GRANT LEE BUFFALO / Mighty Joe Moon Bio

Grant Lee Phillips: vocals, guitars

Paul Kimble: bass, piano, vocals

Joey Peters: drums, percussion

In the beginning of 1993, Grant Lee Buffalo rose out of smog-choked Los Angeles to release an album of eleven original songs. One of them was "Fuzzy," a stripped-down, morphinic ballad, recorded in a garage-turned-16-track studio behind bassist Paul Kimble's house. The independent "Fuzzy" emerged as the title track of their Slash debut album and acted as a hub on which the whole record spun like a fiery wheel.

Fuzzy received great critical acclaim and considerable attention from the band's musical contemporaries. Artists such as Sugar, Paul Westerberg and Pearl Jam gave Grant Lee Buffalo the opportunity to share the stage with them throughout the U.S. The live show revealed yet another dimension of the trio, expanding the dynamics explored on Fuzzy and shattering the boundaries imposed by the studio. Often frenzied and chaotic, always riveting, Grant Lee Buffalo concerts were the musical children of the moment.

The group embarked on a tour of Europe in June of last year. The notoriety sparked by those appearances coincided with the excitement of Fuzzy's release in a number of new territories. Soon, Grant Lee Buffalo was headlining shows throughout Scandinavia and the UK, and cutting a large swath across the rest of Europe with notable results. For example, in France, considered a difficult market for American artists, the group met with widespread enthusiasm and acclaim. As the group's concert itinerary expanded, the group found themselves with a packed schedule, touring constantly through the US and Europe until late 1993. It was the day after Christmas, in fact, with only a few weeks off the road, that they at last had the chance to begin work on a new album.

That album, Mighty Joe Moon, is their major label debut on Slash/Reprise Records. Singer/guitarist Grant Lee Phillips offers these words on the subject of the title track character: "Mighty Joe Moon is a creature of our own invention, a creature who embodies the spirit of the band in his sheer defiance of law and reason." Phillips, who wrote the album's 13 tracks, adds, "I see these songs as being more open-ended than the ones on Fuzzy. There's still a cinematic sense, but it's less narrative. Mighty Joe Moon is like one long dream sequence."

The album is also a distinct evolution from Fuzzy, stretching the sonic fabric of that first album. With its potent dose of brilliant acoustic instrumentation and raging feedback, Mighty Joe Moon also employs the archetypal strains of pump organ, cello and pedal steel guitar, to name only a few of the album's wide range of instruments and sounds. The result is a collection of songs rich in diversity, a spontaneous creation that has clearly grown out of the band's persistent touring and endurance. Says drummer Joey Peters, "We were playing most of these songs on the road before we came in to record. We felt like they were ready to be recorded and waiting would have meant re-approaching them. We tried to preserve that live feel."

One of the strongest ties linking Mighty Joe Moon to Fuzzy is its distinctive production. Bassist Paul Kimble produced both albums and relies heavily on the subtle balance between the pristine and the unorthodox. "You have to be open to accidents and ideas that might strike you as strange," he explains. "There is nothing more satisfying than having your train of thought derailed and led off into some new direction. We tend to work very quickly in the recording process and then juggle the results in the mix."

With Mighty Joe Moon completed, Grant Lee Buffalo has found the time to perform many of Europe's summer festivals. Thousands witnessed their ferocious sets at Glastonbury, Roskilde, Belfort, Torhout, Werchter and elsewhere. As the group continues to record and perform, an unstoppable momentum builds. The bold statement of intent laid out in Fuzzy has now found a new direction in Mighty Joe Moon as Grant Lee Buffalo positions itself as one of the most exciting and innovative groups of the Nineties.