4B — Thursday, February 5, 2015
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

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STYLE COLUMN

Loving TV for the 

Herve Leger

I

had a lot of ideas for this 
column. Relevant, inter-
esting ideas like “the 

importance of couture,” “the 
rise of Instagram models” and 
“what really 
is Men’s 
Fashion 
Week?” Is it 
like couture 
and ready-
to-wear all 
in one? Is 
there always 
full frontal 
nudity? 
Where are 
the Cara Delevingnes and Ken-
dall Jenners of men’s fashion? 
Is there always full frontal 
nudity?

As I attempted to ration my 

thoughts and organize them 
into what could be considered 
a cohesive piece of journal-
ism, I found myself 35 minutes 
deep into the third episode of 
“Empire,” FOX’s new night-
time musical soap opera of 
sorts. For those who know 
how to manage their time and 
not get sucked into the void 
that is Hulu, “Empire” follows 
hip-hop mogul Lucious Lyon 
(Terrence Howard, “Hustle 
& Flow”) and his musically 
inclined but unstable fam-
ily as they navigate a music 
industry where Cuba Gooding 
Jr. (“Selma”) is a former song-
writer-turned-rancher-turned 

songwriter/rancher. Yeah, it’s 
that good.

But that’s not exactly how 

I got sucked in. Enter: Cookie 
(Taraji P. Henson, “The Curi-
ous Case of Benjamin Button”). 
The ex-wife of Lucious who 
spent almost 20 years in prison 
after being busted for drugs 
— the drugs that helped build 
Lucious’s early career and the 
Empire … well, empire. She’s 
loud, smart, quick and assertive 
— with a wardrobe to match. 
Tight dresses, blinding sequins, 
bold accessories and enough 
animal print to make a 2003 
Raven Symone fall to her knees 
and weep, all in one episode.

This isn’t the first time 

I’ve been drawn into a series 
through the closets of its char-
acters. There are, of course, 
the obvious choices — the 
shows that ended up being just 
as much about the clothes as 
they were about the stories. 
With shows like “Gossip Girl,” 
clothes became the savior. 
While I tapped out around sea-
son four, because I could only 
suspend my disbelief for so long 
and there’s just no way in hell 
Blair would have dated Dan, 
I stuck around longer than I 
should have solely to see what 
Blair would wear on her head 
or to finally see Jenny’s trans-
formation into a stick of black 
eyeliner and fishnets.

Then there are shows like 

“The Mindy Project,” which 
really doesn’t need an added 
element of style — Mindy could 
wear scrubs every episode 
and the show would still make 
sense, and I would still tune 
in. But every time Dr. Lahiri 
wears a Herve Leger bodycon 
dress with snakeskin Giuseppe 
Zanotti heels to a medical 
conference or slings a Chanel 
crossbody bag over her shoul-
der as she walks into her office, 
I remember why I don’t just 
like, but love, Mindy Lahiri.

As for “Empire,” I would still 

probably watch it even if Cook-
ie wasn’t walking into business 
meetings in cocktail dresses. 
There are enough secret ill-
nesses, Naomi Campbell cam-
eos and bibbed-up blowjobs 
to keep me coming back week 
after week. But none of those 
reasons are why I’m writing 
this column, and they’re not 
why I’m texting my friends 
about post-prison wardrobes 
and they’re not why people 
are making slideshows to dis-
sect only Cookie’s “bad bitch” 
outfits. Though Cookie’s style 
may not suit everyone’s taste, it 
does prove a major point: If you 
want to create a strong, stand-
out character, you’re going to 
have to raid a few closets.

Harwood is so Raven. To tell 

her how Raven she is, e-mail 

erikacat@umich.edu.

ERIKA 
HARWOOD

By MELINA GLUSAC

Daily Arts Writer

Sitting in the chilly storage 

room of Legion Menswear on 
North Main, I watch a few men 
tinker with a garment steamer. 
As an onlooker, I ignorantly ask 
if it’s an iron and get a laughter-
stained “steamer” in response 
from the band’s bass player Bren-
dan James. Congregated, they 
can’t take their focus off it, liken-
ing its long cords to those of an 
IV and chuckling coolly. I laugh, 
fascinated by their interest in the 
funny-looking 
appliance. 
The 

mundane is something they’re 
not used to — at least, not lately.

Grizfolk, a five-piece band 

rooted in Los Angeles and 
Sweden, have been booking it 
on the road since 2012. After 
wrapping up two juggernaut 
tours with British label-mates 
Bastille in 2014, complete with 
two sold-out shows at Radio 
City Music Hall, they’re now 
embarking on their own modest 
tour and wrapping up a full-
length album. I sat down with 
singer Adam Roth, synth-master 
Sebastian 
Fritze, 
guitarist 

Fredrik Eriksson, bass guitarist 
Brendan James and drummer 
Bill Delia one frozen afternoon 
before a pop-up show at Legion 
(and a legitimate one at the 
Blind Pig later that evening) to 
talk about all things ABBA and, 
of course, their own journey.

“We’ve all kind of known each 

other for, you know, a little bit of 
time,” Roth said. “I was in a band 
with Brendan and Bill before this 
band, and me and Fredrik had 
like a songwriting team, and we 
were trying to write for other 
artists. Then we met Sebastian, 
and we started writing and 
ended up kind of turning it into a 
band. So we hollered at Bill and 
Brendan and started Grizfolk.”

