Golden Years

Exactly one year ago, the Pitch reviewed the Golden Republic‘s Astralwerks debut EP, People. Since then, the group has toured extensively, added a new member (drummer Ryan Johnson) and lost a treasured instrument. Singer Ben Grimes reviews 2005’s highs and lows.

Best show: “The last one we played, in Los Angeles. We were opening for Caesars at a sold-out 800-seat venue, and the crowd was just nuts. It was one of those shows where you can keep doing what you’re doing for a couple years just based on how great that one moment was.”

Worst moment: “This was actually another awesome concert in Los Angeles, but at the end of the set, I was standing on the drum kit, trying to take my guitar off as a dramatic gesture, and it flew away from me and cracked in two against a monitor. I was brokenhearted about that; it was my baby guitar. My wife plans to get it mounted for me. I’ve got a newer version of the same model, but it doesn’t feel as buttery to me.”

Best celebrity encounter: “I was at Coachella, and a bunch of our labelmates played there, including the Chemical Brothers. Bernard Sumner [of New Order] sang on one of their records, and they’re good friends. I was at the hotel, filling an ice bucket, and Bernard Sumner walked up next to me. I almost started shivering. I ended up standing on a balcony with a bucket of vodka, listening to their tour stories, and I just drank myself into oblivion. I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t handle it very well, but it was cool.”

Worst new band: “I literally bumped into the Bravery‘s singer at Coachella, and I had this immediate urge, like, ‘I need to punch this guy.’ How awesome would that be!”

Best new thing to come home to: “The Record Bar is such a friendly, nonclaustrophobic environment. Westport on the weekend gets so messy, and we’ve almost gotten our asses kicked coming out of our own shows. Having something that’s a little out of the way is perfect.”