Austin (Grand Vapids)
SPB: Which of the Athens bands have had the most impact on the music industry as a whole and/or which have inspired you the most?
Austin: There are too many bands from Athens to reference who have had major impacts on the industry without stating the obvious round of usual suspects. I suppose if I had to choose an Athens band who has inspired me the most it would be The Glands. They made one of the best pop-rock albums of all time and were able to be content with the result. They never got huge or felt any pressure to follow it up in any kind of way (or maybe they felt too much pressure). But it is what I would consider to be a “perfect” album. It’s drenched in that lazy southern humidity where your mind begins to wonder and melts and the day just disappears. How do you follow up something like that?
On the other side of the coin there are the Drive-By Truckers who continue to be the hardest working band in the business and consistently put out great albums that just keep getting better and better.
As for inspiration, I think there is probably an ideal balance to be found between these two Athens bands.
Related features
Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2025)
Music / Year End 2025 • December 23, 2025
Every year we diligently assemble a list of our favorite albums of the year. Each SPB staff member enters the large arena we nickname THE DOJO, and yells out the name of their top album of the year. Rival staffers quickly assemble and shout out their own highly-favored record, and … Read more
Pass The Mic: Artists and labels on 2025
Music / Year End 2025 • December 23, 2025
For many years now, Scene Point Blank has taken the opportunity as the year ends to formally "pass the mic" to our friends on the other side of the mostly-imaginary divide between listeners and artists. This year is no exception as we ask a bunch of bands, artists and labels … Read more
2025: A Year In Review
Music / Year End 2025 • December 23, 2025
Another twelve months have passed. Even though it's our job to make predictions and call things before they happen, it seems improbable that we could've made any sense out of the events of this year. Perhaps we're better off keeping one eye on the past and telling you what already … Read more
Wagemaker
One Question Interviews • December 10, 2025
Thomas Harris (Wagemaker) SPB: You went from a full band to doing Wagemaker as a one-person project. Now you’re a duo. What’s the perfect number of people for a band? Harris: My name is Thomas Harris and I sing and play bass alongside Jason LaVeris’s (drums) in the group Wagemaker. … Read more
She/Her Records
One Question Interviews • December 9, 2025
Liza & Misha (She/Her Records) SPB: After the SHEHERCOMP001 when did you know you were going to release albums/EPs/etc? . She/Her Records: We always planned to do solo releases following the first TDoV compilation. SARCOMA was enthusiastic about doing a solo release with us since we first posted our manifesto, … Read more
Related news
1QI: Powernap, Grand Vapids, Hannahband, SubRosa
Posted in Bands on May 26, 2015
Related reviews
Grand Vapids
Guarantees
Independent (2015)
Athens, Georgia has a long history of producing some great musicians and music, known for being the birthplace of groups like the B-52’s and R.E.M. as well as the adopted home of the Elephant Six Collective. One of the latest bands to emerge from the storied Athens scene is Grand Vapids, a quartet whose 2015 debut Guarantees features ten tracks … Read more
