Hey friends, weirdos and weirdo friends - Craig here and thanks for checking out the first episode of Gizz For The New! It's been a year since I've done anything like this, and having found something that I very much enjoy talking about here we are. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard is a band that, to my very surprise, put me in a position of having to take a little bit of attention away from my favorite band. As I've met more people in the weirdo swarm, I hear a lot of the same story.
Joining me for the first episode is none other than Rob Grabill, and there was no other guest I possibly could have kicked this off with. As the one who inspired me to check out Gizz, my history with Rob goes back ten years to 2014, when I sheepishly approached him at work because I was a very new Phish fan. A work friend suggested I talk to him because he had a Phish poster in his workspace, and before I could look for him it turned out he ended up moving pretty close to where I was in the group team breakdown. He would listen to the Phish show from the previous night at some point during the workday, and pass on anything that he thought was important to hear.
We documented the process of this at the start of WEEKAPOD GROOVE, a podcast that Rob and I co-hosted on The Pods and Sods Network. We did sporadic episodes between 2015 and 2023, and we pretty much start this episode at an interesting time where Gizz starts to overtake Phish for us at a time where Phish is playing at a level that they haven't in years. We discuss Rob making the decision to skip the summer Phish festival in Dover to instead see the marathon Gizzard shows at Forest Hills, and how that led to me discovering Gizzard through this and how quickly I took to everything I was hearing.
After we put a postscript on Weekapod Groove, we touch upon the following: Rob's initial (and sporadic) listens over the years and what the breakthrough moments were, his path of dedicated listening through the discography and then helping to direct my initial listening, what makes The Dripping Tap special, which albums were the last to click, his listening habits during tour, how the live albums made him appreciate the music more, Phish's embracing of capitalism versus Gizz giving so much away (namely livestreams and stems from the entirety of the US tour for fans to remix and/or press their own vinyl, CD, cassettes, whatever), collecting Gizz and the poster scene, the absence of specific material in the band's setlists, the insanity and weirdness of Gizz music videos, a bit about The Murlocs and Gumbrose, the thoughtfulness behind the composition and execution of their demo compilations (also released for free with the band's permission to do literally anything you would like with), two drummers versus one and his skepticism towards the double drummer/percussionist concept, the unbelievable range of the band and his recommendation for the new.
To sum up, what I love about Gizz is exactly what made me appreciate Phish: a massive appreciation for their composed material, complete awe of their ability to improvise (even if both do it in different ways), hunger for different nightly setlists and wide ranges of material not only being considered but executed on tour, and the genuine personality of the band shining through warts and all and none of it hid behind any pretense. I thank Rob for introducing me to this band of weirdos; after even such a short time the riches and excitement have been massive. We'll be back next time with Rob's thoughts on the New York and Philly shows, and joining us will be Megan who also saw the Chicago show (our first show)!
Rob's pick for music this episode was Hot Water live from the Dell Music Center in Philadelphia. I was able to mix a 'Cookie's Up' instrumental version for the show's intro and outro from stems very generously supplied to the fans by the band at linktr.ee/kinggizzardbootlegger
Free mixed versions of all 24 shows from the first leg of the US tour as well as six compilations of demo recordings and fourteen previous live releases, all for free, at the BOOTLEG GIZZARD account on Bandcamp - bootleggizzard.bandcamp.com
PLEASE don't stop there. If you dig what you hear, grab a few of the band's albums at their official Bandcamp. Currently there are 26 - all are in CD quality, many are hi-res files, all are real cheap and worth more than what they're asking. If you love the band, just kick something to them if you can as a thank you for everything they give for free. kinggizzard.bandcamp.com
Thanks for listening to Gizz For The New! You can find new episodes and some random geeky bloggy data stuff at gizzforthenew.com
We're also on YouTube! www.youtube.com/@gizzforthenew
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