Greta Van Fleet Interview

Infamous Rock journalist and internationally acclaimed interviewer Claude Balzac recently sat down for an in depth conversation with the American rock band, Greta Van Fleet.

Greta Van Fleet formed in 2012 in Munchausen, Michigan. The band consists of Kiszka brothers Josh (vocals), Jake (guitar) and Sam (bass guitar, keyboards); and Danny Wagner (drums).

Madhouse Magazine: Welcome and thanks for talking with us today. It is a pleasure to finally meet you guys.

Greta Van Fleet: Are you kidding, thanks for having us. Being interviewed by Madhouse is what got us into playing music. It wasn’t for the money, fame or chicks. It was to be interviewed by Claude for Madhouse. This is a dream come true for us. Our Dad used to read Madhouse to us every night as bedtime stories. We would laugh until we would spit milk out of our noses.

Greta

Madhouse: So let’s get to the basics. How did you come up with the name of the band and did it have anything to do with Greta Thunberg?

Jake: We named the band after an old lady in our hometown of Munchausen, Michigan. We would play wiffle ball and she would always yell at us to stay off her lawn and she would steal our balls.

Madhouse: So it had nothing to do with Thunberg?

Jake: [laughs] No but Josh did bang her after one of our recent gigs in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Josh: Shut up Jake, I did not. She came backstage and I was nice to her. I chatted with her for a few minutes and gave her some gum. I made a joke, I said is it just me or is it hot in here. She thought I was coming onto her and she has been texting me constantly and sliding into my DM’s. But don’t worry Josh, I would not bang her with your diseased wiener.

Led Zeppelin

Madhouse: So you guys have always gotten bad press from the rock critics. Rolling Stone once wrote, “GVF is what you get when you order Led Zeppelin from Wish”.

Sam: F*ck Rolling Stone that corporate rag. I wouldn’t wipe my arse with that. I am sick of these Led Zep comparisons. I keep telling you we never heard of Led Zeppelin. Did you ever think that Led Zeppelin may have copied us?

Madhouse: Well that may be a hard sell since Led Zeppelin was around and broke up way before any of you were even born.

Danny: Maybe in 1968 Led Zeppelin had a time machine and travelled to 2018 and saw us and then stole all our stuff and then got back in the time machine and returned to 1968. Did the critics ever think of that? No, they didn’t but it is a possibility. Someone needs to look into that.

Grounded

Madhouse: So you guys once had to cancel a tour because Josh was grounded

Josh: We were playing basketball in the house, despite mom telling us never to play ball in the house. We disobeyed mom and ended up breaking Mom’s favorite vase.

Jake: Josh is such a spaz. I threw him the ball and he totally missed it. It went bouncing down the stairs and smashed the vase. He just stood there like a dope watching it. I would have totally caught the ball. Or at least blocked it.

Sam: We tried to fix it but Mom found out and made us cancel the tour. Josh tried to take the blame but she grounded us all. What’s the difference we couldn’t tour without Josh anyway.

SpongeBob

Madhouse: So what was your childhoods like?

Jake: We had free range parents. We pretty much raised ourselves except when it came to Rock School. Every day our Dad would teach us all about Rock n Roll and make us listen to his vinyl records. We wanted to watch SpongeBob but he would put on Led Zeppelin and test us on everything. Notes, keys, scales, trivia, how long the songs were etc. We knew everything off of all those albums like the back of our hands.

Madhouse: Wait a minute, I thought you guys said you never heard of Led Zeppelin?

Papa Kiszka: Hi Claude, I am the boys father. I love Madhouse but it’s getting late now. Oooh look at the time, we have to go now Claude. Thanks, it’s been great fun