Brisbane band The Grates will release a new album in June, despite losing their drummer Alana Skyring, who has moved on to pursue culinary arts.
2010 was an eventful year for Brisbane band The Grates.
For the last year they have been based in Brooklyn, holing themselves up in the studio writing and recording their forthcoming album, and have also announced a lineup change.
Drummer Alana Skyring has moved on from The Grates to pursure culinary arts, studying in Manhattan at the Institute of Culinary Education.
The band will continue as a two-piece, recruiting talented renegades along the way for recording and live performances.
Frontwoman Patience Hodgson and guitarist John Patterson spent some time experimenting with new sounds and lyrical depth, while they found themselves trapped indoors as blizzards raged outside in the New York winter.
"With this new arrangement still seeping in, John and I carried on writing," Patience mused.
"Losing time and losing light, we experimented in our tiny grey band room, making riffs out of feedback loops, fooling around with sounds and layering vintage synthesisers for hours daily."
The Grates have recruited Brooklyn drummer Ben Marshall to bang the skins on the record, and are also working with bassist and producer Gus van Go.
"Our producers are amazing, we love every minute. We… can’t wait to bring home a bunch of new music to Australia", Patience said.
The Grates’ highly anticipated new album is due out in June.
