I spent a good part of my childhood “Always Grounded”…
Being Grounded isn’t always bad...
Social media is a funny thing. Always Grounded is a band under Ghost Killer Entertainment, a label based out of Minnesota. In January, I was doom scrolling like the rest of the world does at 2am, and I saw this reel that had a sudden catchy tune, “she kissed me by the fountain, my heart broke one last time...” and I saw this band singing into this plastic pink microphone my sister used to have when she was 9. I laughed at first, but then the song stuck in my head. I went to Spotify and actually saved the song in my playlist.
The story of how I started to work with Always Grounded
Fast forward to April 4th when I was at the Webster to photograph Pull The Curtain, and I could hear that sweet sound of pop punk coming from the opening band. Shocked, I realized the band I discovered during that late-night social media expedition in Jannuary — Always Grounded — was actually local to CT. I hadn’t thought much to look into them at first, but over the next few weeks I found myself having Midnight Drive in a pretty consistent rotation on my playlists. Listening to the sounds of RJ’s voice paired with his brother Eli brought me the most summer jam vibe, and I truly felt the energy.
So then April 17th came along. I’m filming a video for a band called Wxther (pronounced Wither), and I see RJ setting up. He was mid-conversation with the host of the apartment and and I overheard, “We’re a band called Always Grounded.” I looked up and said “Wait, Always Grounded?” and RJ responded with a somewhat stunned “Yea?” I pulled out my phone and was like, I think I have a song of yours saved on my phone. Now, let’s talk context, yeah? I do not live in CT, I’m actually about 2 hours away from home at this point. So after pulling out my phone and showing the guys the song saved, I told them the story of doom scrolling and said “Hey, im gonna grab a few clips if that’s cool?” and tested out some gear of mine.
Who is Always Grounded?
A little about the band as they currently stand. Starting in 2020, with their first show in 2021 at a place called The Crunch House, they’ve since put out an EP called “Letters to my Youth” and their latest release is the self-titled album, “Always Grounded.” The band’s current members are RJ as lead vocals, Eli as guitarist and backing/support vocals, Mason on drums, Ian on guitar, and Joe on bass.
Closing out
Unfortunately, tragedy came to the band by way of losing a member, Jude Alexander, who passed away in March of 2024. At the latest show, I had noticed a picture on one of the amps as a memory to honor their friend. In a way, Jude was strumming along — even if he wasn’t there physically, he was there in spirit. It’s amazing to see how a band is much more than just members that play instruments, but in fact, a family. In this case, they became a family that grew from 2022 to 2024, with Joe being the final piece to the puzzle.
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