Almost Famous – interviewing the new Led Zeppelin

Breathe in. Breathe out. Standing in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Birmingham, butterflies in my stomach, the only thought going through my mind was “It’s ok, Naomi. It’s not as if you’re going to interview one of the hottest names in rock today!”

I had been listening to Michigan band, Greta Van Fleet, for about six months at this point. Introduced to me through one of my fellow rock reviewers and friends, Luke Spencer, the vibrant sounds playing through their songs were both familiar and unique. And yes, did sound like Led Zeppelin.

This seems to be a continuous theme throughout the band’s critiques since they jumped onto the music scene back in 2017 with the release of their EP, Black Smoke Rising. “They sound too much like Led Zeppelin”, “I can’t get into it because they sound too much like Led Zeppelin”, and so much more that it eventually becomes annoying. As they continued to grow, so did the negative attention, and eventually coming together once the band’s debut album, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, was released at the end of 2018. What would become of that album? Would it be the groundbreaker that showed the band's talent? Or one that will kill their career?

Around the time I interviewed the band in 31st March 2018, only EPs Black Smoke Rising and From The Fires had been released, and the notion of a debut album was only speculation. I had shown my dad as soon as I heard about the band and as he is the biggest Led Zeppelin fan I know, he would obviously enjoy them, right? Yes. Yes he did, and to my surprise, he put aside the comparisons and appreciated the band for who they were. So when he told me that he had bought two tickets to see them in Birmingham at the end of March, this was the moment. My Almost Famous journey had begun.

After countless emails sent to press management to secure an interview, a time was set. Contact numbers were exchanged and all that had to be done on my end was the actual work. Questions had to be created, and the pressure of not looking like a fool in front of people whose music I admired the most. No pressure, eh?

The critics and the band

As much as I was into the band's music, the feedback from people, some that I had admired for years, was very strange, especially as I entered the interview. “Greta Van Fleet sound like they did weed exactly once, called the cops, and tried to record a Led Zeppelin album before they arrested themselves.” begins Pitchfork’s 1.6 review of Anthem of the Peaceful Army. As stated before, Led Zeppelin comparisons have surrounded the band since their song “Highway Tune” first hit the charts. These opinions were shared with online critics like Mark Grondin, aka Spectrum Pulse, Anthony Fantano, and The Rock Critic, Crash Thompson.

This comparison was something I brought up in my interview, asking Danny to describe the band’s style in his own words. His reply is something that intrigued even myself.

“What’s funny, and what a lot of people don’t realise, is yes, rock and roll is prevalent in our catalogue of music,” Danny says, “but we find ourselves mainly listening to folk and roots blues, American blues, British blues; a lot of that stuff, and that’s mainly because that’s what we grew up listening to.”

“I’m personally a big folk listener, I like Crosby, Stills, Nash, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell; Sam’s [Kiszka, bassist] been really getting me into Joni Mitchell, John Denver’s a big one. So we listen to a lot of that type of music, and I think that is showcased in a lot of folkier songs.

As far as rock and roll goes, that’s kind of just us putting ourselves in a room, and channelling as much energy as we possibly can. But I would say it varies really, I’m personally more folk, Sam likes a lot of jazz, Josh [Kiszka, singer] is very world music orientated, Jake [Kiszka, guitarist] is kinda always been classic rock, blues, that hard blues, old blues; he’s been like that forever. It’s cool, ‘cause when you put all of those together, I guess it makes the Greta sound!”

Sitting across from him and listening to the drummer discuss the band’s experience at this point in their career since they began in 2014, it was surprising to see how humble he was about all that has happened to the band so, including performing at Elton John’s Oscar party back in February 2018.

“I can definitely say it was something that we weren’t expecting, because when we released Black Smoke Rising with both those tracks that made it to no.1, “Highway Tune”, and “Safari Song”, it was just like we were releasing songs ‘cause we had them done, so I can’t say we were really expecting it, but we’re very humbled!”

And just like that, the interview was over after the allocated 10 minutes. But surprisingly, my time with some of the band members was not over. I was able to chat with Danny and Brittany a little bit afterwards, and even tell them how I hope the band would become as big in the UK as they were in the US at the time. To my amazement, the guitarist, Jake, came down as soon as we had finished, and although I reached out for the professional handshake, he decided to bring me in for a hug. A hug! From Jake Kiszka! I was also able to say how I hoped the band would become a bigger name in the UK. I guess I was able to predict what would happen to the band in the next year. I said my goodbyes to Danny, Jake, and Brittany, and found my dad at the bar.

With news of a possible new album coming down the pipeline, constant touring all over the world, and even announced to perform at Woodstock 2019, I can only hope I can interview these four interesing and insanely talented guys again.

Special thanks to Luke Spencer of Rocked Reviews for permission to use his photos - check out the full gallery of his work here:

http://getrocked.net/photos-greta-van-fleet-at-welcome-to-rockville-in-jacksonville-fl-4-29-2018/