Grand Prize Winners From Last Year

-From Rolling Stone Magazine The Band: Grand Prize Winners From Last Year The Buzz: Think full-band OutKast: these fellow ATLiens blend Dre and Big Boi’s knack for nimble rhymes with weirdo spaced-out funk and rock, making snarling songs that swivel and pounce. All of the members work as producers in Athens, which may explain their keen ear for hooks. Listen If: You’re looking for a willfully unpolished band that makes up in spirit what they may lack in production value. Key Track: The cha...

-From Rolling Stone Magazine The Band: Grand Prize Winners From Last Year The Buzz: Think full-band OutKast: these fellow ATLiens blend Dre and Big Boi’s knack for nimble rhymes with weirdo spaced-out funk and rock, making snarling songs that swivel and pounce. All of the members work as producers in Athens, which may explain their keen ear for hooks. Listen If: You’re looking for a willfully unpolished band that makes up in spirit what they may lack in production value. Key Track: The charmingly underproduced “Number One Fan” which, with a bigger budget and a few slick tricks, could own the summer of 2010. -J. Edward Keyes Rolling Stone Magazine 2009 ---------------------------------- -From Flagpole Magazine (Athens GA 2009) An indie band that raps? A rap act with guitars? It's not even worth trying to categorize Grand Prize Winners From Last Year. This talented Atlanta group ignores and defies the boundaries of genre with great cross-over success. Even the lineup itself is unique. All the beats are programmed and triggered live, so there is no drummer onstage, but you will find plenty of synth, bass, guitars and brass including trumpet and trombone care of two classically trained members. The response so far has been extremely positive, says synth/trombone player Platipus Jones. Hip-hop fans are drawn to the group's innovation and rap delivery, and rock fans love the danceable licks and sense of melody. "People like Outkast, for instance, because they never know what they are going to do, and they incorporate everything into their show," says Jones. "That's sort of like with us. We get up onstage, and they see four guys and automatically think they are about to rap. And then we get there and start doing rock, and mixing it all together - each song sounds different, each song has its own character and subject - and I think that's why it's well-received, because it's something new, fresh and it has something that everybody likes in it." Outkast is, in fact, a great touchstone for the group. GPWFLY is influenced not only by the band's innovation but its fun-spirited live energy. Onstage GPWFLY is particularly engaging, taking on alternate identities and totally letting loose with a lightshow behind them. Sonically, you could also reference Gorillaz' earlier work with Del tha Funkee Homosapien, alternating sweet singing with rap over rock instrumentation. GPWFLY will be heading into the studio soon to record its debut full-length record. All four bandmembers have experience as producers as well, so the expectations for the release are certainly high. Stay tuned... -Michelle Gilzenrat Flagpole Magazine 2009