This next interview I did a while back but I could not think of a more perfect time to post. The Grab Brothers Band are made up of two real brothers, Marc & Larry. These guys work hard and they do music even harder. While we are dealing with snow & cold weather these guys are gearing up for a big summer full of live shows all over Cape Cod, MA. It really does not get any better than that. My favorite song from these guys is ‘Holly Would.” Its more of an anthem than a song and it’s off the album, ‘Asian Red.’ Join us as Grab Brothers Band talk about making music with your brother, getting a deal without selling out, where to see them on the Cape, and much more. You can even grab Grabby Wigs for $10 on their site!

Stoli: Where are we chatting from today?

Grab Brothers Band: We are chatting from Provincetown, MA.

Stoli: Larry & Marc are brothers. When did you two start playing music together and when did you want to start the band?

Grab Brothers Band: We started playing music together when we were teenagers but we didn’t happen to form bands till we were about 17 years old. After that we always played and never thought about anything else but music.

Stoli: Have your parents & family been supportive and do they love music as well?

Grab Brothers Band: My parents have always been supportive and yes, they love music! Our great aunt was a professional opera singer. So it runs in the family, as we say.

Stoli: The Cape is amazing in the summer. What are some great venues for you to listen & play live music?

Grab Brothers Band: Oh boy, there is so many places. I’ll try to give a run down on some. 1. The Land Ho in Orleans and Harwich. 2. Rum Runners in Dennisport 3. Sundancer’s in W. Dennis 4. Way Down Town in Provincetown. 5. The Surf club in Provincetown 6. The BBC in Sandwich as well as in Falmouth. 7 The Lost Dog in Orleans. 8. Joe’s Barley Neck Inn in Orleans 9. Oliver’s /Planck’s Tavern in Yarmouthport. 10. Trader Eds in Hyannis..there’s a lot more but this can give you an idea.

Stoli: Being brothers how do you guys stay on good terms and would you say there is a friendly competition between you two?

Grab Brothers Band: Well we do have arguments but when it comes to playing we know we’re on the same team! We just try to better ourselves each time we play and it’s been working for us all our lives. As for the competition, our competition is to make you feel what we are feeling in the music.

Stoli: You guys have been in talks with some major labels. How is that going and will you be able to keep your vision without having to “sell-out”?

Grab Brothers Band: We have been in negotiations with attorney Barry Reis, who was the VP of Columbia. It’s a different ballgame out there and we’re looking at other ways and we will be working with Barry in the very near future. We don’t need to sell out and will keep our vision but we will have a very open mind and it’s good to have outside ideas as well as monetary help.

‘Asian Red’ – http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/GrabBrothers1

Stoli: You guys have an amazing live show. How do you guys get ready & select the playlist?

Grab Brothers Band: Playlist? Playlist? Haha great. Well, if the band is lucky they get a playlist. Usually, I tell them what we will be playing and because we know each other so well musically, the band can follow me as well as musically signaling the next song or two coming up.

Stoli: Your new album ‘Asian Red’ is getting great play & reviews. How long were you working on that album and do you make music for the people or is it natural?

Grab Brothers Band: The new album “Asian Red” was a compilation of songs that I had in the so called treasure vault of music stored away. So it is some new songs complied with older songs written years ago, just never recorded. The Album didn’t take long to record but took two years before it was released. We make music because it’s in our heart and soul!

Stoli: I love the diversity & variety in your music. How would you describe your sound to new fans reading this feature?

Grab Brothers Band: Our sound is kind of retro. I call it “Retro for Today.” Like a 70’s Jam Band mixed with some acoustical gems. Here’s a quote that may be useful.

“The brothers are like an “orchestrated tossed salad” with music emanating from flute, sax, harmonica, trombone, keyboards and electric and acoustic guitars, which gives them that full jam-band sound.

Stoli: What is coming up for Grab Brothers Band and where can we follow you online?

Grab Brothers Band: We are working on a new CD maybe just 5 or 6 songs. Also, we are hopefully planning a North East tour. You can always find out where we’ll be playing or any other Grab Brother thing by going to our website. www.grabbrothersband.com and or grabbmusic@hotmail.com.

Grab Brothers mix it up musically on latest CD.

Melora B. North (Provincetown Banner) — Nov 19, 2009

This band of brothers — which, when playing live, also includes non-sibs Jason Wamboldt on drums and Rob Scott on keyboards and guitars — says there is one element of a relationship that can rise above any differences and conflicts: making music. [...]

Family harmony with the Grab brothers
SEAN McCARTHY, November 19, 2009

As kids, Provincetown brothers Marc and Larry Grab were always playing music, making up songs and having fun with the musings that crossed their imaginations. Today their whimsical mental and musical wanderings are paying off in a big way. In fact, if things go the way they hope the pair, along with the other two members of their four-piece group called the Grab Brothers, are poised on the precipice, about to tumble into that netherworld where fame is the name of the game, leaving us behind in the glitter of their success to mumble amongst ourselves, “I used to know them when…

It’s been a long, hard haul over the years and the brothers are not taking this impending boost to their career lightly. It’s serious business and they respect the challenges ahead of them while also looking back and thanking their lucky stars.

