Dave "H" Holland - Grannie Interview

Grannie were a British heavy rock group that formed in 1968/69 with founding members Phil Newton, and Dave Holland. Later joined by other members including Phil's wife at the time, Janet Chandler, they went in and recored their only album for S.R.T, practically a demo, live in the studio in just 8 hours. With the pressing being of only 99 copies, the album has remained a very desired artifact amongst record collectors from around the world. I had the amazing opportunity to speak with Dave about his life, the band, and after all these years, the legacy of Grannie that continues to be celebrated for being the hard heavy album it is. Enjoy!

Are you originally from London? What was it like growing up there? Did you attend many of the shows during the "British Invasion" era?

I was born in London, in a place called Forest Gate and I lived there until 1977 when I moved to Berkshire, just outside Windsor. Growing up in London was good, especially once I became a teenager and discovered music. There were so many places to go to see live bands performing, usually in pubs, and it was all free! (as long as you bought a beer!)

When you say the 'British Invasion', that time to me is around the mid 60's onwards, maybe two or three years before I met Phil, and the band I was in then supported quite a few name bands of the day. (Even Pink Floyd in their early days!) So there’s quite a healthy music scene going on then.

Who were some of your influences earlier on before deciding to start your very own band? Did music run in your family, or was this something you ventured into all on your own? Have you always played bass? When did you start playing, as well as singing?

My influences early on were bands like Cream, Blodwyn Pig, Vanilla Fudge and some of the Motown stuff (with James Jamerson on bass.) My father and a few members of my family played music but it was usually the piano. I was the only one who seemed to take to the guitar which I played for a while until the band my friends and I were forming realized that we had no bass player so I volunteered! This would have been around '61- '62 and later we used to do covers of the more popular bands (Beatles, Stones etc.) and I would back the singer with harmonies.

You were in an outfit called "Powerpack" with your friend Phil Newton prior to Grannie, can you tell me about those early days? What were the shows like? Did you guys play original material, or was it similar in the way Grannie started out doing covers?

'Powerpack' was a very good rock band doing covers in a pub called The Bridge House. Phil and I were never members but we were always asked to get up and 'jam' with the band. It was a great time and a great venue to go to (all free of course!) There would be members of various rock bands who would come from miles around just to get up and play with the band for a few songs. Phil and I would play mainly blues/rock stuff which was very popular at the time but Phil never wrote the original songs until later.

Around 1970/71 you guys started writing your own material, and soon after Phil found, or it found him, an advert in Melody Maker offering a deal of 99 copies, 8 hours of studio time, and a master tape. What was it like to have your very own record in your hands at that time? What was the studio experience like for you? How long did it take you guys to record it?

Phil and I started listening to bands like King Crimson and Yes and this inspired Phil to start writing his own material. We never had the other band members yet so the two of us would work out his songs the best we could. We advertised for a drummer in a music paper and I knew a vocalist that I had worked with a few years before. Once we had the band together Phil saw an ad in the 'Melody Maker' (a well-known music paper at the time) for 8 hours studio time and 99 copies of vinyl records in a plain white cover for £100. We booked it and went to SRT studios in Hitchen, Hertfordshire on a Saturday morning. None of us had ever been in a recording studio before and I think we were all a bit nervous. We recorded 6 songs with no time for over-dubbing or re - recording mistakes. We had to leave them in! The only parts we did after was the vocals - we recorded the music as if we were playing live and finished the whole thing in 8 hours.

"We recorded the music as if we were playing live and finished the whole thing in 8 hours"

Were you working anywhere at this time? Did you attend college?

At the time, we all had day jobs. I worked in a ship's stores alongside the drummer John Clark, Phil was working as a window dresser for a big department store in London, Jan, the girl who played the mellotron and flute was an office worker and Fred the vocalist was a delivery driver.

Can you tell me some details behind the six tracks? What is the story on the amazing cover?

Phil wrote all the songs and lyrics, and at the time was very much into reading science - fantasy and I think (apart from 'Leaving') it can be heard in his lyrics. 'Colored Armageddon', about a battle almost like something out of 'Lord of the Rings' and there is a 'fantasy' element in most of the other songs.

The cover to the album, was just a plain white sleeve, so Phil got his friend Geoff, who worked in the printing business, to take a photo of his Les Paul guitar and super-impose it onto a photo of one of his old family member to make it look like she was holding the guitar. He then got Jan's younger brother, Donald, to cut out the photos and glue them onto the sleeves.

