Injected Exclusive: Just What The Doctor Ordered
By
Keith McDonald,
Contributor
Saturday, February 9, 2002 @ 8:12 AM
Injected Frontman Danny Grady
Not too many people outside of Atlanta have heard of the band Injected - just yet. The upstart band have just released their debut album Burn It Black via Island-Def Jam. Injected started out playing any little hole in the wall that would allow them to play their brand of heavy material with it’s hint of surging rhythms and strong melodies. The band, consisting of Danny Grady on vocals, Jade Lemons, guitar, Steve Slovisky, bass and drummer Chris Wojtal recorded their debut at the legendary Bearsville Studios in upstate New York with Marvelous 3’s Butch Walker at the helm. They combined Butch’s pop side with the band’s metal side creating a tightly pressed package of songs that touch on society’s ills including alcohol addiction and depression and finds itself filler-free. I had the opportunity to speak with lead singer Danny Grady who filled me in on what’s been going on.
KNAC.COM: How did the band start? How is the Atlanta scene these days?
DANNY: We were all high school friends who played in bands with and around each other for most of our lives. Everyone else got day jobs, so here we are...The Atlanta scene is great. There's not the pressure of being a New York or an L.A. so there's a lot of variety amongst the bands. Great clubs and venues, although you do have to work hard to get a following, just like any other city.
KNAC.COM: How did you land at Island/Def Jam? It seems IDJ is one of a few labels that actually promote the artists they sign. Do you agree?
DANNY: Island Def Jam just had a different dynamic than any other label we talked to. It was obvious the first day we visited them. You just felt that they had something going on that other labels didn't. This was before they broke Sum 41, Saliva and Hi-Fi, so they were in essence a young, unproven excited label and we were a young, unproven excited band. We definitely identified with that, and several months later I'm proud to say we're on Island.
KNAC.COM: What are your tour plans?
DANNY: As much as possible. No one really knows who we are outside the industry. And those people get free CDs anyway, so…
KNAC.COM: What single is currently at radio? How has it done so far? Will there be a video?
DANNY: The first single is "Faithless." We've done a video for it, which we wrote the treatment for, another cool thing about the label. They let us pick that up and run with it.
”I like being in a RAWK band, but I want the songs to have a certain humanity and truth to them. Otherwise they’re just words on a page.”
KNAC.COM: Your songs touch a number of social issues (alcohol, depression, etc.). How did this come about?
DANNY: I just like writing about anything interesting or compelling. Those issues, by nature, are very compelling from a human perspective. Of course, I like being in a RAWK band, but I want the songs to have a certain humanity and truth to them. Otherwise they’re just words on a page.
KNAC.COM: Where does the songwriting come from? Who handles it?
DANNY: I write all the lyrics and melodies, and the band fleshes out the music. Pretty standard. The music itself is definitely more of a band effort lately, which has been fun. Sometimes Jade or Steve will come up with an idea, and I'll write a song around it, but lately it's been a nice little collective.
KNAC.COM: Who are your influences?
DANNY: I would say that we all love 70s music in general, everything from the arena rock to AM gold. Of course we loved the early ‘90s. Other than that we're typical musicians, anything with a rhythm or a melody we'll give a chance. And if it's good, it definitely gets under our skin.
KNAC.COM: Tell me about the recording process of your album (producer, etc.)
DANNY: We recorded it with our good friend Butch Walker at the helm. Butch is a great songwriter, so we almost always had the same goal for a song. We used the studios in Bearsville (amazing) and Butch's studio in Atlanta. We pretty much stuck to using hometown people on the record as engineers and techs and that made it incredibly fun. Mixing was done by Rich Costey, who definitely added a lot of his own sound to it. I really couldn't be happier with it.
KNAC.COM: Do you find it harder for bands in your genre to break into the mainstream?
DANNY: I think it's hard for virtually any band to break into the mainstream if you're doing your own thing. The style we play isn't tied to any current trend or commercially proven sound, so of course there's going to be some difficulty converting people. Oh well.
KNAC.COM: What's the future for Injected?
