If there has even been a time where rock needs to return to its animalistic roots, it’s right now. With the uncertainty that surrounds every day and the injustice that is playing out in front of our eyes, music that lights a fire in the depths of the soul is as necessary as it comes.
And grandson feels like it is up to him to strike the match.
Over the last decade, Jordan Benjamin has strived to create a sound that inspires chaos as much as stirs thought. But it’s with his third full-length ‘Inertia’ that he is really putting the pedal to the floor and using rock and roll to its full effect. Clocking in at just under half an hour, it is raw, rallying and raucous, a boot to the temple brimming with razor-sharp riffs, pummelling drums and blunt force admissions on the state of things.
In trimming the fat and going for the jugular, it serves as one of the most prominent and powerful moments in the grandson journey so far, and that really is saying something considering what has already transpired.
To dive into the chaos that forged this statement of intent, Rock Sound sat down with Jordan for a stark and sensationally impassioned chat.
Rock Sound: What does it mean to be in the spot that you find yourself now? grandson has allowed you to do a lot of searching and pondering – both internally and externally – but what strikes you when you consider that all of that has brought you here?
grandson: This has been a long journey for me in figuring out who and what I want to be within it. I think some of that was searching within myself, and the rest was looking out into the crowd. Having the incredible privilege of doing this for a minute now, and being able to tap into what I can give people instead of focusing on what people can do for me. The fact that I have been bestowed the opportunity to help people tap into their anger and speak up for those who don’t have a voice, especially right now, with how threatened people are, to offer a place or a show where they can go and find other people like them. To be in a place where all the things that make me can be expressed and move forward with better ways of coping with those things, I feel like I can now show up for the work that I’m here to do. I’m sure every artist feels in some way like their latest project is their best work; that’s just a part of it. You have to believe in the thing that you’ve just made. But I really do think that if you press play on this new record, you can hear the whole journey and where it has led me. Shedding the electronic stuff, coming into my own as a songwriter, building a band around that. I feel great about it.
How much of that has come from the places that you have found yourself in? From supporting Linkin Park to playing at festivals ranging from Glastonbury to the Graspop Metal Meeting, there is a wide array of different audiences, atmospheres, and reasons for pursuing a career in live music. How have those different forms of connecting affected the direction you’ve found yourself going?
I’ve had all kinds of experiences by being so vocal with so many issues that are important to me. I haven’t let potential consequences impact me using the platform that I have. I have been met with many parts of a spectrum of reactions to that. I’ve been invited into rural states in the middle of America to get on a festival stage, and whilst I’ve been talking my shit, I’ve had beer cans thrown at us and not been invited back. I’ve had a lot of people like, ‘I’ve come to this gig to have a good time, and this kid is ruining that vibe.’ That’s the thing about live music and sports. It’s one of the few places where you might be standing next to somebody who feels totally different to you and has totally different things they believe in. But you have a little bit of something in common, because you are singing the same song in that moment.
So, how do we make sure that we aren’t using that moment to get something out of our own conscience as a performer and go, ‘Right, I’ve got all these people in front of me, if I don’t say anything, what does that say about me?’. But if you antagonise people, you might push them even further into their own little space. It is a tricky thing to navigate, especially when I’m opening for big bands or playing festivals with bigger audiences. But it’s about not compromising and not diminishing my own light within that either.
There’s a really exciting thing happening right now in rock music. I feel that over the last five years, particularly during the pandemic, there has been a question of where rock and roll fits in. Where do we do and why does it matter what rock music is doing in 2025? There are so many other genres that have surpassed it, and so many people who don’t carry the nostalgia that older generations do to carry those bands that meant so much. So where does it go? I think what you’re seeing is bands that are embracing standing on a message and using their platform to say that this is who they are and that they don’t give a fuck. That is the thing that makes rock and roll matter to young festival goers. It’s something that’s alive. It’s messy and sloppy and angry. That’s the rock and roll I relate to, not when every note is exactly where it is supposed to be. Saying that, I do feel like that was a way that I approached my music in the past, but to listen to this new record, I feel like you can hear that more rough and raw energy. That’s because I am embracing what makes this music special. And that energy is making me feel like I can take a chance.
That personal push and pull is a huge thing. To return to that primal feeling that captivated so many of us within this scene in the first place is a significant step, especially when, due to the current state of things, you have had to question whether it’s the right thing to do. The way things have been for the last ten years, the way things have changed, especially in music, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the trends and the algorithms and the board meetings of it all. But in marching to your own beat, you know you’re going to attract people who also have a hunger for the same sort of freedom.
That’s why I wanted to do a live-sounding, band-like record. I grew up on bands like Audioslave and Rage Against The Machine, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I knew I would take a shot at making an album with just drums and guitars and see how far we could take it. But this record is my first one doing it independent like this and embracing the new direction of the music industry. Taking the connection I have with my own fans and nurturing that relationship more directly. Not relying on anyone else to tell me if I’m missing anything. Because, of course, it’s missing things. I’m missing stuff within who I am as an artist. I’ve tried to be a lot of different things for a lot of different people over the years. I think that is one of the challenges of being a solo artist, not being able to contain yourself. But in surrendering to this side of it, I have seen that it is what people respond to the most.
