Grand Theft Audio

Grand Theft Audio are a British rock band formed in London, England in 1998. It was signed to London-Sire Records in 1999 and produced their only album Blame Everyone in 2000 until the band split up in 2003 due to the record label being dissolved that year. Their original lineup was ex-3 Colours Red guitarist Chris McCormack, producer and bassist Ralph Jezzard, frontman; vocalist and ex-Real TV star Jay Butler and ex-The Wildhearts drummer Ritch Battersby.^[2] The band, minus McCormack, announced on their website page that they were reforming with a new album in the works. ^[3] A statement on the band's page read: We're back. To party like its 1999.New music . New Merch. New Danger."

Formation and early years (1997–1999)[]

Grand Theft Audio (who were originally known as "The Infidels", before the band learned of the existence of several other combos with the same moniker) came together out of the friendship and musical rapport that had developed while its four members were in separate bands.

Blame Everyone and break-up (2000-2003)[]

The band's only album Blame Everyone was released on 3 October 2000. The album spawned two singles, "We Luv U" on 24 March 2001 and "Stoopid Ass" on 23 April 2001. In 2003, the band's record label London-Sire Records went out of business, which eventually caused the band to split up.

Reform, new music and upcoming second album (2020-present)[]

In 2020, Jay Butler, Ralph Jezzard and Ritch Battersby decided to reunite after seventeen years to release new music. It is not clear why Chris McCormack didn't reunite with them. They released their first single in twenty years titled "Ruin Your Youth" on 27 November 2020. Their next single, "Another Life", was released on 2 April 2021. Both were released under the record label Technical Foul.

Musical style and influences[]

Frontman Jay Butler said once in an interview when asked about the band's musical style:^[1] "In England at the moment, there's a big divide between rock bands, metal bands and electronica bands," Butler notes. "It's like you can't have a song that's catchy if you're a rock band, and you're not supposed to rock if you're an electronica band. But we don't look at music that way, so we took all the little bits that we liked and bastardized them to build the kind of band we wanted to be in. We wanted to create a band that was like all of your favorite bands at the same time." We wanted something with lots of hooks, but also with a bit of rock backbone to it, something that was so annoyingly sing along that you either had to love it or hate it. Our bottom line is: does it rock, does it sound good and does it make you want to go out and do something? We don't have any interest in being this week's flavor of the month; we don't want to be a band that's just recognized by journalists and other musicians."^[1]

Lineup[]

• Ralph Jezzard (bass/keyboards) (1998–2003) (2020-present)
• Chris McCormack (guitar) (1998–2003)
• Jay Butler (vocals & frontman) (1998–2003) (2020-present)
• Ritch Battersby (drums) (1998–2003)^[4] (2020-present)

Discography[]

• Blame Everyone (2000)

Soundtrack appearances[]

• "Stoopid Ass" on Dude, Where's My Car? and Hole
• "We Luv U" on Dude, Where's My Car? and FIFA 2001
• "As Good As It Gets" on Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
• "Wake Up" on Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
• "Avarice" on Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec
• "Dead Man Leaving" on Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec

References[]