The Bloc-ROCK
Great Greta!
Greta Van Fleet, a band originally formed of four teenagers from Michigan, is unstoppable. They started to rock together in 2012 and are now one of the most famous band on the rock'n'roll planet.
The band is formed by family first. Twin brothers, Josh and Jake Kiszka, respectively vocalist and guitarist, Sam Kiszka the bassist and their friend Danny Wagner on drums (initially the drummer was Kyle Haunch but he left the band in 2013).
And then everything started happening really fast. In 2016 they played on a show for the first time - Shameless - playing the well-known "Highway Tune". In 2017 they released the very same song on Loudwire and then released their first EP Black Smoke Rising in the same year.
The influences of these guys are obviously from the 50's and 60's and you can feel it in their music. Vanilla Fudge, Howlin Wolf and of course Led Zeppelin. Front man Josh Kiszka even says "We are like a bunch of old men". They started playing all around the globe, the UK, USA, Australia. The dream came true. These guys rock, and they are tough despite their very young age.
2018 was even more successful for them. Strong from their first album From the Fires, they released a second only a year later.
Anthem of the Peaceful Army has been received like the first album. Obviously well. When you are making good music everybody can tell. Last July the band made their first TV debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon performing "When the Curtain Falls".
And the dream didn't stop there. Last December Greta Van Fleet was nominated for four Grammys, including Best new Artist, Best rock song for "Black Smoke Rising", Best rock performance for "Highway Tune" and Best rock album for From The Fires. "These are some of the first songs we ever released [...] I didn't expect us to get any nominations" says Kiszka. Still humble.
But automatically with success comes the critics. A lot of people criticise the band because they sound too much like Led Zeppelin, But don't forget, if people think you sound too much like one of the greatest band of all time, you must be doing something right. For Led Zepplin's lead singer Robert Plant, the similarities definitely exist, yes. When joking about Kiszka Plant says " [he] reminds me of someone I know very well...".
In the mass of people complaining about them, you can make a distinction between two types. There is the first type we saw, complaining because they sound too much like Led Zeppelin. They want to hear something new, they don't want to hear something done and re-done. Then there is the other category of people complaining because right now not enough bands do sound like Led Zeppelin.
For the band it is not a problem. "Obviously we hear the similarities. That's one of the influencers of ours". But for the band it also has to stop. "We've acknowledge that. Let's move on!".
Instead they are focusing on their music. They are currently working on a new album and hope to release it this year. Even on a world tour they don't stop. Two albums in two years, a third one in preparation, at only 22 years old for the eldest. They now feel less pressure, or maybe they have become more familiar with it. Greta Van Fleet definitely have a sound of their own, so let explore their universe with ears greatly open.
