A year or two ago, I recorded percussion for the soundtrack to this great independent documentary, and it's finally out! The film was screened at the 2014 Philadelphia Film Festival, and is poised to premiere on the west coast this summer. I could explain it to you, but that's what trailers are for right?
The Spoils of Tour: Buried Beds and Kishi Bashi
What a tour. Sharing the stage with the mega-talented Kishi Bashi, I had the pleasure of spending ten days on the road with Philly's own Buried Beds. Nearly every show was sold out, and the crowds were incredible.
New Tour Dates with Buried Beds! →
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I'm very pleased to announce that I'll be joining Devinyl Records artists Buried Beds on a tour of the east coast this June.
William Gruff delivers an "edgier" sound with new single →
Our friends over at DOA have featured our new single, "Don't Remember Your Name", and it seems that they got it just right. Head over to their blog and read more, and give a listen to the tune on YouTube, SoundCloud, or right here!
William Gruff - Don't Remember Your Name [Single]
Never resting on any laurels, we fellows from William Gruff bring you new music. Watch the music video above - shot by Pierre Tasne and directed by Paul Bomba - and listen to the single below on SoundCloud.
This tune, and the second single that will soon follow, are part of a stylistic exploration into the sound and vibe of pop music from the 1980s. We took our influences and bring you this - so let us know what you think!
Pickett Drumline
I wrote original warm-ups, guided the composition of a cadence, and a few grooves to be played by a middle school drumline. Check out the charts and recordings by the Pickett Drumline!
Alan Ens - Long Term
Click to listen to the full EP online
Last year, I recorded drums for three different tunes in three different locations. Another completely self-produced record from Philly's Alan Ens, this short EP doesn't skimp on the music. Says Al, it was recorded in the summer of 2013, for less money than the new Air Jordans.
This DIY spirit has led Alan to record a number of other albums on his own, including his Tongue Sculptors and $105,019.86 $tudent Debt. His music is a nearly indescribable recipe, taking morsels of jazz, pop, ambient, Brazilian, and punk musics and washing it down with some soy sauce and Old Bay. Take a listen, and support some very unique homegrown jams.
Released 09 January 2014
Alan Ens - Instruments, recording and mixing
Charlie Heim - Drums
with
Hallie Sainni - Viola; Joshua Machiz - Upright bass; Ian O'Beirne - Flute, Clarinet; Koofreh Umoren - Trumpet
'Gruff single is one of the "Best Songs of 2013" →
The good people over at adequacy.net - who published an exclusive interview with us a few months ago - rated our first single from Binghamton as one of the Best Songs of last year. Here's what they had to say:
Review by Jen Dean
"Helmsman Matt Cusack steers this David Bowiesque, epic number with a sure hand, starting off slowly with strummed guitar and low-key vocals that build up in emotive intensity. Certain yearning turns of phrase and song structure shifts recall artists like David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, and Freddie Mercury."
Check out the article, and the rest of the list, over at DOA.
William Gruff "encompasses the heavens as much as the hills" →
Leading up to our featured concert at the Auburn Public Theater, we had a chance to chat with a local newspaper about our new music.
“William Gruff doesn’t sound like an astronaut’s name — maybe a woodsman’s, or a sheriff’s.
But when it comes to the band William Gruff, the name encompasses the heavens as much as the hills.
The New York City quintet will bring its “cowboy space tunes” to Auburn Public Theater Dec. 20. Its latest EP, “Binghamton,” was inspired in equal doses by David Bowie and Big Star — lots of synths and acoustic guitars, singer/guitarist Matt Cusack said.”
Click the title above to read the article by David Wilcox
Featured
William Gruff back in the studio
In mid December, we headed back up to More Sound Studios in Syracuse NY to track some brand-new tunes.
Johnny Showcase up for Philebrity Award "General Fabulousness" →
The good folks at Philebrity are hosting their annual Philebrity Awards & Xmas Pageant, and Johnny Showcase is up for one of the most coveted.
My next album will be released as a 3D Printed sculpture →
Maybe not exactly, but this is the future.
French "voice sculptor" Gilles Azzaro created this work as an exemplary manifestation of what 3D printing can do, and you should be amazed.
Grammy Amplifier featuring William Gruff and Johnny Showcase!
GrammyU, the proletariat extension of the music business oligarchy (and was beginning its initial expansion during my time at UArts) is now offering a curated audience-appreciation contest with Grammy Amplifier.