I imagine the band went 'hard to the paint' so to speak after the record was pressed, as you began playing shows pretty consistently at local clubs such as The Greyhound, The Marquee, The Roundhouse, and even securing a residency at the "Speakeasy" club in London. What was your experience like playing on stage with your bandmates? What were those shows like when Grannie was locked in with the final members? Was there ever talk about potentially going on tour to support the very limited press of the record at that time?

As bandmates it was good working alongside each other. We all got along and I can't remember any major arguments like some bands seemed to have. We were all into the music and that was all that mattered. We had mastered the songs by this time and Phil had written some more so we had enough material to start doing full shows.

Are there any shows that stand out that you're most fond of? Any bands you may have headlined for that were a trip to share the stage with?

We managed to get gigs supporting some 'name' bands of the day like the Groundhogs and Uriah Heep and that was great but I think the best thing was getting a residency at the 'Speakeasy' club in London. On some nights we were there, we would see people like Elton John, Pete Townshend, and David Bowie. They were there most of the time because the 'Speak' was the place to be in those days.

"We managed to get gigs supporting some 'name' bands of the day like the Groundhogs and Uriah Heep"

I understand the band's gear was stolen, arguably during the most pivotal moment in the band's career. And with the progress, and talent only becoming more clearer, I can't imagine what that experience must have been like. Did you guys collectively decide to call it quits after that? Was there any talk about obtaining more equipment, and getting back at it? With a new, exciting, and completely original record in your hand, I imagine the decision to move on was very difficult.

Although it was a great experience playing at the Speakeasy it was also the band's downfall. We had been rehearsing there the day before our next gig on the following night and we loaded all the equipment into the manager's van. He would then drive it back to his house where the van would be kept overnight in his garage. Unfortunately, he'd had to leave it parked outside in the road and the van and all our equipment was stolen. I was still paying for mine on credit and had no money to pay for more. I think the other guys had the same problem so that effectively finished the band.

Did you continue to pursue music, or any other creative path after the band?

Phil and I still stayed in touch although the other band members went their separate ways. I went back to playing guitar and was working with a drummer friend of mine playing the pubs until I'd saved enough to buy another bass and amp. Phil had been busy writing some more songs which we recorded with some friends (the guitarist and the drummer from Powerpack )and a vocalist from a band that I worked with when the bass player was away. They were great songs but unfortunately the tapes were lost. Phil eventually joined a band that this vocalist was in and about a year later, he asked me to join. We did a 4 night a week residency at The Ruskin Arms - about a year or so before Iron Maiden worked there.

When were you first made aware that the record you, and your friends had made was this rare, highly expensive, highly sought after item amongst record collectors? What are your feelings towards the various bootleg releases, and the actual original pressing, and the prices they go for?=

I only became aware that the album had been released and that an original vinyl copy was extremely rare when, just after Xmas 2012, I was wondering what had become of Phil. As I mentioned earlier, I had moved from London and in those days obviously, there were no mobile phones or internet so it was easy to lose contact with each other. I was thinking about Phil and said so to my wife. She was on the internet at the time and typed in his name and the name of the band. You can imagine our surprise when all these different sites sprang up! It was then that we saw that, sadly, Phill had died around 2001. The bootleg release of the album was something that Fred, the singer, and I knew nothing about. We now know that it was released by John Clark and his friend, John Stevenson, who played organ on the final track, but was never a band member. Fred and myself have never received any money from these sales and nor do we expect to. It was a long time ago and we have had no contact with John since the band split up.

Can you tell me about the official release of the LP that was recently made available through Seelie Court/Rough Trade? How did the deal come about?

The new release has come about through Phil's son and his ex -wife because as Phil's next of kin, his son is entitled to all of his music, and I'm pleased for him. I think the release date is in April sometime and it will contain photo's and information about the band.

What have you been up to during these strange, to say the least, 'Covid times'? Your son Paul told me you recently took the vaccine, how was that?

Yes, I have had my first Covid injection and will be having the second one in May. The last gig I did was in 2014 so I'm pretty much resigned to being just a 'bedroom' bass player!

Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?

Last thoughts - I was never 100% happy with the sound quality on the original album. The sound engineer was only young and an apprentice at that but for what? $80 or so? what can you expect! But I often think what if we'd had stayed 8 weeks instead of 8 hours. As a writer said on one of the websites, 'it takes some modern drummers that long to be happy with their snare drum sound!'

Finally, I'd like to thank all the people out there for their kind and positive comments (even the not so kind ones - at least they listened to it!) Dave "H" Holland

Dakota Brown