rand Royal served up a wide variety of many good music artists including BS 2000, The Beastie Boys, Luscious Jackson, Atari Teenage Riot, Sean Lennon, Scapegoat Wax, and At The Drive In among others. The Beastie Boys, specifically Michael Diamond, started it back in 1992. The first release off of GR was the Beastie Boys album “Check Your Head” released in 1992. You could generally get a sense of Mike’s love for music through his record label. He boasted proudly in the lyrics of the song “Get It Together” (From the Beastie Boys album “Ill Communication” released in 1994), “I’m a Grand Royal Prez and I’m also a member.” Grand Royal recently re-established it’s online presence in early October of 2000. With a re-launch and re-design of their entire website.
rand Royals online presence was unparalleled and unmatched in
comparison to many other record labels websites. It was pre-set as my homepage and I was a frequent visitor. The content was so rich and engaging that I would rarely find myself visiting other websites. I would either listen to the streaming radio station; spend money on merchandise at the store, which offered quite a wide selection, read up the many interesting articles, download audio and video, or waste time at the message board. You know Grand Royal [dot] COM was actually much more then a website. Or even an online magazine. Describing Grand Royal [dot] COM as that would be an injustice.
rand Royal to myself was like the equivalent of a second home or even a second family. It was clearly evident on the message board that the people of Grand Royal were like a close-knit unit or even a family in a sense. The message board was a place where people could exchange ideas, get info, goof around, and generally waste time. It was incredibly addicting and one of the primary strengths in Grand Royals online presence. There were many friendly personalities there and the staff frequented the board quite often. The staff was comprised of the lovely Mary Chen (editor), Chris Smith/Para (Freelancer/Rap Artist), Kenny “The Tick” (Record Promoter), Ian C. Rogers (The main man behind GR online development), and many other notable people. Not only was it a place where GR fans could post and share stories or whatever was on their mind, but it was also a place where the music artists of GR could reach out to the fans. The range of GR music artists who posted on the message board included Marty James (Scapegoat Wax), ATDI, and even GR CEO and Beastie Boys band member himself, Mike D.
rand Royal, the online magazine, contained many interesting articles. Some worth mentioning, or my favorites, included Mike D’s interview with the super production group the Neptune’s, Ian’s breakdown of all of the latest technology pertaining to music, Para’s article about the history of the Talk box, and most recently the article about the music artist the Gingerbread Man (Note: Grand Royal will be releasing a book containing the best of all of their articles, from both online and print magazines, and an inside in-depth look into Grand Royal).
n a final note the name Grand Royal was synonymous with the name Beastie Boys. The two, in a sense, went hand in hand with each other. Grand Royal will forever remain in the hearts and minds of many Beastie Boys fans and those who enjoyed the many Grand Royal bands and artists. Guaranteed Fresh. - J. Roberts |
