Grantley Jonathan Nicholas (born 12 November 1967) is a Welsh musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the rock band Feeder.
He performed in public for the first time at the age of 11 at school, and gained four O-levels (the predecessor to GCSEs), including an A grade in Art.
After leaving school Nicholas worked as a hair dresser in Cardiff and then a bike courier in London.
Original singer Paul Ford left, leading to Nicholas being recruited from local band Silent Partner: the latter re-recorded the previously laid-down vocals, while re-writing some lyrics to suit his style.
Nicholas found influence in alternative rock bands such as Nirvana, the Eels, Dinosaur Jr and Foo Fighters.
They formed an electric/acoustic rock band named Raindancer, who despite winning a TV slot never gained a record deal.
The band signed to The Echo Label in November of that year still under the name of Real, when this was changed to Feeder shortly afterwards, with London-based graphic designer Taka Hirose taking over bass duties in 1995.
Produced by Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies, Echo & the Bunnymen and James), the album peaked at number 5 in the UK and was also certified Gold, but in its release year, before going Platinum in 2003.
In 2002, drummer Jon Lee took his own life, which saw the band keep out of the public eye, until their fourth album Comfort in Sound was nearing its completion.
The first play of its lead single "Come Back Around" on the Radio 1 The Evening Session show, was the first time since Jon's death that the band made any public appearance and released new material, while a few days before this Grant was interviewed on the station, in which he spoke of their first shows without Jon.
14, while the follow-up "Just the Way I'm Feeling" made the Top 10, both singles appeared on Comfort in Sound, also produced by Norton, which although charting one place lower than Echo Park, became their first Platinum seller.
Help at the controls came from Sam Miller & Brian Sperber at his Ansons Pocket Studio in Yorktown Heights, upstate New York.
After shows in July and June 2014 at The Slaughtered Lamb and Sebright Arms in London, Yorktown Heights charted at #29 on the UK album charts, which was seen as a success due to a lack of promotion from mainstream and alternative radio, while reviews mainly came from lesser known sources.
After the release of the album, Grant continued to tour and played the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan along the way.
[6] Nicholas remixed the track "Ya Don't See The Signs" by the now defunct rap group Mark B and Blade, who had released the original version as their first single.
Nicholas gave the rap track a rock guitar backing different from the original's hip hop sound.
This version came to the fore when used for the opening credits of Sky Sports Saturday Morning show, Soccer AM.
Nicholas spent the last few weeks of 2006 co-producing rock band EnjoyDestroy's debut album with Brian Sperber, who later split.
[8] In 2003 Nicholas sang on "Broken", a Junkie XL song from his album Radio JXL: A Broadcast from the Computer Hell Cabin.