Photo and words by Nancy Kiner
“You want like our full names?” Nic, the lead singer asked me as if he had a wrap sheet that couldn’t be imagined in this lifetime. This was the beginning of my five minute interview with Meyru in the Pie Shop greenroom on September 23.
Meyru, a three piece band from New York City is made up of a band of brothers. Nic no “k” Grunewald who works main vocals and his cousin, Stephen Spiegel,lead guitarist, are the reason the band came to be. Tommy Dambon, bassist, met the cousins in High School and “in real Life we met Matt.” Mathew Langer is the drummer for Meyru and while he wasn’t able to chat, he found my camera throughout the whole set and gave his own character introduction.
I was a little sad I didn’t get to meet Matt because he sounded like a character, “the first show, we thought he just bailed. We couldn’t find him.” When I asked for a little bit of the band’s history it was like cracking open a beer at a hangout, they took me down memory lane all the way back to 2020 and Stephen’s wedding. They described that the way they look at Meyru is before Tyler and after Tyler. Stephen describes it as, “Meyru B.T.” and then there was Covid. The pandemic seemed to be a mild obstacle for the band but not world ending. Nic tells me that the group almost signed with a label in Pittsburgh even though the band works out of New York. “We love PA” Nic described, talking about his fond memories from performing in Philadelphia while he got up to put on his jacket and prepared to leave for the stage.
As I watched the group get ready to depart, grabbing their beers and handwritten set lists, it was apparent that Meyru embodies the idea of a band that you think about growing up. The friends that have stayed friends after high school, met people organically along the way, or curated strong friendships in adulthood that outgrow regular conversation. Sure, over time there were obstacles, like pandemics, but they kept the band together. Now, they hug their families and head to the stage in a bar in Nic and Stephen’s hometown and it all seems to work out. That camaraderie continued into their set as they sang about love and life, all while accompanied by the most eccentric drummer I’ve ever seen.
“How are we feeling? It’s a fucking Tuesday Night!” Nic yelled at the end of their first song “Is that what was said” which hails from the band’s self-titled album that came out this year.
When the guitar came into full volume around the two minute mark of the first song, Tyler, Stephen, and Nic just released the riff on their guitars as if a weight had been lifted off of their shoulders with the first song of the set successfully completed. There was a consistent energy between the three guitars that continued to feed off each other through every song for the rest of the set.
It was raw and everything that a band is supposed to be.
