by Jack Rudy
Photo by Yis Kid
The Greep
In the midst of a larger prog-rock (Progressive-Rock) wave that’s hitting the States, no other emergent artists stand out as much as Geordie Greep does. Hailing from Walthamstow, England, Greep found himself entranced by the use of the electric guitar in larger groups such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Despite the hardcore energy of these bands, the English musician applied his skills to live music, already playing in gospel bands at the young age of 11. The loosely-formed and often ensemble-ized aspects of these bands led Greep to master the art of improvisation, a technique he would carry to his burgeoning music career that was beginning to take off at his alma-mater, the BRIT school.
At the BRIT school, he would come to meet the band members that would form his first band, black midi. Combining prog-rock and the unorganized and chaotic sounds of art-rock, Greep was at the forefront of its music production, handling the vocals and leading guitar with his fellow band member Cameron Picton. With the combined power of Greep, Picton, and newly-added Morgan Simpson on drums, the band released their first album Schlagenheim, and truly became unstoppable.
Following nearly two years of silence after Schlagenheim, the band would release Cavalcade, where Greep experimented with more somber performances as well as unreleased songs that would come in their following album, 2022’s Hellfire. In the band’s evolution, Greep found himself increasingly polarized from his bandmates, his own songs carrying him to his own performances that stood apart from Picton and Simpson. It wasn’t until the middle of 2024 that we learned that black midi had dissolved and Greep strove off on his own journey.
After a tumultous set of months, ones mostly spent with fans crying at the loss of the powergroup, Greep finally broke the silence by announcing his newest project, The New Sound. Slated for a release of 9/4/2024, Greep led his solo project with a fury by dropping two singles, Blues and Holy, Holy, resulting in a near-million views on the latter after a single week.
The album soon released on September 4, resulting in near-universal praise by most outlets, the tour de force outlined in the album’s unique pitching. Whereas Schlagenheim and Cavalcade held a measure of somber tones and deep cuts, The New Sound explodes and oozes style onto every song, bringing a powerful jazz-prog-rock influence that will likely come to dominate the future art-rock scene.
Geordie Greep will be playing in the Catalyst on May 5, 2025, and will present his newest album, The New Sound.