Grant Nicholas
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| Grant Nicholas | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Grant Nicholas |
| Born | November 12, 1967  Newport, Monmouthshire |
| Genre(s) | Alternative rock Indie rock Britpop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instrument(s) | Piano, guitar |
| Years active | 1995–present |
| Label(s) | Echo, EMI |
| Associated acts | Rain Dancer Temper Temper Hum/Real/Reel (names before Feeder) Feeder |
| Website | www.feederweb.com |
Grant Nicholas (Sometimes AKA Grantley) (born 12 November 1967, Newport, Monmouthshire) is the lead singer of the rock band Feeder, along with bassist Taka Hirose and drummers Jon Lee and later Mark Richardson.
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[edit] Early years
Nicholas was born in Newport but grew up in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. He was educated at Monmouth School. He performed in public for the first time at the age of 11 at school, and gained four O-levels (now referred to as GCSEs), including an A grade in Art.
In school, Nicholas played the trumpet, and was in his first band, Sweet Leaf (named after a song by Black Sabbath, who were Grant's favourite band in his school years, and the first he saw play live). He was promised his first guitar by his parents, as an incentive to pass his exams. He received the guitar, an Aron Les Paul copy after passing them.
[edit] Guitars
Nicholas' "signature guitar" is a 1967 Sunburst Jazzmaster. In addition to this, he also owns a 1964 Silver Jazzmaster (often tuned differently when used live) and another Sunburst 59 Jazzmaster. He is using Fender Telecasters more and more and has a 73 Sunburst Fender Telecaster a 63 Black Telecaster and a Blue Standard Telecaster. His other guitars include a Cherry Red Gibson SG, a Green Custom Jazzbird ,a Green Jazzmaster (which he destroyed at Feeder's headline set at Download 2005, and later said he regretted it, but still has the neck to make a new guitar with), a Gibson Explorer, a Sunburst Gibson J-200 Acoustic and a natural finish Yamaha acoustic (for recording). He uses a variety of different pedals and effects to produce the distinctive Feeder sound. His main amplifiers are: Vox AC30's, Fender Twins, Boogie and Marshall + Marshall and Orange Speaker Cabinets.
[edit] Formative years
After leaving school Nicholas worked as a bike courier in South Wales, and also played in several bands, including Rain Dancer (whose sound resembled The Waterboys), and Welsh nine-piece Temper Temper, where he met future Feeder drummer, Jon Lee. Lee joined Nicholas when he moved to London to work as a sound engineer.
[edit] Songwriting
It was while in London that Nicholas learnt how to be a songwriter and formed Hum (soon to be renamed Real, Reel, then Feeder) with Lee, and Hirose, who was working in London as a graphic designer. A series of Reel recordings surfaced on ebay in early 2006.
In 2001 Nicholas also had success with the re-recording of "You Don't See The Signs", a collaboration with producer/rapper duo Mark B and Blade, who had released the original version as their first single. The new version, subtitled the "Grant Nicholas Remix", reached #23 in the UK Singles Chart.
[edit] Personal life
Nicholas has a long term partner, Kana. They had their first child, Hanna-Sky, in 2005 and their second child in 2007.
[edit] Setback
During Feeder's winter tour of 2005, a gig in Brighton was forced to be halted after only six songs when Grant suddenly lost his voice. He was later diagnosed with a severe throat infection with bleeds on his vocal cords. The tour was recheduled and completed the following year in late March.
[edit] Spangle
Nicholas spent the last few weeks of 2006 co-producing rock band EnjoyDestroy's debut album with Brian Sperber. His joke nickname is "Spangle". This was given to him by Jonathan Ross,[1] and was used many times by the bands fans at concerts by the use of banners and chanting, but lost it's appeal shortly afterwards.
