Their passion for rock isn’t Fleet-ing
For Grammy-winning rockers Greta Van Fleet — who drop “The Battle at Garden’s Gate,” their second album, today — being compared to Led Zeppelin has been both a blessing and a curse that has brought on the haters.
“People are like, ‘Aw, I love Greta!’ or ‘God, they’re s - - t!’ ” lead singer Josh Kiszka told The Post. “But it’s a pretty damn good comparison to have. So yeah, we felt pretty good about that ultimately.”
And Greta got the ultimate co-sign from Robert Plant himself: “They are Led Zeppelin 1,” he has said.
“That almost felt like some kind of indoctrination into a private club,” said Kiszka, 24. “You feel a little bit more like you have a seat in the same chamber of the old masters. So it was a bit of a passing of the torch.”
But the legendary Led Zep frontman isn’t the only one who’s shown a whole lotta love the quartet, which also consists of Kiszka’s twin brother, Jake, on guitar, their younger brother, Sam, on bass/keyboards and Danny Wagner on drums. They’re one of the few rock bands to break out in a big way in recent years, winning the 2019 Best Rock Album Grammy for their EP “From the Fires.”
Still, Josh hasn’t let that golden gramophone go to his head — well, at least not yet. “I leave it with management — they have it somewhere in storage,” he said. “When I buy a place, I’m gonna put it on the back of the toilet.”
Kiszka describes “The Battle at Garden’s Gate” — as in the Garden of Eden — as “an expansion or an evolution of that world” from 2018’s “Anthem of the Peaceful Army,” their debut LP. “We certainly made something more cinematic [with] a bigger scope,” he said. “It’s definitely more progressive.”
Not that Greta Van Fleet has abandoned its classic-rock roots — a retro-’70s sound that some have criticized for being too derivative. “You sort of end up sounding like your influences,” said Kiszka. “It’s, like, part of your DNA. You can’t really remove that element. That’s something that’s living and breathing [inside]. That’s where you’re coming from.”
The Kiszka brothers were schooled on everything from blues to big band at home as kids. “We just grew up around music. We always called it ‘the vinyl playground,’ ” said Kiszka, whose piercing, sky-punching wail was inspired by Aretha Franklin.
“I probably blew [my voice] out a couple times,” he said, with a laugh. As for their musical moniker, it comes from a “town elder,” named Gretna Van Fleet, in their native Frankenmuth, Mich., which became Greta because “we just liked the sound of it,” said Kiszka. “It almost makes it a little more androgynous.”
So have they ever been mistaken for a femalefronted foursome because of their genderbending name?
“I always thought that they would do that. It actually didn’t seem to pan out so much that way,” said Kiszka. “But maybe they’re still pointing at me and going, ‘Oh, that’s Greta!’ ”