The Griswolds ready to party in S’pore

SINGAPORE — “I guess we feed off each other — the crowd and the band. We always try to make sure everyone is having a good time.” Everyone having a good time is what Tim John, the bassist for Australian band The Griswolds (he has also done bass duties with The Vines) hopes will be happening when the band takes to the stage at the Unofficial Official Party Of SG50 at Capitol Theatre on Aug 5.

“We just want to see smiles and people singing along — even if you don’t know the words, you can awkwardly mouth along,” he quipped. “But we think everyone is going to have a good time celebrating Singapore’s 50th anniversary.”

The event, organised by Tiger Beer, aims to present a new take on National Day by creating the biggest crowd-sourced party, allowing the public to vote online for their favourite party features at tigerbeer.com.sg. The public can also give suggestions via Tiger Beer’s Facebook page. Entry to the party can only be won online and will be awarded to people that have contributed their votes online. Voting ends tomorrow.

Although The Griswolds, who recently concluded tour in California, aren’t quite a household name yet, they have been making waves. Their band’s single, Heart of a Lion, reached No 12 on the We Are Hunted emerging artists list (a popular source for discovering new artists that was recently acquired by Twitter). The debut album Be Impressive reached peak chart position of No 7 on the United States Heatseekers Albums chart and their single, Beware The Dog was nominated by Rolling Stone as Best Video Clip and Single Of The Year for 2014.

“The best thing is touring and seeing places I thought I’d never see,” said John. “And meeting people and eating food from all around the world. But the bad thing is that when you’re touring, you miss your friends and family. However, it’s the sacrifice we all knew we’d have to make being in the band. But I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.”

For those here who don’t know their music, John said you should nevertheless make it a point to pop down and check out the show. “We guarantee that even if you don’t jump around and have a good time, you’re going to walk away with a smile and hopefully, you might be singing our songs before you leave, even if you’ve never heard of the band,” he laughed.

“But I can’t wait to get over there, honestly. It’s going to be very exciting.”