Grice Peters (born Martin Charles Grice Peters), also known as GRICE, is a South London-born English

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Peters formed and fronted underground

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

flavoured bands Laugh Like a Madman, the Burning Martyrs, the Martyrs, SWANSTON and the avant-garde art rock outfit Hungersleep, before starting his solo career. Peters is also a fellow of The Royal Society of Arts.

Career

In 2012, Peters released his debut solo GRICE album, ''PROPELLER'', which featured saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft and

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

ist

BJ Cole Brian John Cole (born 17 June 1946) is an English pedal steel guitarist, who has long been active as a session and solo musician. Coming to prominence in the early 1970s with the band Cochise, Cole has played in many styles, ranging from main ...

, as well as a number of contributors including

Markus Reuter Markus Reuter (born Lippstadt, Germany, 1972Markus Reuter official biography ...

, 05Ric, and Luca Calabrese amongst others. The album was produced by Lee Fletcher and co-produced by Grice. In 2013, the track "Highly Strung" was remixed by English synthesizer player, keyboardist and composer

Richard Barbieri Richard Barbieri (born 30 November 1957) is an English musician, composer and sound designer. Originally a member of new wave band Japan (and their brief 1989–1991 reincarnation as Rain Tree Crow), he became the keyboard player in the prog ...

. "Highly Strung" was selected by

Tom Robinson Living people Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits " Glad to Be Gay", " 2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with hi ...

and played on his

BBC Radio 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

Mixtape show. In 2015, GRICE released his second album ''ALEXANDRINE'', working again with Richard Barbieri and

Steve Jansen Steve Jansen (born Stephen Ian Batt, born 1 December 1959) is an English musician, composer and record producer. Biography Jansen was a founding member of the band Japan (band), Japan, along with his brother David Sylvian (vocals, guitars and ...

. The album also features

Hossam Ramzy Hossam Ramzy (; 15 December 1953 – 10 September 2019) was an Egyptian percussionist and composer. He worked with English artists including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, Siouxsie Sioux, as well as with Arabic music artists like Rachid Taha and K ...

, the Egyptian born master percussionist and arranger, providing signature percussive soundscapes and arrangements. The track "She's in My Garden" was supported by Tom Robinson and played on his BBC Radio 6 Music radio show. In 2017, GRICE released a five track EP, ''The Grey of Granite Stone''. In 2019, he released ''One Thousand Birds'' and was invited as a special guest on Tom Robinson's Saturday night show on BBC Radio 6 Music. In 2020, he released his ''One Thousand Birds Symphony'' album combining field recordings of birdsong with an illustrious cast of musicians. His fifth album ''Polarchoral'' was released in 2022.

Reviews

Grice is foremost a songwriter and his songs have been described as: "acoustic rock diamonds" His music has been described as "a restless and challenging cocktail of electro-acoustic glitch, art-rock and avant-pop synthesis". His solo album ''PROPELLOR'' has been described as having: "'the intensity of

Mark Hollis Mark David Hollis (4 January 1955 – February 2019) was an English musician and singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s as the co-founder, lead singer and principal songwriter of the band ...

Tim Bowness Tim Bowness (born 29 November 1963) is an English singer and songwriter primarily known for his work as part of the band No-Man, a long-term project formed in 1987 with Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson. Music career In addition to recording albu ...

with a Beatle-esque sweetness" and was "highly recommended" by Chris Jones in his writings on inner culture. It has also been described as having "all the best elements of

Talk Talk Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981 by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). Initially a synth-pop group, Talk Talk's first two albums, '' The Party's Over'' (198 ...

and

Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...

" by Paul Gray.

Awards and achievements

The track "Highly Strung" from the debut solo album ''Propeller'', EP was featured on the "Cod Bluff" covermount CD of the September 2012 edition 30 of Classic Rock presents PROG magazine and was reviewed in ''

Classic Rock Classic rock is a radio format that developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, it comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the early-1990s, primarily focusing on comm ...

'' presents PROG magazine in the May2012 edition who described the album as "Extraordinary slice of experimental rock". ''Propeller'' was shortlisted for

Music Producers Guild The Music Producers Guild (MPG) (UK) promotes and represents individuals in the music production and recording professions. It was founded in 2000. As a guild, the organisation has no political party affiliation. The organisation presents the Mu ...

(MPG) Awards 2013 'UK album of the year' category. The album was reviewed in ''The Musician'' (Summer edition of the ''Musicians Union Journal'' 2012) and described as: “a poignant debut of remarkable quality” In 2014, GRICE Peters was invited to become a fellow of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

Radio

GRICE's debut BBC radio broadcast was on

Introducing Mixtape show on 26 August 2013 when he played the track "Highly Strung" (Richard Barbieri Remix). GRICE has performed on-air on

BBC Radio Devon BBC Radio Devon is the BBC's local radio station serving the county of Devon. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios in the Mannamead area of Plymouth. According to RAJAR, the station has a weekly audience of ...

and at Sound Gallery Studios in session for Phonic FM. On 6 July 2019, GRICE was invited as special guest on the

content Show on

, where he was interviewed and Robinson aired tracks from ''Propeller'', ''Alexandrine'' and ''One Thousand Birds''.

Tours and appearances

GRICE has appeared in concert in the UK as part of his "Tour of Duty". In December 2012, GRICE sang at The IB Expo in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

, Sweden with Richard Barbieri and

Steve Hogarth Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth, 14 May 1956), also known as "h", is an English musician. Since 1989, he has been the lead singer of the rock band Marillion, for which he also performs additional keyboards and guitar. Hogarth was f ...

singing on the premier performance of the track "Naked" from the Hogarth, Barbieri album, ''Not the Weapon but the Hand''. In March 2014, GRICE performed at The A2D Music Expo. in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

In March 2017, GRICE performed a mini tour with Barbieri.content which culminated in a live performance at Hoxton Hall in London. in

Discography

EPs

* ''The Burning Martyrs'' (1991) * ''The Martyrs'' (1995) * ''Glorious Swanston'' (1999) * ''Cocktail Punks'' (2002) * ''PROPELLER'' (2012) * ''Alexandrine'' (2015) * ''Refractions'' (2016) * ''The Grey of Granite Stone'' (2017) * ''One Thousand Birds'' (2019) * ''One Thousand Birds Symphony'' (2021) * ''Polarchoral'' (2022)

Singles

* "Highly Strung" (Richard Barbieri Remix) (2013) * "She's in My Garden" (Richard Barbieri Remix) (2016)

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial BandcampOfficial Propeller BandcampOfficial YouTube channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Grice English male singer-songwriters Singers from the London Borough of Merton English rock guitarists English male guitarists English rock singers English record producers Musicians from the London Borough of Merton People from Wimbledon, London