Philadelphia Grand Jury

Philadelphia Grand Jury are a bunch of normal dudes writing indie-punk-soul hits. In the year that they have been together they have got their shit together, recorded some tracks and found that many people like what they do. This is the story of their glorious rise to the top…

Dan W Sweat started the band on a whim. After partying hard with some college punk band, he decided that he needed to get meaner, rawer and sweatier. He saw MC Bad Genius getting a haircut and knew that he must be part of this new musical experiment. And when Berkfinger caught him with an unlicensed firearm, our hero Dan offered him a spot in the band to stop him from contacting the authorities.

The Philadelphia Grand Jury exists for you.

Dan W Sweat plays the drums, MC Bad Genius makes the necessary noises and a guy called Berkfinger plays guitar and sings the songs. Together, they are three of the most exciting performers in the history of popular music.

In no particular order here’s some facts about Philadelphia Grand Jury:

+ They are totally cool with you calling them The Philly Jays.

+ Have 3 tracks featured on the current season of Underbelly (including ‘Going To The Casino’ on the soundtrack CD itself)

+ Played Big Day Out Sydney in January 2009.

+ Played Laneway Festival Sydney in February 2009.

+ Currently averaging over 600 Myspace plays each day.

+ Recent reviews have called them ‘the band to see before you die’ and the have been compared with Elvis Presley, The Hives, MC5, Weezer, The Black Keys, and The White Stripes.

+ They have been together since the start of 2008.

+ They write great songs. And lots of them. They write literally a song every week.

+ They have been called ‘the best live band in Sydney’ and lots of other flattering things by the likes of Drum Media, triple j, Fasterlouder and Mess + Noise.

+ They record and produce all their own tracks.

+ They recently took a sledgehammer to a piano at a special triple j gig at the Annandale Hotel in Sydney. The piano didn’t survive but nobody was killed in the attack.

+ Lead singer Simon ‘Berkfinger’ Berckelman is an engineer at BJB Studios and has worked on projects for Architecture in Helsinki, Wolfmother, Dappled Cities, Mercy Arms, Silverchair, Temper Trap, Tim Finn, Van She and more. He is currently engineering Bridezilla’s debut album with US Producer Kramer

+ Drummer Dan W Sweat also drums for Art vs Science.

+ Debut release will be a self-released 7inch EP featuring ‘Going To The Casino (Tomorrow Night)’ & ‘Ready To Roll’.

+ They all have beards, except for the drummer.