The Grinns in Wonderland: an Interview with The Grinns

[Unpublished:] Where did the name The Grinns come from?

[The Grinns:] Our name has a lot to do with the book Alice in Wonderland . There's a specific passage in the book where the author writes the word “grin” multiple times on the page and that's where our name comes from.

[Unpublished:] Tell us about your new song, “Reunion”.

[The Grinns:] “Reunion” is all about your friends meeting up together and how rad it would be if this all ended right now. It’s about having a big party with all your friends that you haven't seen in a long time. It focuses on good times and good feelings. The song was written before quarantine but we happened to release it at the perfect time.

[Unpublished:] How has postponing your tour affected your relationship with your fans?

[The Grinns:] It’s terrible. We look forward to going on tour because it's like a vacation. We get to go out, meet new people, and play music. Now, that's not possible so we’re stoked to be back soon.

[Unpublished:] Who inspired you to make music?

[The Grinns:] The Beatles, The Growlers, Sublime, and No Doubt are all inspirations to us.

[Unpublished:] How did growing up in Orange County affect the music you guys create?

[The Grinns:] It's okay here but we want to go to more places. We want to put our fans in different states of mind. Being from this area it's common for people to just say that they’re from LA. We think OC is really unique and we try to represent it in our music.

[Unpublished:] How do you start your creative process, what inspires you?

[The Grinns:] It’s all over the place and slow. We all have our own little journal of guitar riffs, licks, or chord progressions. Joey has a physical journal of lyrics that he'll show to us and then we all just go into our little mental libraries and make something.

[Unpublished:] What advice do you have for someone who wants to pursue a creative career?

[The Grinns:] Keep doing it for a while and don't be discouraged. There's a ton of people doing the same thing so you have to stick with it and stand out. The most important thing is to be okay with being uncomfortable. Putting yourself out there will make you better.

[Unpublished:] What has been the best moment in your career so far?

[The Grinns:] I think the best moments in our career have been the 17-hour drives, where we're all stuck together. Those long drives in the van are really special to me.

We played a show in DC and it turned out was way better than expected. Having people who feel connected to your music, despite being so far away, is a cool feeling.

An album release we did was probably one of the biggest achievements that we've had today. We sold out a venue that we would always go to so it was surreal to be able to sell out that venue.

[Unpublished:] Where do you guys see yourself in 5 years?

[The Grinns:] Touring in different countries and getting some radio play would be amazing milestones and we just plan on releasing as much music as we can.