GRIGORI 3 joins the 'MOB'

Female fronted Chicago musicians join Midwest Industry Conference.

Grigori 3 joins the 'mob'

Thursday, June 12, 2003

By Jessi Virtusio

Record label reps, management companies, bands and others interested in the music industry will converge again in the Chicago area for MOBfest.

The event June 19 to 21 includes performances at legendary Chicago venues such as the Elbo Room, Martyrs (where local band-gone-national sensation Disturbed was discovered at MOBfest 2000) and Metro.

For the second year, Burbank's Champs and Chicago Heights' Oasis One-Sixty are bringing the South Suburbs into the MOBfest mix, with the latter featuring local favorites Egnaro, Born Against Time and Neotribe among others.

In addition to those playing close to home, many south suburban bands - including Flathead Fillups, the Tossers and 9mm - are hoping that a MOBfest 2003 gig in Chicago will help them make the connections.

One such band is Grigori 3, which got its name after vocalist Gwen Bartolini and guitarist Ray R. Wise looked at a chart of angels and the word "Grigori" stuck out.

"(It's) a race of angels sent down by God, and they were supposed to guide mankind and (be) for all the good of mankind, and they wound up corrupting it," Wise, a Dolton native, says.

Bartolini, of Tinley Park, added that the fallen angel concept was melded with the number 3, the sign of completion, to give the band its identity.

Thanks to the help of Michelle Mallin, of 2000 Attractions in Chicago, Grigori 3 will be part of next week's MOBfest at the U.S. Beer Co. in Chicago.

"It's a big step in the right direction. There's a lot of good contacts. It helps your band out, and it's a privilege to play there," says Wise, who now lives in New Lenox.

Bartolini adds, "It also will help us establish the connections in Chicago with other bands.

"Disturbed opened that door a couple of years ago , and the rest of us are following. They really paved the way for us. They showed us a lot of good music comes out of Chicago."

Grigori 3 - which also includes keyboardist Brian Bradbury (a Tinley Park native), bassist Drew Turnbaugh and drummer Mike Lindsay - has done well in making connections via www.grigori3.com and gothicradio.com.

"Seventy percent of the contacts we have are through the Internet, the other 30 are local or a friend of a friend," Wise says.

Regardless of the contacts, Grigori 3's music stands on its own. The blend of goth, industrial and metal provides a sonic but melodic soundscape, one that prompted goth disc jockey Scary Lady Sarah to frequently spin Grigori 3's "Awakening" in the Chicago club scene.

That song also impressed Dark Future Music enough for inclusion on "The Best of Gothic Radio, Vol. 1," which is available at local Hot Topics.

Grigori 3 also lined up spots on Tampa-based Dekonstrucktion Records' soon-to-be-released "The Real Underground, Vol. 1," and Toronto-based Seventh Circle Records' "Spread the Madness," which will be released in fall.

Also this autumn, the band will make its movie debut in Resurrection M. Pictures "Triste Edad (A Sad Age)."

The independent film features a band cameo as well as Grigori 3's underground club hit "Defende."

"The great thing about our music (is) it appeals to so many different people," Bartolini says.

"You've got metalheads and you've also got Nocturnas. Everyone's enjoying it together. Some people are swaying and some are thrashing.

"I'm really playing with a lot of talented musicians, and the music transcends anything people have heard."

Citing the huge popularity of female-fronted Evanescence, Bartolini says she's encouraged by that band's rapid rise.

"The general audience is really ready for a change. They're looking for something. It's no longer about the popularity club. Now it's about the actual music," she said.

"We're getting past the bands that are more simplistic as far as style, and we're getting back to the roots of good music. It's coming full circle."

IF YOU GO ...

WHAT: MOBfest on two stages, featuring Almost Tomorrow, Crimson Tyde, Gnome Attic, Boogata Fix, Chatternode, 9mm, Loophole, Super Mercado, Razor Baby, Butterfat Mastermind, Grigori 3, Emetic, Donnybrook, Strawman and Eighty Sick in 30-minute sets.
WHERE: U.S. Beer Co., 1801 N. Clybourn Ave., Chicago.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday for an over-21 show.
TICKETS: $6.
PHONE: (773) 871-7799.
WEB: www.usbeerco. com.

courtesy of Jessi Virtusio