When asked what advice he might give to aspiring musicians, Gruninger half-jokingly says, “Get out now!” before letting out a rather raucous laugh. “I like to tell people that it’s all about your goals and what you’re willing to sacrifice,” he said more seriously. “Success is in the eye of the beholder—whatever you want it to be. And it does happen if you want it to.
“You can write music; it doesn’t mean people are going to buy it. I do really try and push ‘it’s a dream and it’s wonderful,’ but it is a lot of hard work and there is a lot of sacrifice.”
On that front, much like his life singing for Incura, We Will Rock You keeps Gruninger on the road for months at a time. He is married to a teacher, whom he insists understands the demands of his career.
“I’m on the road; that’s how I make my money. She’s a schoolteacher; that’s how she makes hers,” he said, adding that he and his wife have a stable and healthy relationship despite the frequent time apart. “When I’m on my time off, we spend time together [or] she’ll fly to New York or Vegas when [the show is] there. It actually isn’t as difficult as people think it would be.”