Artist Spotlight: Meet Gramofone
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind "Call It Love" and the story it tells?
”Call It Love” started out as a plain fun rock song that we were jamming along to during rehearsals. We’ve all noticed that it feels so good to play, and that each time we play it it’s so full of adrenaline.
That’s where the lyrical idea came from: adrenaline. We drew a link between betting in a poker game and betting on a relationship - you want to call it love - but is it really love? What if you make a habit out of chasing that adrenaline and you consistently go “all in” on every occasion?
Love and gambling can both become addictive when you’re chasing the wrong thing, and at the end of the day we must ask the question: is it really love, or is it the fear of losing and you just want to Call It Love…
How does "Call It Love" fit into your overall artistic vision and what can listeners expect from you in the future?
We have a pretty varied catalog and this release is one of the more rock-oriented songs from the upcoming album. We’re excited to say that it’s not going to be the only one in this style, and the best is yet to come.
What was your favorite moment in making the music video?
We had a lot of fun filming it but we also played with fire in a few… let’s say unsafe ways.
Most of the flames were indoors, ventilation was not the best, and poor Paul was being strapped to that chair for quite some time during filming.
We had some good laughs when we had to lift him up while still being tied to the chair, and carry him outside to get some air.
How do you continuously grow and evolve as a band?
One of the ways is that we’re constantly trying to bring out the best version of our songs, depending on the context and occasion.
If it’s a radio session we can modify the performance to accommodate that vibe. If it’s a concert in a club or an open-air festival we usually go for a more flashy song structure and presentation.
Most importantly though, each of us is focused on his personal growth and this reflects in how we grow together as a group.
Can you share a standout moment from one of your live performances that you'll never forget?
It’s a funny one. Paul had tickets to a Louis CK show in another city, one day before one of our biggest gigs: Gramofone opening for Bon Jovi.
He was pretty confident that he was going to make it but, due to some mix-up at the boarding area, he couldn’t get on the flight. He must have called everyone he knew and went as far as talking to the airport director somehow, but could not get on the plane.
He waited for an hour while witnessing all the passengers who were Bon Jovi fans wearing T-shirts and merch excited to arrive for the show.
During this, the rest of the band went defcon-1 and rehearsed a no-keyboard-set in less than one hour before the show.
This story started spreading among musicians in the local scene and in a short time he became known as “that keyboardist who missed his most important show”.