Grief Scene are a three-piece indie rock band based in Berlin. They write loud, heartfelt songs about love, friendship and climate anxiety. Formed in 2020 by Ian Tilling (Trapped Mice, Leoprrrds), the band started as a solo project which saw the release of debut album Bad Times in November 2020. He was soon joined by drummer Brandon Walsh, who in turn invited his friend and bandmate Sally Whitton to contribute bass and vocals. In 2021 Grief Scene played their first live shows, mainly DIY events with friends, and later support slots with touring bands. In December 2022 they opened for Porridge Radio at Festsaal Kreuzberg. In February 2023 Grief Scene released their EP Night Owls on tape, their first physical release. Their second album, the amazing Minoans, adrenaline-filled, raw, emotional and always in perfect balance between anger and passion, was released in July, via Delikassetten, a new DIY label & community project started by Jonathan from Adventure Team (that deals “in anti-rock & socialism”).

What They Say: “This is the first single from our new album Minoans, mainly because it’s the only song we could think of a video idea for. There are lots of songs on the album about societal collapse, people exploiting others and destroying the environment. This one is about a high-flying oil executive reckoning with his terrible past. I think Brandon did a great job in the video of portraying his self-recrimination and descent into personal oblivion, and all with no formal training!“

“This is a bit of an outlier on the album; more personal, a break from the themes of social breakdown and people getting fucked over. But it’s a banger so we included it anyway. It’s about taking the time to listen and be there for someone, without trying to jump in and fix everything straight away. A bit of a cautionary tale if you will.“

“I think this would be the second single if we ever got round to it. It’s the last track on the album and it rounds thing off nicely I think. I stole some lines and ideas from the other songs, which it turns out is a great trick because it makes the album feel more cohesive and meaningful and also means you don’t have to think up so many new lines. It’s about a city/wall street trader who was flying high but is now decidedly down on his luck. I see it as a cathartic release of energy after some of the more moody tracks on the album; a celebration of karma in action. The chorus actually came to me in a dream – I still have the voice recording I made when I woke up – I don’t think that has ever happened to me before.“

Their Mixtape:

The Wedding Present – Dalliance

When I first started the band I basically wanted to sound like this album. I’ve never been very good at copying existing music though – I just get distracted and end up doing my own thing. But hopefully some of the original inspiration still makes its way in there somewhere. This whole album (Seamonsters, 1991) is bursting with this raw emotional power; no embellishment or abstraction, it’s just walls of guitar and desperate lyrics, nowhere to hide. We play this song live sometimes and it still gets me every time.

Low – Breaker

One of my absolute favourites. I’ve probably seen them live more than any other band. They took their sound in so many different directions over the years, but every single song is still instantly recognisable as Low. I’ve never seen the point in making music that someone could mistake for something else; why bother really? Obviously it helps when your voices are as distinct as Alan and Mimi’s… I hope that some of our harmonies sound something like the way they sing together. I’ve not really listened to them since Mimi died – it’s still hard. But a rare treat deciding which song to include here. When this album came out it was their first release since I had gotten into them, and it sounded like nothing they had done before. Watching the video again all these years later, it’s obvious to me that it formed the blueprint for pretty much every video I’ve made since then. I would rate the moment when he pulls out the second glass of milk as one of the all-time great cinematic twists.

PJ Harvey – Missed

My favourite PJ Harvey album. I could easily have included any song from it here. Everything is perfect. Around the time I started Grief Scene I went through a phase of trying to improve my guitar playing – I’ve never had any lessons or anything – and I started learning some of these songs to figure out the parts she was playing. But I think by the second or third song I realised that they were all so different yet sounded so incredible that I should probably just stop overthinking things, and go back to my previous policy of just playing whatever the fuck I felt like. It has served me well since then, so thanks Polly!

Enablers – On Monk

On our album I’m leaning into my spoken word inclinations. Enablers have been one of my favourite bands since I first discovered them at Pavement ATP in 2010. It was like 2am in this dark sweaty basement, presumably with a terrible carpet (the festival was at an old holiday camp), one of those life-changing sets where the world seems to open up in new directions you didn’t know existed.

Fugazi – Rend It

I’ve always secretly hoped we sounded a bit like Fugazi (I’ve no idea). A recent album review mentioned them as a possible influence, so maybe they rubbed off on us somewhere. I might have listened to them more than anything else over the last 20 years or so, so it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing ever. If you are playing Fugazi in your bar and I’m walking past then I will be visiting your bar.

Apostrophe – Partial Lists

One of my favourite Berlin bands. We played with them last year and it’s always a treat to hear them. When I first saw them it was obvious we must have been listening to some of the same stuff (maybe more in the post-hardcore/emo direction), and it was after chatting with the guys that I finally got round to listening to The Replacements, who have been an amazing addition to my life the past couple of years, and could easily have wound up on this list too. This is a great track; I’ve never been good at writing short songs so I’m always impressed when someone else manages it. I probably would have tried to spin out the end chorus for a good couple of minutes extra.

Minoans is out now on Delikassetten Records. Look HERE for more information on Grief Scene.