The new release from Batting Cages, produced by yours truly.
Batting Cages - Feel So Good
View fullsize
![]()
View fullsize
![]()
William Gruff wins Best Rock Album [Updated]
The Syracuse Area Music Awards - or SAMMYs - have nominated William Gruff's Binghamton EP for Best Rock Album. How about that.
[UPDATE 3/7/15:] WE WON!!! Thank you to all of the listeners and musicians that participated in the SAMMYs.
The Syracuse Area Music Awards have been celebrating the Central New York music scene since 1993, and this year they've invited us to the party. Our band has a lot of connections to the region, from our favorite recording studios (More Sound and SubCat) to our favorite spacetime nexuses (Binghamton), and it *feels nice* to have some love going all 'round.
The awards ceremony will take place on March 6th, and is highlighted by Lifetime Achievement Award recipient (and Phish drummer) Jon Fishman.
We're incredibly grateful to have been nominated, and are honored to be included among such talent musical company. Have a listen to Binghamton, as well as our more recent releases, at the Music page.
William Gruff - Prepare To Meet The Dead
Reposted from William Gruff's SoundCloud
This little EP entitled Prepare to Meet The Dead is a small collection of gypsy tunes recorded live in studio in front of a small audience at SubCat recording studio as part of their ongoing SubRosa series to promote the indie music scene in Syracuse.
We were fortunate enough to take part in this and walked away with strong takes of a few tunes we felt were best recorded and released as live tracks. Our very own Vince Federici mixed and mastered them to give them a little shine before release.
One of our favorite reviews came off our first record, "I was slack jawed by the end of the first track". We'd like to think we're still living up to that standard and through constant experimentation we try to bring you music that is as diverse and exciting as the world we live in. Save for that first full length record, our EP's tend to be stylistically organized, and this new EP is no different.
Recommended food and drink pairing: Schnitzel and Vodka
William Gruff delivers an "edgier" sound with new single →
Our friends over at DOA have featured our new single, "Don't Remember Your Name", and it seems that they got it just right. Head over to their blog and read more, and give a listen to the tune on YouTube, SoundCloud, or right here!
William Gruff - Don't Remember Your Name [Single]
Never resting on any laurels, we fellows from William Gruff bring you new music. Watch the music video above - shot by Pierre Tasne and directed by Paul Bomba - and listen to the single below on SoundCloud.
This tune, and the second single that will soon follow, are part of a stylistic exploration into the sound and vibe of pop music from the 1980s. We took our influences and bring you this - so let us know what you think!
'Gruff single is one of the "Best Songs of 2013" →
The good people over at adequacy.net - who published an exclusive interview with us a few months ago - rated our first single from Binghamton as one of the Best Songs of last year. Here's what they had to say:
Review by Jen Dean
"Helmsman Matt Cusack steers this David Bowiesque, epic number with a sure hand, starting off slowly with strummed guitar and low-key vocals that build up in emotive intensity. Certain yearning turns of phrase and song structure shifts recall artists like David Bowie, Jeff Buckley, and Freddie Mercury."
Check out the article, and the rest of the list, over at DOA.
William Gruff "encompasses the heavens as much as the hills" →
Leading up to our featured concert at the Auburn Public Theater, we had a chance to chat with a local newspaper about our new music.
“William Gruff doesn’t sound like an astronaut’s name — maybe a woodsman’s, or a sheriff’s.
But when it comes to the band William Gruff, the name encompasses the heavens as much as the hills.
The New York City quintet will bring its “cowboy space tunes” to Auburn Public Theater Dec. 20. Its latest EP, “Binghamton,” was inspired in equal doses by David Bowie and Big Star — lots of synths and acoustic guitars, singer/guitarist Matt Cusack said.”
Click the title above to read the article by David Wilcox
Featured
William Gruff back in the studio
In mid December, we headed back up to More Sound Studios in Syracuse NY to track some brand-new tunes.
Grammy Amplifier featuring William Gruff and Johnny Showcase!
GrammyU, the proletariat extension of the music business oligarchy (and was beginning its initial expansion during my time at UArts) is now offering a curated audience-appreciation contest with Grammy Amplifier.
Q&A with William Gruff →
The fine folk at DOA just published a Featured Interview with Matt on their site. It goes pretty in depth about the songs, the sounds, and the brainspace that created our new album. I think they liked the record, too:
"Binghamton is completely pleasing to the ear and the brainspace, from the thoughtful to brisk rhythms, complex and compelling interplay of guitars, contemplative, expressive, and yearning vocal leads, sweet harmonies, and cogent lyrics."
Read the full interview at Delusions of Adequacy, and... have you listened to the record yet?
