Quick Q and A with Kevin May (The Guggenheim Grotto)
 by Kathy S-B  ·  5 April 2011

The Guggenheim Grotto equals Ear Candy. Their melodies are exquisite, their harmonies are outstanding and their songs have a way of penetrating into the listener’s heart and soul upon first listen. That’s no small feat.

The Guggenheim Grotto’s newest CD, The Universe is Laughing, is beyond good. It’s receiving kudos from all over. Here’s a video of one of the classic songs on that recording. For more information about Guggenheim Grotto, check out their website.

I’m sure you get asked this a lot — but where did your name come from?

Myself and Mick tried a number of different names and found quite a few that we liked however whenever we researched them we found that they had already been taken. One night we did a brainstorm and used word association and somehow arrived at The Guggenheim Grotto which didn’t really mean anything to us but we liked how it sounded. Soon after someone from the Guggenheim museum in New York contacted us and wondered if either of us had ever worked there and is that how we had known about the room in the basement where the art handlers throw parties and which they called their grotto.

How would you describe your “sound”?

We’ve been described as Dark Folk which I like.

Do fans or music critics compare your music to any other artists? And, if so, do you agree with those assessments?

Sometimes I agree — for example when people name check bands like Kings Of Convenience, Simon and Garfunkel, Crowded House, Rufus Wainwright. Other times though I really don’t see the similarity. While I’m a big fan of Radiohead I’m not sure I can hear any Radiohead in what we do but people have compared us to them.

If you had to name the most influential musicians you’ve listened to over the years, who would you cite?

Leonard Cohen got me into this racket. More recently I’ve begun listening to a Norwegian artist by the name of Thomas Dybdahl who is a wonderful songwriter and records the most beautiful albums. He arranges and produces himself and however he does it — it is like magic to me.

In the past year or two, you’ve been known to hold “residencies” at big city clubs in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Diego. Did this technique of building a fan base and street team work for you?

Yes I think it does help build a fanbase. All of our residencies grew into a larger crowd as the month progressed. It also pushes you to rework your set so that you don’t repeat yourself each week which is a good thing.