Grant Richard Kwiecinski, also known by his stage name GRiZ, is an American DJ, songwriter, and electronic producer from Southfield Michigan. He is known for playing the saxophone along with producing funk, electro-soul, and self-described future-funk.
Early life
Kwiecinski was born and raised in Southfield, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In elementary school, Kwiecinski was first introduced to the alto sax as well as the piano. After growing up on big horn sounds of funk groups like The Meters, Kwiecinski found himself gravitating towards that influence when he first began making his own music in college. He attended Birmingham Groves High School and then Michigan State University for several years before he dropped out to focus on a music career. It was also during his college years that he had become personally comfortable enough to openly identify as gay. While at Michigan State he would frequently DJ parties at his friends' fraternity houses and play shows in the East Lansing area. GRiZ first became popular with the release of his free debut album, End of the World Party, in 2011. With the release, he ended up supporting bigger artists such as Bassnectar, Pretty Lights, Gramatik, and Big Gigantic on their respective tours, eventually leading to his own headlining tour. Following such success, GRiZ released five more albums, Mad Liberation in 2012, Rebel Era in 2013, Say It Loud in 2015, Good Will Prevail in 2016 and Ride Waves in 2019. Griz currently resides in downtown Denver and Downtown Detroit.
Career
Kwiecinski created the All Good Records label to promote his music, along with electro contemporaries Muzzy Bearr, The Floozies, The Geek x VRV, and Manic Focus. All Good Records describes itself as a label that "reps old school motown soul, future funk, new disco, cutting edge electronica, and anything on the forefront of new sound." Kwiecinski travels across the U.S & Canada playing at festivals such as Summer Camp, Electric Zoo, Electric Forest, Hard Los Angeles, TomorrowWorld, North Coast Festival, Decadence, SnowBall, Lollapalooza and Shambhala. He has collaborated with other artists, including Gramatik, ExMag and Big Gigantic. His fourth album, Say It Loud, was released on March 31, 2015. 12 Days of Grizmas, an annual event hosted by Griz, is intended to generate attention and revenue for non-profits. During the twelve days leading up to his annual 2-day festival in Detroit called GRiZMAS, all proceeds generated from events are donated to a variety of charities, and fans are often rewarded for their participation.
GRiZFam and Liberators
The GRiZFam started out as a way of fans of GRiZ to connect with each other through music, pictures, and other associated art. Liberators are the street team for GRiZ, and help raise awareness for shows, spread the music, as well as help with charitable organizations. The fans work by the mantra that GRiZ popularized: Show Love, Spread Love.
Awards, nominations and accomplishments
In 2013, GRiZ made top reviews in publications such as Detroit Music Magazine, SPIN, and The Untz, who put GRiZ as the "#1 Breakout Artist of 2013." At the 2015 High Times Cannabis Cup in Denver, Colorado GRiZ won the People's Choice Flower category for the strain GRiZ Kush created in collaboration with Native Roots Apothecary. In December 2015, GRiZ, The Liberators and All Good Records were awarded the 'Spirit of Detroit' for the 12 Days of GRiZMAS campaign that raised over $30,000 for Little Kids Rock. The initiative found the Boulder-based artist leading a 12-day series of charitable activities in his hometown, from collecting coats for the homeless and bringing supplies to dog shelters to spreading Christmas cheer throughout the economically depressed city via free shows, industry panels and a "Night Before GRiZMAS" benefit warehouse concert.
