Who are Simple As?

Simple As are made up of Crissy Richards (Bass Guitar and lead Vocals) Gideon Way (Lead Guitar) TomDann (Drums) and Conor Gratton (Rhythm Guitar and Backing Vocals)

Simple As have been on the scene a while, how did you all come together?

We are a 4-piece alternative rock band from Cwmbran and Pontypool. Crissy and Gideon started the band with our previous drummer back in late 2007 where we started writing a few songs and playing a few shows in the local area.

In 2010 with the drummer leaving the band we met Tomthrough friends, and seeing him play with a few other bands there was an instant musical connection between the three of us and straight away they were taking music more serious and developing a whole new sound.

We then hit the studio to record our first set of demo tracks. This created a lot of interest and opportunities to play our music more widespread.

In 2012 after a lot of discussion they came to the point were they needed a bigger live sound, so Conor joined the band and we finally found our big live sound.

Last August we appeared in the music magazine Kerrang as local hero’s and also in the same week won the Meze Lounge Newport Battle of the Bands.

How would you describe your sound?

The Simple As sound has very deep and meaningful lyrics with alternative grungey rock riffs with pop punk hooks and melodies, the band is heavily influenced by bands such as Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Deftones, Billy Talent and Biffy Clyro.

What can people expect from your live shows?

An awesome atmosphere with great crowd interaction and an all round good time!

What are you working on at the moment?

With the band having recently won the Meze Lounge Newport Battle of the Bands, we used the prize money of £500 to record our forthcoming 4 track EP at JunkYard Studios Newport with ex Dubwar guitarist Jeff Rose. It will be released in early February 2013.

This EP will include our single I Don’t Care which was released in July 2012.We are also writing new material and on the lookout for more gigs for to promote the EP release.

Where can we catch you live?

On February 15, we will be playing at The Hog and Hosper in Pontypool but we are also on the lookout for shows so get in touch with us over Facebook.

Keep in touch with Simple As online

  • facebook.com/SimpleAsMusic (free downloads available)
  • twitter.com @SimpleAsMusic
  • youtube.com/user/SimpleAsMusic