Q&A with William Gruff →
The fine folk at DOA just published a Featured Interview with Matt on their site. It goes pretty in depth about the songs, the sounds, and the brainspace that created our new album. I think they liked the record, too:
"Binghamton is completely pleasing to the ear and the brainspace, from the thoughtful to brisk rhythms, complex and compelling interplay of guitars, contemplative, expressive, and yearning vocal leads, sweet harmonies, and cogent lyrics."
Read the full interview at Delusions of Adequacy, and... have you listened to the record yet?
![William Gruff wins Best Rock Album [Updated]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5159a2fde4b01288f25138bb/1444672248291-Y2HADDMTT0CP91Y34I3V/image-asset.jpeg)
Binghamton "is a loose, freewheeling, powerful record" →
They keep a-rollin' in! Here's a new review of our new album, this time from the music blog Popa's Tunes. Popa wrote about William Gruff a few times in the past - most notably in his retelling of my epic sojourn to and fro the recording studio - and he's got nothing but good things to say about what we released.
"Binghamton is a loose, freewheeling, powerful record from a band that naturally gels together with an abundance of creativity. Each track is hypnotically catchy, and sinks into the subconscious to wander there perpetually."
Well right on. If you haven't already, you best take a listen to the record they're all raving about: Binghamton is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and for your listening pleasure right here on charlieheim.com!
Galludo! Dogfish are in the news, for once.
It's as simple as using a dogfish as a baitfish, but makes for one hell of a photo. According to NBC News, Marine Biologists at the University of Delaware's Ocean Exploration, Remote Sensing, and Biogeography (ORB) Lab set out to get themselves a healthy sand tiger shark, and were met with a food-chain of events:
"This unlucky smooth dogfish couldn't resist the menhaden used as bait and, unfortunately, fell victim to one of the top predators in the [Delaware] bay," ORB researchers wrote on their Facebook page. "The dogfish was about 3 feet (1 meter) long and completely swallowed by the sand tiger shark."
The dogfish - one of the smallest known sharks, and also a great little sax and drum duo - was devoured by the sand tiger verily.
We feel for you, my small icthyofriend. Listen here to our elegy for the Dogfish, and be sure to check out the whole article over at NBC News.
Charlie Heim on the Time →
Photos taken by Johnny Showcase himself. Thanks for the love, Johnny.
Binghamton is "a cosmic, psych-pop commencement speech" →
Taking our latent interest in space, the future, and empowering music literally, music blog Bucket Full of Nails seemed to deeply understand the messages we were trying to convey. Of course, you should listen for yourself to see if the "astral" allusions to Philip K. Dick's reality are as clear as they claim. Regardless, when speaking about our tune "Newtons", they offered this fine opine:
"...[Should you] follow William Gruff, a time capsule from today discovered some light years from now won’t tell the story of such modernity. Rather, the physics of love will form the tale read to future generations."
Johnny Showcase in JUMP Magazine! →
We had a nice write-up in the Fall 2013 Edition of JUMP Philly - see page 23.
This issue of JUMP also features a cover story on a longtime Showcase collaborator - Martha Graham Cracker.
William Gruff - Binghamton
Click to listen to the full album online
The second album from William Gruff.
Hot on the heels of the new single and music video, comes William Gruff's Binghamton EP.
We recorded the entire thing in four days, and features six brand-new songs penned by Matt Cusack and his acoustic guitar. With Vince Federici on guitar, Will Tobin on keyboards, Julia Adamy on bass, myself on drums and everyone singing, we tracked Binghamton live at More Sound Studios in Syracuse, NY. We chose travel back to the space where William Gruff was manifested; More Sound's quality and accommodation was and is well worth the trip. The trip, however, is a big part of the story.
I contributed drums, percussion, vocals, arranging, and my car's engine to our little record here.
I'll be posting a more detailed account of said trek to and fro the 'Cuse, but you will have to check back for that one - it's gonna take a minute to put it all down. It has already become internet legend, however, and you can read a (lightly dramatized) telling over at Popa's Tunes. Here's an excerpt:
"Four AM sitting in the cab of the tow truck, hard rain falling, the prospects of getting to the studio on time looked grim. Can the car be fixed? Who too call at this ungodly hour for a ride? The flashing neon of the service station blurred crimson red on the wet windshield, two letters were missing from the sign, it blinked RAGE, RAGE, RAGE. Still soaked to the bone Charlie and Vince climbed from the cab, despairingly wondering what to do next."
Intrigued yet? Read the whole article or download the album now!
Visit www.williamgruffmusic.com for more info and new music.
Some of our set-up at More Sound Studio
ceramsey3's photo on Instagram
