Formed in 2021 in Richmond, VA, grinding metal / grindcore trio GAAWK was founded by Nick Crider, Nathaniel Roseberry (of powerviolence band Street Pizza), and Keith Paul. All three players play in Dumb Waiter together, but formed out of pandemic boredom and the desire to play something uglier and sonically offensive, drawing influence from the brutality of predecessors and contemporaries alike such as Nile, Man Is The Bastard, Spazz, Discordance Axis, and Graf Orlock. Their debut EP “Meaningless” drops tomorrow October 1st, but today we have an exclusive first listen, along with a new music video premiere (watch the “Bleak Ritual” horror below), special Q&A, in which the band shared their top horror movies, fuzzy heavy albums worth a check and top local bands from Richmond! Yay!
According to guitarist and vocalist Nicholas Crider: “We all came from heavier music backgrounds, which you can hear surfacing in little bits in our other projects, but none of them let full metal havoc out. I think Gaawk is just us letting go of nuance and hesitation, and allowing the fuzz pedals to just stack on top of each other.”
Meaningless was recorded and mixed by Matt Redenbo (Eyelet, War on Women, Black Lung, Misled Youth) with technical support from Kevin Bernsten (Full of Hell, Magrudergrind, Weekend Nachos, Noisem) at Developing Nations in Baltimore. Vocals recorded by Dave Watkins (Dumb Waiter, Doubtfire) in Richmond, VA. Mastered by James Plotkin (Sunn O))), Isis, Pelican). Album will be available digitally as well as on limited edition cassette October 1st 2021.
Additionally, exclusive “Gaawk” False Idols figurines will also be available. False Idols is a Richmond, Virginia based DIY toy designer, sculptor, producer, and illustrator. They are inspired by a lifetime of immersion into indie comics, horror films, action figures, Japanese monster movies, death metal/grindcore, and cartoons. False Idols began sculpting and making hand cast resin toys in early 2018. In his three years evolution, he has continued to expand with over 10 new toy design releases, discovered several new mediums for toy creation, and launched a collaborative clothing line of all original designs. Preorder, here.
Album cover drawn, designed, and screen printed by Nick Crider (Dumb Waiter, Doubtfire).
Read our brief interview below.
Hey guys! Thanks for dropping by! Can you tell us what inspired you to create these awesome GAAWK False Idols figurines?
Nathaniel Roseberry (drums): The EMPTY ROT figurine draws inspiration from the intense and often gory album covers of old school death metal, powerviolence and grindcore from the early 90’s. Album covers like NEANDERTHAL- “WEST COAST POWER VIOLENCE”, CROSSED OUT- “FUCK GRINDCORE”, CANNIBAL CORPSE “GORE OBSESSED”, and INSECT WARFARE “ENDLESS EXECUTION THRU VIOLENT RESTITUTION” for example. The images depicted on these album covers are very heavy, but often have some level of humor. FALSE IDOLS and GAAWK tried to pay homage to the gory but fun artistic traditions of these genres in a three dimensional sculpture with the EMPTY ROT figurine.
Give us your top horror movies to go along with this gritty listen?
Nathaniel Roseberry: I would HIGHLY recommend watching TOKYO GORE POLICE with the GAAWK “MEANINGLESS” EP on repeate. If that ain’t your thing, stick with the classics, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE!!
How about top fuzzy heavy albums worth a check?
- Magrudergrind “Magrudergrind”
- Nails “Abandon all life”
- Gorguts “Obsura”
- Ceremony “Violence Violence”
- Krallice “Years Past Matter”
- Cannibal Corpse “A Skeletal Domain”
Top local bands worth diving into?
Disciples Of Christ, Triac, Battlemaster.
And finally, top metal/hardcore live video to get you pumped for the post COVID live shows?
