Alana Skyring Leaves The Grates

Queensland trio The Grates has just become a duo. Drummer Alana Skyring has left the band to pursue a career in culinary arts, leaving Patience Hodgson and John Patterson to continue as a two-piece.

The duo says they’ll recruit additional members for touring and recording. Recently they’ve worked with Brooklyn drummer Ben Marshall and bassist Gus van Go from their new American base.

With recording well underway, a new Grates album should be released around June. It’ll be interesting to see whether the loss of Alana changes the sound dramatically. Either way, I’m definitely looking forward to the new material.

Image source: Nika Vee @ Wikimedia Commons