Today we’d like to introduce you to Grady Welch.
Grady, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I grew up in a theater family and loved acting in middle and high school. I stopped when I went to film school at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and majored in Cinematography. I moved to Los Angeles 8.5 years ago to pursue a career as a camera assistant. A friend got me back into live performance when we took an improv class together at Second City Hollywood. I loved it so much that I stopped freelancing, took a day job at a camera rental house, and finished the Conservatory Program at Second City.
I’ve spent the last seven years or so performing with sketch and improv teams around Hollywood. I’m currently with The Really Awesome Improv Show at Second City Hollywood and on the sketch team Rat Queen at The Pack Theater. I met my Hell Kross bandmates at Second City. We first wrote The People VS Hell Kross as a parody of the Judas Priest suicide trial and put it up at The Pack in the fall of 2016. The day after the 2016 presidential election, we got together at our practice space to “play angry music.”
That night we started writing what would be our first record, the concept album “Trumpocalypse.” We recorded it in a bedroom and released it in the summer of 2017. We came back to The People VS Hell Kross, reworking it for a show at UCB Sunset. We then put up a new, longer version of it at The Hollywood Fringe Festival 2018 at Three Clubs.
We had a near-sold-out run and won a couple of awards, including The Producers Encore Award and The Ripest Show. Our run was extended through the end of 2018. This heavy-metal-rock-opera-musical-comedy puts a British heavy metal band on trial for their suggestive music and lyrics. The entire show takes place in the courtroom, and we, as the band Hell Kross, perform our songs live as evidence. We got the attention of some producers and are currently pitching the show as a limited series TV show.
Has it been a smooth road?
The biggest challenge has been balancing a day job with pursuing my passions in the evenings and weekends. It makes for an incredibly busy life. I don’t even get to watch TV anymore. I rarely get to the movies. I’ve almost had to completely given up video games.
It’s very satisfying pursuing my dreams with people I love in a city like LA, but it’s very consuming having to maintain a 40-hour-week job to support myself. I wish I could be paid to do the things I love. Don’t we all?!?!
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hell Kross – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Hell Kross is a neo-classical heavy metal comedy band. We’re a sketch comedy troupe who plays ripping heavy music. There’s a new movement in the heavy metal world to revive the classic sounds of Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Van Halen. We’re doing this with a fresh coat of parody like Metalocalypse did with death metal.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and the least?
I love the unlimited opportunities at your immediate disposal in Los Angeles. I can go see almost any band I want, since everyone tours through southern California. I can meet and collaborate with incredible writers and performers I’ve met at the comedy theaters.
And my fellow alumni keep close, so I have a solid foundation of support. People say LA is where people go to have their dreams crushed, but it’s also where dreams are made. At least most everyone here has a dream.
I dislike the severe homeless crisis. It’s appalling that the largest state in the wealthiest, most powerful nation can’t provide for our citizens who need help the most. Obviously, this is a multi-faceted issue without an immediate solution, but we need to do better.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hellkross.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellkrossband/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellkrossband
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellkrossband
Image Credit:
Saxon Brice, Brandon Zachary, Scott Duvall
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