“Our producer Mark Wolfson saw us in New York when we were showcasing original music — he wanted to meet us,” says Larry, somewhat astonished. “We got really lucky, he was the musical producer for ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ and Tom Hanks in one of his films. He produced the music for ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘That Thing You Do.’ He’s done a lot of other stuff too. I had to write a lot of songs, like one every day, to prove to him I could do it.”

Well, Larry proved his point all right. Because of the brothers tenacity they are now in the throes of making a new CD, their fifth, and this time they are doing so with some big hitters thanks to their affiliation with Wolfson and engineer Neil Citron who has some strings of his own to pull.

“This is a big project, really big, we’re on the edge,” says Larry. “It’s going to be all originals, all our CDs are originals, we don’t do cover songs for recordings. I hope it comes out this spring, there’s just so much involved. This CD is going to have some major names.”

Among the chosen is drummer Greg Bissonette who is Ringo Starr’s drummer of choice when on tour. He has also played with James Taylor and David Lee Roth. A friend of Citron’s, Bissonette has made videos and done commercials.

Another addition to the mix is Jack Daley on bass. His resume is long and impressive with names like Michael Jackson, the Temptations, Lenny Kravitz, the Rolling Stones and Janet Jackson on the roster. Phillip Wolf who has played with Alcatraz is at the keyboard on the track that will also include the other Grab Brother band members and a handful of other musicians yet to be named.

In the meantime, the Grab Brothers, who are joined by Robert Scott on keyboards and Jason Wamboldt on drums, can be heard at different venues locally as well as every Thursday night at the Land Ho! in Orleans where they perform a show of originals at 10 p.m., which says something about their professional path — very few bands can stand on their own and not play some old favorites and standbys familiar to the audience.

“It’s hard to go and just do originals,” says Larry. “People want to dance and sing and just groove. But we’ve been doing this for a couple of months and the response has been very good. They’re listening and they’re dancing. They love it,” he says with a laugh of pure joy.

Originally from Randolph, Mass., both brothers attended the University of Mass. at Boston where Larry majored in business. Mostly self-taught on bass, acoustic guitar, flute and harmonica, during college he spent his down time playing in the UMass Boston Jazz Band and singing with the elite chorus chamber singers. Marc took a different track and immersed himself in music, graduating at the top of his class. His preferred instruments are the guitar and the trombone.

Over the years the pair, who look incredibly like twins with their wild hair and compact physiques, but are in fact five years apart, have played together in several different bands or as a duo for various events and concerts. It was about four years ago that they started up the Grab Brothers band and all the members literally lend a voice to their music — they are all vocalists.

“We want everyone to sing so we can be more diverse,” says Larry.

Larry writes most of the lyrics for the songs and Marc writes the majority of the music, however, these days they are working closely with Wolfson and Citron who are doing some collaborative writing. But always the pair work as a team at all levels.

“To write a song I use word association, I see things and jot down notes,” says Larry. “Sometimes I put myself in a story situation. Sometimes the music is already written. I have to look at the mood of the music and the words. I try to create a rhythmic form, a flow. You have to see how it can fit. You can’t tell a sad story backed up by upbeat music,” he says, laughing. “You have to work to make it all fit. I come up with a floor plan and Marc fixes things. He carves it out and fixes it. We chip away, he’ll help write and fit the words with the chords.”

When the brothers are not performing, writing or composing, they are working together running the family shop, Mystik Moon in Provincetown. They even share a home with Larry’s wife, Sabina, who met her husband at a gig at the Governor Bradford in Provincetown in 2004. Married now for two years, the couple will travel this winter to Romania where they plan to visit Sabina’s family for an extended time.

The Grab brothers creativity is not limited to the musical venue. They appeared jointly in the Academy of Performing Arts’ production of “The Wizard of Oz” as Nikko and Rikko the flying monkeys, in which Larry also played the coroner. In addition the pair were in “Cabaret” and Larry played in “Hair.” For fun they love to noodle with their music but they also like to bowl, skate and ski. And, of course, they enjoy clubbing it and attending theater, together.

“We’re pretty close,” says Larry. “We live together but we let Marc have his own room. We lock him in there and let him meet with us in the kitchen sometimes.”

mnorth@provincetownbanner.com

Article By Michael Persson
May 10, 2007 Vol. 30.05

www.provincetownmagazine.net

Flydown are a tough act to follow, but Cape rockers The Grab Brothers are up for the challenge. They kick in with another cover band staple and crowd favorite Petty’s “American Girl”. They put a twist on it with an extended jam at the end, showin’ off some smokin’ chops while still keeping the driving beat intact. The next song “Smoke Two Joints” comes with props, as packs of rolling papers from smoke shop Shop Therapy come raining down from the stage. “You’re All I Got Tonight” has the crowd singing along and leads up to the one and only original all night, “All The Same”. A groovy mix of rock and soul, a touch of rap, and a rippin’ metal guitar solo somehow all come together perfectly in this tune. The Grab Bros. then do their own Journey cover and break out the flute to finish their set with a song they’re known for – Tull’s “Locomotive Breath”. The Grab Bros are a talented and fun band that do songs most other bands wouldn’t, or more likely, couldn’t. It’s easy to see how they’ve achieved a devoted following on the Cape.