DANNY: Tour, tour, tour, tour….
ibanezgod2 - 10/8/2004 7:40:24 PM Hey I've loved Injected ever since I heard their first hit Faithless. I have no idea what happened to them all I know is that they are gone from the public eye around NJ. I saw them at Birchill nightclub in front of a crowd of 30 people (terrible turnout) but I was still one of the best shows i've ever seen. I'd love to get a copy of Injected live if anyone knows where to get a video. Wish Injected still toured, should have made it mainstream. Fire your publicist! email me at ibanezgod2@yahoo.com with any info
pnkangl46 - 4/19/2002 12:43:05 PM injected roxxx personally i feel that their song faithless is the greatest and now i am hooked on them!
stillwatershade - 3/1/2002 11:30:15 PM injected fucking rawks, as danny would say. danny used to live in my neighborhood. he went to highschool w/ my sis. ive known these guys for awhile and metal78 is right, they dont have time to deal w/ other people's bullshit. these guys are just good ol' roswell boys who know how to jam. its not their fault they are better than you!
Mechant02 - 2/27/2002 8:34:40 PM Personally, I think Injected rules. They have worked their ass to be where they are. I live in Atlanta and have watched them played numerous shows. They are very fan friendly which most bands aren't. Obviously anyone that bad mouths them, doesn't really know who they are, and are just trying to make up for some personal complex that they have. (small dick?)
lowendbandit - 2/24/2002 6:36:03 PM Just remember something a friend of mine once told me. "Arguing on the internet is like competing in the Special Olympics: even if you win, you're still retarded."
rotate - 2/21/2002 4:09:41 PM And I'll be laughing my ass off as 60s guy beats yours!!!
rotate - 2/21/2002 4:09:40 PM And I'll be laughing my ass off as 60s guy beats yours!!!
60sguy - 2/19/2002 9:57:31 PM Hey grendleson.You want to try whipping someone's ass?Try me you little MF.I'll be the 50 y/o ex-biker out front of the Roxy with a black leather jacket on.I got longer than avreage hair.Give it you best shot you little punk,then I'm going to educate your ass!
rotate - 2/18/2002 1:32:28 PM I was wondering why people who seem somewhat intelligent are threatening violence on a web message board? MUSIC, it's why we're here. If you guys want to write about assfucking then go to a gay porn site. I'm sure you'll get a great response. Oh, and I think some of you need to get out of the past and listen to something called "new music". Lemmy is decomposing as you read this.
fdj333 - 2/15/2002 11:10:49 PM i saw their new video and i kind of likeed the song
metalking - 2/15/2002 1:21:53 PM Exactly how did you gather that little pearl from what was said? Wow, what insight, you truely have the gift. With that kind of gift you should win the lottery in no time, half-wit.
dasdemian - 2/15/2002 1:08:03 PM sounds like grendelson and metalking have been hanging out too much with the aryans over at OZ, you two probably suck each other off every night reciting mein kampf, bitches
metalking - 2/15/2002 11:28:58 AM Once again I don't get how WE are the pussies. A real metal fan is about as non-pussy an induvidual as you can get. Now when I look at the pictures of these guys and then I think about their fans....I draw the natural conclusion that Injected fans are the pussies. Can't really blame me for that one. Metal fans are fucking hardcore and know it. I'm as scared of Injected fans as I am of NSYNC fans, which is to say not at all, seeing as how I need to spell things out for you. I didn't direct any threats, if you had red my rant correctly you would have known that. And to think you have METAL in your name, pathetic that you don't know what I'm about to tell you. If you went to an Exodus show and looked like a pussy or a poser, Baloff would have the crowd whip your ass, plain and simple. No threats, just a straight up fact. But I guess you didn't read that article or you would have known that, non-metal78. They are not the kind of music our KNAC crowd usually listens to, plain and simple. Doubt that their careers will last as long as Dio's and Motoread's or Exodus'.
grendelson - 2/15/2002 10:38:25 AM I mabye about 13, who knows.
illyae - 2/15/2002 10:30:21 AM Wow, thanks grendelson, now we know what a "real" metal motherfucker sounds like. Still about twelve, mabey thirteen.
KNAC.COM: How did the band start? How is the Atlanta scene these days? 
KNAC.COM: How did you land at Island/Def Jam? It seems IDJ is one of a few labels that actually promote the artists they sign. Do you agree? 
KNAC.COM: Who are your influences? 
KNAC.COM: Do you find it harder for bands in your genre to break into the mainstream? 
