{"id":112,"date":"2011-06-24T12:25:57","date_gmt":"2011-06-24T16:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/wholenotes\/?p=112"},"modified":"2011-06-28T16:07:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-28T20:07:29","slug":"blindsides-simon-grenehed-on-appealing-to-multiple-fan-bases-church-life-in-sweden-and-future-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/2011\/06\/blindsides-simon-grenehed-on-appealing-to-multiple-fan-bases-church-life-in-sweden-and-future-plans.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Blindside’s Simon Grenehed (Part 2)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hit \u201cLike\u201d to share with your friends!<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>FRIDAY FEATURE: Simon Grenehed of Blindside, Part 2<\/p>\n

Here’s the second part of Whole Notes’ interview with Blindside guitarist Simon Grenehed:<\/p>\n

Bonham: Do you recognize those young guys from 15 years ago that were on the scene, hitting it hard and playing the small venues? Are you guys the same or is there a different purpose behind what the band does now?<\/p>\n

Grenehed: We were formed by those years. There\u2019s something that happens when we get in a room together. That\u2019s not going to change. But also, you become different individuals the older you get. The last couple of years playing outside of the States, we\u2019ve been trying to figure out our own sound and style as well, which has just come from playing in different types of settings. We\u2019re super excited about the live shows because of the new material. We just started playing a couple of those songs live and we\u2019re really excited about how they\u2019re coming out.<\/p>\n

Bonham: As one of a few bands that went from the Christian independent rock scene and then found success in the general market, how comfortable have you been bouncing back and forth between the various venues in which you find yourself performing?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Blindside<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grenehed: The whole Christian scene is something we were unaware of when we started the band. It was something we got to know when we came over to the States. That was never our main focus. We were just playing and didn\u2019t have too many goals. When things happened in different directions, we just kind of flowed with it. But I do think that we don\u2019t have any problem playing in front of whoever is in the room or whatever kind of crowd. We learned when we opened for a lot of bands that we\u2019re out to conquer the audience. They don\u2019t know who you are when you start out. But we do feel comfortable just being in all those places. For us, it can be something really powerful when you play in a Christian venue and everybody is focused on the same thing. But also, I think you can get into that same mode when you play anywhere else. We have a couple songs where for some reason they\u2019re not about a band on a stage. It\u2019s about everybody in the room. It connects to a feeling or a melody that people can meditate on in whatever form like want to and express it in their own way.<\/p>\n

Bonham: Do you feel like bands such as yourself, P.O.D. and Switchfoot have more responsibility because of your ability to connect with a mainstream audience better than other Christian bands have been able to do?<\/p>\n

Grenehed: No. (Laughs) We are who we are. As far as being in whatever venue in front of different people, if you stay true to that and your core and what the band is about, people feel it if it\u2019s real. I think that\u2019s what will show in the end. It\u2019s not about what you say on stage. For us, it\u2019s been going out with bands that don\u2019t necessarily have the same faith as us. It\u2019s so much about relationships. If you\u2019re spreading the word in any way, it\u2019s going to be through who you are off the stage as well.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What\u2019s going on in Stockholm these days within the church there and how have you guys plugged back into that community?<\/p>\n

Grenehed: I don\u2019t know man. It\u2019s funny because every time we talk to people in the States they\u2019re like, \u201cYeah, I heard about all the things going on in Sweden!\u201d We\u2019re like, \u201cWhere did you go?\u201d Sweden is a very secularized country. I think it\u2019s like four percent or less Christian. But there are some amazing movements going on. For us, it\u2019s more staying within whatever church or community where we already are and really working there.<\/p>\n

Bonham: What is the game plan for how you\u2019re going to tackle this new project with touring and promotions, especially considering the new reality within the music industry where record sales are harder to come by?<\/p>\n

Grenehed: That\u2019s exactly why we didn\u2019t rush it and go do things the old fashioned way. That\u2019s why we did the web campaign and released the songs streaming one at a time. We just tried to figure out different ways we could do things in an innovative way. Now that the record is out, we\u2019re going to focus on touring and getting the music out there. Of course we\u2019re very excited about getting back to the States. We have a tour that\u2019s staring in September and we\u2019re playing Cornerstone Festival as well. We\u2019re ready to get back on it. It\u2019s always hard. It depends on the kind of feedback you get from the fans. We really understand that we have to start at zero and go from there. Everything isn\u2019t planned out yet. We\u2019re going to take the information we have so far and see what we should do next.<\/p>\n

Bonham: You guys have been one of the better bands for embracing video. Will that continue with this record?<\/p>\n

Grenehed: We definitely believe in having something visual out there. We\u2019re going to try to focus on that and get some video material out so people can see what the old men look like nowadays (laughs).<\/p>\n

For special content, check out Blindside’s album site here<\/a> or hit up the official band site here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> for Part 1 of this interview. Join us next week for Monday Music News plus an interview with Royal Tailor and a review of Peter Furler’s debut solo project.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hit \u201cLike\u201d to share with your friends! FRIDAY FEATURE: Simon Grenehed of Blindside, Part 2 Here’s the second part of Whole Notes’ interview with Blindside guitarist Simon Grenehed: Bonham: Do you recognize those young guys from 15 years ago that were on the scene, hitting it hard and playing the small venues? 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Chad\u2019s professional journey began at the University of Tulsa where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (1993) while working extensively in athletic media relations and serving as a sports editor for The Collegian. Since then, he has written extensively for such publications as Relevant, CCM, Christian Retailing, New Man, Charisma, Today\u2019s Christian, Ministries Today, Breakaway, Brio, Sports Spectrum, Christian Single, Faith & Friends, Sharing the Victory and Gospel Today. He has authored, co-authored or ghost written and edited 13 books including Life in the Fairway (New Leaf Press), Glory of the Games (Cross Training), Wrestling with God (River Oak), Spiritual Journeys (Relevant) and the four-part Fellowship of Christian Athletes Core Value Series; Excellence, Teamwork, Serving and Integrity (Regal Books). Chad is currently working on five new books including Sooner Legacy, Husker Legacy and Lessons From Sooner Football (Cross Training) as well as The Faith of Stock Car Racing (Judson Press). When he's not writing, Chad lends his efforts to various independent television and film projects. He was the coordinating producer for Choosing Life (2010) and Life Happens (2011). Chad is currently serving as producer on a forthcoming documentary about Super Bowl champion Brian Kinchen. Chad and his wife Amy live in Broken Arrow, Okla., with sons Lance (September 2003), Cole (February 2008) and Quinn (February 2011).","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/author\/cbonham"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":179,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/wholenotes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}