Gridiron is a band that operates entirely on its own terms. From refusing to conform to genre boundaries to surprise-dropping an EP instead of doing a traditional rollout, they have built their entire identity on unpredictability.
With relentless touring and festivals, all while pushing hardcore music into bold new directions, Gridiron shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. We caught up with guitarist Xavier Wilson following the surprise release of their latest EP, Lights Out, to talk about genre boundaries, the mindset behind the EP, and more!
MSM: Starting with Lights Out, that kind of surprise dropped instead of doing a typical rollout. Was there a reason you guys wanted to do it that way?
XAVIER: Just shifting gears from what we normally do ... Obviously, the LP came out last year, and we did the whole rollout for that, and then we were working on this towards the end of the year, and we wanted this one to be not low-key, I guess, but in the spirit of hardcore, where it's just like we just put stuff out there, it'll be on a little tape. Folks will get it like that, and we just wanted to do it as a little surprise, a little low-key kind of thing, especially since we're about to go back overseas. It's like, oh, here you guys go. We were just here, and now we got new shit, and we're about to go back. So we wanted to do it like that.
Yeah, that's cool! So, how does that connect to Poetry From Pain? Would you say it's an extension of that, or is this a whole new chapter?
I would say so, expanding on the stuff that we were doing on that record and taking it to its next logical step, because obviously you have that song, which is more — there's the extra elements with the beats and all the little synths and stuff like that in the background, touching more on the hiphop aspect of it. And then obviously with "Longhaul," it's classic Gridiron but doing a newer spin on it.
So when you guys are creating new material, how do you know when it's complete? How do you know when it feels Gridiron enough?
Especially with the process of this EP and our last record, we were all together watching it and piecing it together and seeing how the whole thing was meshing with each element. And usually once we get to a point where it's like the vocals are on point, the drums are on point, the guitar is on point ... once everything is at its pinnacle, that's how we know, all right, this is it right here.
Is there a reason that you thought these songs were a good choice for an EP rather than saving them for a full-length again?
I think it's just because, like I said, we're expanding on what we had done on the last record. So it gives folks a little glimpse of what could come and what will come in the future because, as opposed to waiting and saving them, it's like we could then, now that that's out there, keep going in that general direction, and it's like folks are like, "Oh shit, well, this is a huge change." It's like, oh no, no, no, we've been drip-feeding this kind of stuff. We've been working on it and doing it more and more and more as time goes on. So when we obviously get to our next record, then it's like, oh yeah, yeah, obviously we're going to have surprises, this, that, and the third thing. But it's like, oh yeah, we know what's going on now.
Breaking genre boundaries is kind of your thing. Are there any sounds that you guys haven't explored yet that you want to bring in, or is that a surprise?
Yeah, we got to keep that under wraps. The kind of stuff that we get into in the studio, especially when we're like, "Yo, what if we did this?" And it's like if I told people the kind of stuff that we're looking at and referencing, even stuff that we've sort of paid homage to or referenced in the stuff that's already out there, people would be like, "Yo, what the fuck?" But that's kind of the magic of it, I feel like.
Yeah. So you guys probably face some criticism for what you do (blurring lines). How do you protect your vision? Do you ever want to listen to when people are like, "What are you doing??"?
At least for me personally, I kind of operate on the logic of no matter what you do, it's impossible. You shouldn't go into it with the hope, or I guess with the want, that you want everybody to like it because inevitably somebody's going to dislike it, somebody's going to hate it, but it's like, who cares? You know what I mean? Just keep doing ... have fun doing it. We have fun doing it. People like seeing it. So at the end of the day, it's not even a thing, for real.
Right. I mean, you'll never please everybody, no matter what you do.
Exactly. You'll never please anybody, so you don't want to try your hardest because it's like, a thing that appeals to everybody usually ends up appealing to nobody, I feel like, if you know what I'm saying, and just keep doing your thing and we're going to keep doing our thing and we enjoy doing it.
Yeah. So you guys famously started during marathon Call of Duty sessions. Was there a moment when you realized this is not just a project, but this is something bigger?
It's funny because, especially when we started playing shows, we played fests and stuff like that, whatever, whatever. Nothing too big. We did a little run with Never Ending Game in the summer at that point; that was the first run of shows that we did, but we were doing the weekend thing for a minute. But then once we had played For the Children in LA in 2023 and that set and a few of the other sets that we had played after that, FYA that next year and the first year of touring we did was with Missing Link and Magnitude and Scarab, and when we were playing Outbreak, it was to the point where it was like, Oh shit, this could really be something bigger than what we think it could be.
And then since you started around gaming sessions, just kind of a fun question — who is the most competitive gamer out of all of you?
Honestly, I don't even know if I could speak to that. At least with me, that's kind of their thing. I'd be doing my own shit with games and stuff like that. I'm not really a Call of Duty head, but if I had to guess between Carl and Bill, I could imagine, I feel like it'd probably be Bill if I'm being honest. I could see it.
Is there a song outside of hardcore that you think people would be surprised to know is an influence for you guys?
I mean, I'm trying to think because obviously my first thought is all the very obvious and apparent influences, even the ones that aren't necessarily too apparent, but it's like, say I get an idea; I might get an idea from Pantera. I might get an idea from Linkin Park, but I'm trying to think ... probably KISS. I can't say a particular song because I can't give away the game, but pulling from that, you know what I mean?
Yeah. I mean, you guys obviously pull from everything.
Yeah, literally. Very eclectic as a group.
And then, sort of another fun question, if you had to cover one song that was strictly rap (genre-wise) tomorrow, what would it be?
Oh, it would definitely be "Shook Ones, Pt II" by Mobb Deep. I feel like you can't go wrong with that because I feel like you could turn that into something. Their music is already dark as is. I feel like that could lend itself to being in another style because we pull from definitely a lot. So I feel like that kind of very dark, violent hip-hop and that kind of stuff. They're like kissing cousins almost. At least that's the way I see it.
And then on the other end of the spectrum, if you had to cover another hardcore song, what would it be?
I would love to cover ... Well, I just did this. I think if we did an Agnostic Front song, I think that would be really funny just because, for one, we love that shit, but it's like people would see that and be like, "What the fuck? That doesn't make any sense." But it's cool though because it's like, "Yes, it doesn't make any sense." And that's the best shit in my opinion. "Last Warning" in particular, because that's my track. But also I would go with "Toxic Shock" from them.
Are there any misconceptions that you think people have about you guys?
Definitely. Well, I mean, if you look at YouTube comments, I feel like they see us and they immediately will draw conclusions or draw parallels to Limp Bizkit. And I get that, but I feel like it's a lot more nuanced than that. I feel like it's just because, I don't know, both of our singers wear hats. I feel like people don't think that we are pulling from and are inspired by the kind of stuff that we really do pull from, especially when you get really into the weeds of a lot of the death metal influences. And I feel like people don't even pick up on that. They're just like, oh, it sounds like POD or whatever, but that's because that's their only frame of reference or something ... You know what I mean?
Yeah, that makes sense. And lastly, is there anything else that you want to mention?
Nothing that I could immediately think of besides looking forward to getting back on the road again and looking forward to doing a lot of newer stuff, a lot of bigger and newer stuff. And I think that's really exciting. I'm stoked for anybody that will see us at any of that stuff.
