The Grates

Brisbane raw rock/pop trio The Grates became a group just like they sound, for the fun of it. Singer Patience Hodgson had known Alana Skyring “forever”. They met John Patterson in a drama class all three attended to avoid physical education.

Patience didn't discover that she had a voice herself until a night at a karaoke bar, when just as a joke, she performed 'A Whole New World', from 'Aladdin'. A month or two later, while watching 'Rage' together in 2002 she suggested to Alana and John that they form a band together. But just three weeks later, after a handful of rehearsals Patience was off to Scotland for a year where she planned to form a band with her then-boyfriend. She kept sending back ideas for songs. Alana and John in the meantime played with and formed a number of shortlived bands together and with others.

On her return (sans boyfriend) Patience started jamming with John and Alana again in John's family garden shed, They name the Pixies and Weezer as influences.

They started performing under a different name every night. They thought they might trick audiences into thinking they were a new band instead of the same “shitty” one. But the Grates name stuck once people started hearing them. That happened in 2004 mainly through their sending a rough demo of the song 'Trampoline,' recorded on an 8-track with two cheap microphones in John's shed, to national youth network Triple J accompanied by a hand-written bio and press release. 'Trampoline' was aired, followed by subsequent offerings, 'Rock Boys' and 'Sukkafush'.

Following a series of limited-edition EPs - 'The Grates', (2002), 'Crocodile' (2003), 'Black Dog Black Dog' (2004), 'Pyrate Kids' (2004), 'Ssh' (2004) - on February 14 2005 the Grates released their debut EP, 'The Ouch. The Touch'', featuring 'Message' and 'Sukkafish'. The Grates were then invited to play at the world's largest music conference and festivals at South By South West (SXSW) in Austin, Texas and embarked on a whirlwind world tour to London, New York, Toronto, LA and Texas with the release of the EP and the 'Sukkafish' single internationally.

The Grates debut album 'Gravity Won't Get You Higher', released in April 2006, was recorded in Chicago with producer Brian Deck who had produced a number of the band's indie favourites including Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine and the Secret Machines. Some songs had been with them for a long time, others were wtitten just days before going into the studio.

The second album, titled "Teeth Lost, Hearts Won" is due for release in August 2008. and was recorded at Tarquin Studios in Bridgeport, Connecticut, with producer Peter Katis (Interpol, Tokyo Police Club). It's not the first time that The Grates have worked with him, Peter Katis having mixed "Gravity Won't Get You High". The Grates demoed extensively for "Teeth Lost, Hearts Won". This time around, according to a statement they "know what they want, with more adventure and exploration in the additional instrumentation they have chosen to augment their sound with". There are also some surprises in store with guest vocalists and guest players.