I asked them when this 

formation took place. After a 
little silence, Delia looked to 
Roth.

“Was that, like, ’79?” Delia 

said.

More laughter ensued, and 

Fritze, a native Swede, leaned 
into me.

“It was like three years ago,” 

Fritze said.

Grizfolk is on the riper side, 

but the boys’ relationship with 
music 
and 
their 
individual 

instruments stretches back to 
childhood. Fritze and Roth were 
persuaded by family at a young 
age to start playing, as was Delia.

“I started on the piano, and 

then when I was about eight 

maybe or nine I really wanted to 
start playing the drums,” Delia 
said. “So I built a drum set out of 
like shoeboxes and tin cans and 
stuff. And I played on that all the 
time.”

James’s passion was realized 

by peer pressure.

“Two of my friends were 

starting a band, and I’d never 
played anything in my life,” 
James said. “They’d both played 
guitar, so they were like, ‘You 
have to play the bass guitar.’ So 
that’s how I learned how to play 
the bass. I was forced into it, as 
well. We started a band called 
Upper Hand. I drew the logo. 
It was four slashes and then a 
thumb across.”

I complimented his artistry as 

Roth lifted his hand into the air 
to simulate an “upper hand.”

“Yeah, we were gonna be 

huge,” James said.

Grizfolk released their first 

EP, From the Spark, in February 
2014. Roth said the group’s 
muse was simply the newness of 
the experience, as much of the 
content on the EP was virginal, 
composed of the first songs they 
ever wrote as a band. Crafted in 
the indie comfort of bedrooms 
and the like, the compilation is 
etched with raw qualities.

“We weren’t pressured into 

being in a big studio. A big studio 
costs a lot of money,” Fritze 
said. “So the freedom of just like 
taking our time and figuring out 
what we wanted to do was a big 
part of how it turned out to be, 
the sound.”

Their 
songwriting 
process 

is just as unique — inspiration 
can strike anywhere, anytime, 
anyplace.

“When we write songs, we 

think about a landscape, usually. 
It could be anything like the 
barrens to deep, green forests, 
or whatever. And we figure out 
what that landscape would sound 
like and then write a story in that 
landscape. That’s like the first 
little spark that happens,” Fritze 
said.

On 
“Cosmic 
Angels,” 
an 

acoustic number, Roth summons 

a cathartic brand of songwriting.

“When I first had the idea 

for that song I had the woman 
at the time that I was trying 
to, like, pull into my life,” Roth 
said. “So I channel that like 
inner, beginning-of-love phase, 
you know, when you’re trying 
to court someone into your life, 
and you’re kind of willing to do 
whatever it takes.”

Expounding 
on 
sound, 
I 

inquired about the albums that 
had the biggest impact on each 
member. Nirvana’s Nevermind 
was mentioned, as were others 
from Bon Iver, Aerosmith and 
The Band. The boys said all have 
seeped into Grizfolk’s sound 
— even Eriksson’s selection of 
ABBA’s Greatest Hits.

Fusion of unlikely genres is a 

focus on their developing album. 
The process of making it was 
a test of faith for the band, who 
had to place its trust in recording 
studios and sound engineers as 
opposed to bedrooms.

“It’s kind of like all over the 

place,” Roth said, regarding the 
album. “It’s hard to really put my 
finger on what it sounds like. It’ll 
sound like Grizfolk, but none of 
the songs really sound alike.”

In their song “Vagabonds” on 

From the Spark, Roth sings about 
“running away from the little 
things.” I asked the vagabonds 
themselves 
what 
they 
were 

running away from.

“It’s not about running away. 

It’s about like going to places 
where you don’t really know 
what’s going to be there; you don’t 
know what’s going to happen 
there,” Fritze said. “I think that’s 
a cool way of living your life 
because you’re in the moment, 
right there. You’re not like 
expecting anything. You don’t 
have the high expectations. If 
you don’t have any expectations, 
then hopefully everything will 
turn out good. I think that’s what 
it’s about — not about just like 
running away from something. 
It’s 
more 
of 
searching 
for 

something.”

A few minutes later, around 

30 devoted fans (mainly girls) 
trickled onto Legion’s open floor. 
Subtle gasps and fidgeting hands 
lined the crowd as the boys came 
out, one by one. After one tune, 
Grizfolk asked what the audience 
wanted to hear next. Someone 
said, “The Ripple,” and soon the 
band broke out into their first ever 
acoustic performance of the song.

I watched the crowd sway as 

they sang.

“Oh oh, my my, gotta get lost to 

get it right.”

ARTIST
PROFILE

IN

VIRGINIA LOZANO/Daily

Grizfolk plays a set at the Blind Pig. 

Inspiration can 
strike anywhere, 

anytime, any 

place.

THE SHARK BOARD

Each week we take bites out of the biggest 
developments in the entertainment world. 
Here’s what swam (and sank) this week.

Design by Gaby Vasquez

Seafoam Green Card

Left Shark gains immigration 
status as “land shark.”

Face of Bureaucra-sea

Left Shark leads far-left 
party to mainstream 
political success.

Lone Shark

Left Shark talks divorce 
from Right Shark on 
“The View.”

Fish are Friends With 
Benefits, Not Food

Left Shark romantically 
linked with actor 
Laurence Fishburne

We’re Gonna Need 
a Bigger Syringe

Obama blames seasles 
outbreak on anti-vaxxer 
Right Shark.

WADE INTO NEW 

WATERS

