-Grandaddy activities
In January 2006, after a meeting the previous month, Lytle announced that the band had decided to split up, citing the lack of financial income from being in the group. Just Like the Fambly Cat was released later that year as a farewell album. Lytle spoke to the NME:It was inevitable ... On one hand our stubbornness has paid off, but on the other hand refusing to buy into the way things are traditionally supposed to be done has made things worse for us ... The realistic part is it hasn't proved to be a huge money-making venture for a lot of guys in the band.
Lytle had called the meeting in a hotel in Modesto, and it was the first time the band had been in a room together for two years. The feeling at the meeting was described by Lytle as frustration, the result of a breakdown in communication among the band members. According to Lytle the decision was not a surprise:
Everybody knew, but we needed to make it formal, we needed to make it official. We needed to pay some respects to what we've done, just make it real.
Lytle also stated that he was "burnt out on touring" and cited his fears over his drug and alcohol problems as a factor in the band's split, and in 2009 he expressed his preference for being solo, saying that he was "a bit of a loner", and, referring to his former bandmates, stated: "The main thing is not having four girlfriends to lug around with me all the time."
Lytle regarded Just Like the Fambly Cat as a "pretty fitting" last stop for Grandaddy; however, he continued to make music and perform solo, and worked with M. Ward on Hold Time. In 2009 Lytle moved from Modesto to Montana, and released his first solo album Yours Truly, the Commuter. In late 2009 Lytle and former Grandaddy drummer Aaron Burtch joined Aaron Espinoza and Ariana Murray of Earlimart to form the band Admiral Radley. Admiral Radley's debut album I Heart California was released on July 13, 2010 via Espinoza's label The Ship. In 2011 Burtch played in a band called The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit. Lytle's second solo album, Dept. of Disappearance, was released in 2012.
Jim Fairchild's first solo album, Ten Readings of a Warning, was released in April 2007 on Dangerbird Records, under the name All Smiles. A second All Smiles album, Oh for the Getting and Not Letting Go, was released on June 30, 2009. In 2010, he was selected to lead a project at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and in 2011 he released his third All Smiles album, Staylow and Mighty. Fairchild has also played for the bands Giant Sand, Great Northern, Lackthereof and Modest Mouse, having first played guitar with the latter in 2005.
2012–2013: Reunion
In March 2012, it was announced that Grandaddy had reformed and were to play a limited number of shows, including London on September 4, and headlining the End of the Road Festival in the UK. Grandaddy also played San Francisco's Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival and Paris's Rock en Seine Festival in August 2012. On August 7, 2012, to kick off their reunion tour, they played a "secret" show at the Partisan venue in Merced, California, but were billed as "The Arm of Roger". The next day they played as Grandaddy at the Henry Miller Library, Big Sur.Regarding the band's reunion, Lytle noted, "The bargain I made myself regarding the 'brief reunion and couple of shows' situation was that I wasn't gonna talk too much about it. I was just gonna stew on it, and then do it. That's the good thing about festivals. No need for me to sell anything here. Get in, rock out, get paid, get out. There are just going to be a few shows. Festival-type thingies. Perhaps the odd 'warm up gig' in someone's hair salon or something. Money was a motivating factor but the idea of playing and hanging out with each other is something all of the guys are pretty stoked about."
Lytle later noted, "It was actually Jim 's fault. He suggested that we consider playing some shows, and I went, 'No', he convinced me it might be a good idea. We talked about it for a little while. I didn't think anyone else in the band would be into it, he checked around and it turns out they were all enthusiastic. I think I was the last one to say yes. ... I was actually blown away that they even wanted to. Once I found that out, I said 'OK, let's start doing the work, figure out how to play the songs.' The weird moment was when he had the first rehearsal; I had no idea how it was going to turn out. After five days of playing together it actually sounded really good. It was too easy, and we were actually really having a good time together."
Lytle also noted that he was likely to record a new Grandaddy album, stating, "It's probably going to happen. ... If anyone knows anything about Grandaddy, they realise that my music and Grandaddy's music is slightly interchangeable. I think if I were to focus on making a Grandaddy record a full-blown Grandaddy record, and I like the idea of that. I'd like to give it a shot." In early 2013, Lytle elaborated: "I love the idea of making another Grandaddy record, but I wouldn't want it hanging over my head like 'Okay, you made this record, now are you guys going to get out there and tour in support of it?' ... I'm hoping for this dream scenario where I can make Grandaddy records every so often and not have all this messy stuff that goes along with it. I already did that and it's just not appealing to me any more."