I’ve had a lot of people older than me telling me who they think I should be, telling me who I should be, for a long time. It took me to depart from that and do something unconventional for myself, so that I could reclaim some ownership over my own voice and my own life. The process of discovering that energy was something I knew would come, but it was just a matter of not knowing that it would take the path it took for me to get there.
Your journey should never be plotted out in advance. Life doesn’t have checkpoints you can see in the distance. You need to explore and learn and pick up things on the way, even go wrong a few times, to then actually appreciate it when you find your true footing. And it feels like, because of that, you have also been able to write your most blunt and unassuming songs to date, too. To be angry and driven and feel like you can say it exactly like it is, it takes some work to feel like you can do it justice.
My goal for this record is for you not to have to wonder. This is the energy you are getting and that you can build on. This is the riffs, the messaging, the anger. This is who I am, and I want to occupy the space I have as one of the great rock and roll songwriters. I think that it’s harder than ever to be an unfinished project. Kids now are so scared to get roasted online or to be cringe. Please, be cringe. It’s okay. That’s part of being alive. And suppose you’re going to let the fear of failure prevent you from even beginning. In that case, you may as well sit on the internet and have opinions about other people. If you want actually to occupy and take up space, you need to show up with, sometimes, not a super clear idea of where it’s going. You need the ego to get started. I was proud to have stopped listening to rock and roll. I was proud to be doing things differently. However, if you truly want to pursue this for a long time, you need to set that aside and invest in and listen to the bands and sounds you have been putting off. It was time for me to build a foundational knowledge on anti-establishment ideology. If I’m going to be up here, I can’t just be saying that the world is fucked up and further than that, have no idea what else I’m talking about. Some of that means accepting that you don’t know what you’re talking about and knowing that there are people who have done it better. It humbled me and made me realise that it was a good place to be. I realised I have the opportunity to really expand myself as both a person and a musician, and I’m going to take a chance on making something special because of that. I just needed to do this my way and do it the best way I know how to do it.
It’s about holding yourself accountable as much as holding others accountable. But it’s also making sure that people don’t know that you are the be-all and end-all. This is the steppingstone for those who listen to it to be inspired, do their own thing and maybe even surpass you. The point of this is that we are all better connected and working as a unit, and that can only happen if we all want to play our part and play it properly.
That comes from platforming people who have come from different backgrounds. Having more diversity in the space. That comes from somebody being the vanguard but not feeling like you have to be the expert on everything. You have to have something that you feel strongly about. I do want to light a fire underneath people. People should be writing better riffs now; people should be writing better stories now. My job within all of that is to be myself and support the artists who are trying and doing that.
The fact that no matter what comes in the future, and no matter what has already passed, Grandson is the thing that has been with you and will be with you as long as you need it. What does it mean to you to have that name still play such a significant part in your life, both within music and outside of it, and to have it continue to be there for you when you need it?
I don’t think I was ever really prepared for how much those two identities – Jordan and grandson – to fuse. Just how much grandson was going to be me all the time, that’s even in the decision of being a solo artist and choosing whether or not to wear a mask. I invited that blurred line to exist, and I have experienced the delusion that comes with that. If I move through the world as grandson all the time, when I’m doing laundry, I’m going to end up having a psychotic breakdown. grandson takes on the world in a naturally combative way. I, as grandson, will thrash around and smash the microphone on stage, and if I went into the world with those sorts of demands, that entitlement for respect and justice, then I’m going to have road rage all the time. My blood pressure is going to be insane.
Where would grandson think of me now at the beginning? I shouldn’t care about what a 20-year-old on drugs feels about my life. I was so miserable and so mad at the world at that time, and that’s why my music was so mad. So, the last thing I should be doing is giving a fuck about what he has to say.
Over the last few years, for me and what feels right and feels best is that I have to carry a little bit of that separation so that I can do what’s best for grandson when I do get into the recording studio or on stage. But if I start going down Sunset Boulevard or walking through Brick Lane like, ‘Get a load of me’, it’s a slippery slope. I feel like it’s why there is a lot of substance abuse with artists and why a lot of artists flame out and don’t want to be out on tour all the time. Because nobody encouraged them to have separation.
What works for you will always be the right way. There have to be struggles and realisations within that, but as long as you are trying to end your day knowing that you did what was best for you throughout, then you are on the right path. And if you’re taking care of yourself, it will encourage others to take care of themselves, and in turn take care of others.
It’s a tricky situation, though, because within that, the world is getting more fucked up around us. I do need to push people and fuel that fire, while also being there for them and knowing that there may be consequences for what I am saying. I have to navigate that. And part of that is knowing that if I’m going to be there for anybody, I’m going to be there for my fans to the degree that I am there for myself. As long as I am working on myself and attempting to understand what the right path is for me, then I can do a better job being a role model or a mentor to others. It’s a crazy time right now, though, and there are fewer and fewer spaces for people who would sit through an interview like this. It is inherently under attack right now, so all I can do is arm myself with knowledge, be the best musician I can be and try and use my experience in life to try and help other people.
‘INERTIA’ is out now via XX Records.
