Maxx McGathey Music
Gramps The Vamp
Gramps The Vamp is a genre-bending, cinematic instrumental collective that has been exploring the dark corners of groove-based music since 2011. Corralling its eclectic influences (funk, ethio-jazz, surf, afrobeat, psych-rock metal, avant-garde jazz) with a unifying retro-horror/sci-fi aesthetic, Gramps The Vamp weaves tight grooves, heavy thrashes, and epic themes together into a post-apocalyptic dance party.
Gramps The Vamp released its debut self-titled LP, produced by Orgone’s Sergio Rios, in 2014. This sample-laden avant-funk album established the Chicago-based group both as a mainstay in the city’s robust funk-jazz scene, and as a group of renegades intent on breaking the mold of the genre. Experimentation continued for its 2016 sophomore effort, The Cave of 10,000 Eyes, a 70’s B-horror-film-inspired concept album that was recently added to the list of “Best Chicago Albums of the Decade” by the Chicago Reader. The seven-piece released its third record “Keeper of the Void” in October 2020, a 10 song journey into the unclassifiable unknown, the one genre where Gramps The Vamp feels most at home.