Gramps The Vamp

Description

Gramps The Vamp is a genre-bending instrumental collective that has been exploring the dark corners of groove-based music since 2011. Corralling its eclectic influences (freak-jazz, funk, world fusion, surf-rock, psychedelia, heavy metal, avant-garde) with a unifying retro-cinematic aesthetic, Gramps The Vamp weaves tight grooves, wild experimentation, and lush melodies together into a post-apocalyptic dance party.

Work Sample

Gramps The Vamp performing our original tune "The Creature" on Halloween night 2021. This song displays the more funk-influenced side of our music.

Run time 4:03

This is a good example of what our Halloween shows are like, which is a big thing for us. Most of the year, however, we do not perform in costume. Still, this is a good example of how we sound and perform live.

https://grampsthevamp.bandcamp.com/track/the-deathship-has-a-new-captain

This is a song from our latest album, and displays a more experimental side to our music.

Title: The Deathship Has A New Captain
Runtime: 4:50
Released: 2020

https://grampsthevamp.bandcamp.com/track/riders-on-the-veil-of-doom

This is a song from our latest album which displays a more psych-garage-rock side to our music.

Title: Riders on the Veil of Doom
Runtime: 3:34
Released: 2020

These three songs are good representations of the work that Gramps The Vamp has been doing lately as they are from our latest album released in 2020.

History

Gramps The Vamp released its debut self-titled LP, produced by Orgone’s prolific leader, Sergio Rios (Los Angeles), in 2014. This sample-laden avant-funk album established the Chicago-based group both as a mainstay in the city’s robust funk-jazz scene, and as a group of renegades intent on breaking the mold of the genre. Experimentation continued for its 2016 sophomore effort, The Cave of 10,000 Eyes, a 70’s B-horror-film-inspired concept album that was recently added to the list of “Best Chicago Albums of the Decade” by the Chicago Reader. The seven-piece released its third record “Keeper of the Void” in October 2020, their most experimental and ambitious work yet, which was voted runner-up for Best Local Album of the Year in the Chicago Reader.

Gramps The Vamp has performed in 18 US States and has shared the stage with international touring acts like Alma Afrobeat Orchestra, Red Baraat and Good Enough for Good Times. The ensemble has been featured in two films on the US festival circuit (Demonoid 1971 and Call Me Brother), the latter of which stars SNL cast member Andrew Dismukes. In 2017, Gramps The Vamp also branched into live scoring, performing band leader Maxx McGathey’s score to Nosferatu, commissioned by the Chicago Park District.

Artistic Vision

Gramps The Vamp is a genre-bending instrumental doom-funk, freak-jazz, bizarro-psych-rock ensemble that has been exploring the dark corners of groove-based music since 2011. Corralling its eclectic influences (contemporary jazz, funk, world fusion, surf-rock, psychedelia, heavy metal, avant-garde) with a unifying retro-cinematic aesthetic, Gramps The Vamp weaves tight grooves, wild experimentation, and lush melodies together into a post-apocalyptic dance party.