![William Gruff wins Best Rock Album [Updated]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5159a2fde4b01288f25138bb/1444672248291-Y2HADDMTT0CP91Y34I3V/image-asset.jpeg)
Binghamton "is a loose, freewheeling, powerful record" →
They keep a-rollin' in! Here's a new review of our new album, this time from the music blog Popa's Tunes. Popa wrote about William Gruff a few times in the past - most notably in his retelling of my epic sojourn to and fro the recording studio - and he's got nothing but good things to say about what we released.
"Binghamton is a loose, freewheeling, powerful record from a band that naturally gels together with an abundance of creativity. Each track is hypnotically catchy, and sinks into the subconscious to wander there perpetually."
Well right on. If you haven't already, you best take a listen to the record they're all raving about: Binghamton is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and for your listening pleasure right here on charlieheim.com!
Binghamton is "a cosmic, psych-pop commencement speech" →
Taking our latent interest in space, the future, and empowering music literally, music blog Bucket Full of Nails seemed to deeply understand the messages we were trying to convey. Of course, you should listen for yourself to see if the "astral" allusions to Philip K. Dick's reality are as clear as they claim. Regardless, when speaking about our tune "Newtons", they offered this fine opine:
"...[Should you] follow William Gruff, a time capsule from today discovered some light years from now won’t tell the story of such modernity. Rather, the physics of love will form the tale read to future generations."
William Gruff - Binghamton
Click to listen to the full album online
The second album from William Gruff.
Hot on the heels of the new single and music video, comes William Gruff's Binghamton EP.
We recorded the entire thing in four days, and features six brand-new songs penned by Matt Cusack and his acoustic guitar. With Vince Federici on guitar, Will Tobin on keyboards, Julia Adamy on bass, myself on drums and everyone singing, we tracked Binghamton live at More Sound Studios in Syracuse, NY. We chose travel back to the space where William Gruff was manifested; More Sound's quality and accommodation was and is well worth the trip. The trip, however, is a big part of the story.
I contributed drums, percussion, vocals, arranging, and my car's engine to our little record here.
I'll be posting a more detailed account of said trek to and fro the 'Cuse, but you will have to check back for that one - it's gonna take a minute to put it all down. It has already become internet legend, however, and you can read a (lightly dramatized) telling over at Popa's Tunes. Here's an excerpt:
"Four AM sitting in the cab of the tow truck, hard rain falling, the prospects of getting to the studio on time looked grim. Can the car be fixed? Who too call at this ungodly hour for a ride? The flashing neon of the service station blurred crimson red on the wet windshield, two letters were missing from the sign, it blinked RAGE, RAGE, RAGE. Still soaked to the bone Charlie and Vince climbed from the cab, despairingly wondering what to do next."
Intrigued yet? Read the whole article or download the album now!
Visit www.williamgruffmusic.com for more info and new music.
Some of our set-up at More Sound Studio
ceramsey3's photo on Instagram
William Gruff - At The Bottom of the Ocean
Here it is, folks. Just in time for our CD release, the music video for Binghamton's first single is here. After a sweaty day running about from subway cars in Brooklyn to Rockaway dunes, we bring you this.
William Gruff new single is a "gorgeously sweeping romantic anthem"
Feast your ears! William Gruff has just released the first single from our new album, Binghamton. People are already talking about it, as Popa's Tunes said it all in the above quote, and Good Music Inc. went so far as to offer an exclusive preview of our album on their site. They caught on to some of our influences whilst digging it:
“...focusing in on the juxtaposition of organic sounds, against heavy allusions to space, [they] create a feeling reminiscent of Ziggy Stardust or Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots.”
What do you think? William Gruff's new album Binghamton featuring "At The Bottom of the Ocean" is available on iTunes, Amazon, and streaming free right here.
Kickstarter success for William Gruff!
We've set up a Kickstarter campaign to get our debut record in your hands, and on the road! Check out the video, and consider helping us make more great music.
UPDATE: We've done it! Thanks to your generous donations, we've exceeded our goal of raising $5,000. You people are beautiful!
Indie Music Reviewer says William Gruff is "astonishing"
The good folks at Indie Music Reviewer not only showered us with praise for our debut effort, they invited us to Atlanta to perform at their festival.
“William Gruff” is the title of a debut recording by an astonishing east coast band of the same name. Personally, I was slack jawed before the end of the first song as were a few friends who also had the pleasure of hearing it...
The album is stylistically dynamic with influences from jazz, rock, country, gypsy, Latin, and boogie blues. Each track is skillfully executed and delightfully catchy. This powerfully great record is sure to be a wild success."
The Mountain Man Known as William Gruff →
Darryl at what's protocol? attended our first show post-emergence from our studio cocoon.
William Gruff - William Gruff
Click to listen to the full album online
The debut album from William Gruff. Featuring many songs previously heard from Philadelphia's Mountain Man, this sprawling album hits all the right spots.
