Perhaps this time around, the cliche, "the more things change, the more they stay the same" is as good a way to begin this story as any. You see, as with most of the P.M.M. bios, this story again begins with the Rodler brothers, Chris and Brett. Timeline 1996, while writing and recording music that would become "Second First Impression", Leger de Main auditioned pianist / vocalist Gratto. While his extraordinary talents were obvious, Leger de Main opted to remain a trio. However, Gratto did write the keyboard score to the track "Silent Monster", as well as one other track written during the auditions. It is this lone track that would prove to be the catalyst for GRATTO,...the band.

Despite the decision not to use Gratto as Leger de Main's keyboard player, Chris and Gratto kept in touch. Intrigued by the music they had written together and inspired by the potential the pair possessed musically, they decided to begin a project together using the material written at the LDM rehearsals as a starting point. Keep in mind this is 1996 / 97,...it is now 2002! What took so long guys?

Erie has a pretty barren musical climate to say the least. Finding talented, like-minded players is even more difficult. After some prodding, Brett joined the sessions as did bass player Gary Madras. Can you see a pattern forming? Same players,...very different results. Why? Gratto not only brings his piano and keyboard prowess but his compositional chops and arrangements skills are awesome. As a principle songwriter, Gratto put his stamp of originality all over the project.

O.K., we've got the players, now to the hard part. First of all, the songs were primarily written first on the piano. But not just any piano but a grand piano,...in a huge church! They decided early on that they would forsake digital samples in favor of the real deal. As you might imagine, this posed certain logistical cunundrums,..."How are we going to record this stuff?" they asked. Turns out, each time they needed to record piano or organ tracks, Chris had to tear a good portion of his studio down and take it with him. That part probably wasn't particularly fun, but hearing the piano and organ tracks was. As usual, Brett's drum tracks were pretty painless to record and Gary's bass parts are simply amazing. But, getting them to tape was difficult too as half the way through the project Gary moved and became unable to finish the album. Regretfully, that is the primary reason this is an CD and not an L.P. The band almost had the 4th and final song written but it was such an overwhelming song that Gary decided he could not participate in the project any further. In fact, the very last part in "Shift", as you can hear, is pulled from a demo Chris had done for Gratto with his bass ideas on it. Gary never did record his parts so they could only go with the demo mix.

At this point, probably 1999, the band took an extended break knowing they didn't have enough material for a full length release. Also, Gratto's storyline and lyrical concept had left off with no resolve and, at the time, he was unwilling to compromise his vision.

Fast forward to 2001. Chris was cleaning out his studio and ran across a DAT tape labelled "GRATTO MIXES". Having distanced himself from the music for about a year or so, he thought it would be nice to hear it again so he popped it in. He couldn't help thinking how great it sounded to him and lamenting that it would probably never be released. Chris is very uncomfortable when a project doesn't get finished so he called Gratto with the idea of editing his storyline down a bit and using the music they already had recorded to finish the project as an CD After some discussion they decided to do just that. Finally in late 2001 they felt they had done all they could do with what they had and declared the GRATTO project complete.

Six years in the making for 36 minutes of music!? Seems a bit skewed doesn't it? It was a pretty demanding situation but everyone in the band is pleased with how it turned out. GRATTO are currently trying to get some press for the CD and are looking for a label to release it. Thank you for taking the time to read this unusually long bio and I hope you enjoyed the GRATTO CD.