The Cribs

RD battles with the evil medium that is technology to bring a hard earned interview with Ross from The Cribs to our readers. RD 1 Technology 0. Ok, so, we’ve been waiting a while for this interview, totally my fault! (RD) Damn this technology that’s meant to make our lives easier! (Everybody forgives you Rachael, just get on with it...). Ross from The Cribs kindly took more time out to speak with us about their new single and childhood memories..

How have you all been?
We have all been great thanks, for the past few years we were together all the time, on tour and at home, but now we have our own places, which is really healthy for the band, as when we get back together things are a lot more creative. Looking back over the last few years, I’m surprised we didn’t go mad! Three brothers together 24/7!

I hear that you’ve had your hand slapped by MTV regarding the ‘Men’s Needs’ video?
Yeah, apparently Ofcom received one complaint about the blood and gore in the video, even though we did it in a really tongue in cheek way. It has been viewed over 400,000 times on ‘you tube’ alone, and its frustrating how one complaint spoils it for everyone else. It almost looks like a cartoon, it’s that fake! MTV have been really great about it though, they still showed the video after 9pm.

Naughty naughty. It hasn’t done it any harm though I hear its still in the top 5?
We feel that with our band, we have built up a good strong, loyal grass roots fan base through touring relentlessly, so even with the minimum support we get from some people, we still manage to come out well. We are an independent band, on an independent label, and we are proud of that.

So where did the name 'The Cribs' come from?
The name The Cribs came from Gary and Ryan’s college days. They were kicked out of college, so had to book the colleges studio under a pseudonym. That was the first name that popped into their head. At the time, it seemed like a really cool name, but since then there has been a lot of “the” bands, and its lost a bit of its charm. Looking back, we should have been called “The Jarmans”, as that makes more sense, and the “the” is grammatically correct!

And grammar is important. Have the 3 of you always sang and played music?
I have early memories of the three of us miming Queen songs in Gary and Ryan’s room. We all played in orchestras when we were younger too. Somehow my music teacher at the time convinced me that a violin was also a cool instrument to play, as the people who had signed up for drum lessons had reached its quota, and I wasn’t allowed to join.

You should have a violin piece in your next record! You got any funny stories from when you were growing up?
I remember me and Ryan once got padlocks in some cheap Christmas crackers, we then started a gang called “the padlock gang” and ended up locking Gary in a cold, small dark cupboard for a few hours and he was screaming to get out!

You’ve been on the music scene for a few years now, what major changes have you seen?
We have seen a lot more “indie bands” crop up now. I think things have now become over-saturated, which in the end will spoil it for everyone. When we first started, I remember an indie band going top 40, was unheard of. Nowadays if they don’t go top 40, they get dropped by the label! Most of these bands aren’t independent anyway, they are fully dependant on major label backing. There should be “indie” bands, and “die” bands (independent/ dependant). The “die” bands should also die off and disappear like the name says!

I agree. To many “indie” bands out at the moment that are one album wonders. Has the new album turned out liked you’d hoped?
We are all really really happy with how the new album has turned out. We spent a lot more time in the studio on the new record. The first record was recorded and mixed in a week, the second record was done in around 3 weeks, and the new album was done in around 5 and a half weeks. The main difference was we spent a lot more time experimenting with sounds, and getting them right. It still sounds exactly like The Cribs, but sonically the sounds are much better. Also I think as a band the songs have also progressed a lot from the first and the second album. We didn’t feel stressed at all, as its not a debut by us, and its not the difficult second album either, so we didn’t feel any pressure making this record.

What was it like working with Alex?
It was great working with Alex. We got to know him whilst touring with Franz Ferdinand in the States at the beginning of 2006. We all got on really well, and noticed that we all tended to like the same records. Also because we spent two months on tour with Alex, he knew exactly what type of band The Cribs were, and we felt more comfortable going in the studio with someone who knows The Cribs well, rather than going in the studio with some production line producer, ‘one in one out’ mentality. Also because this was the first thing Alex produced outside the Franz records, he was just as excited about the record as we were, and we knew we would get something that sounded different, and not like every other “indie” band around at the moment.

Who else would you like to work with?
On the new record we worked with Lee Ranaldo form Sonic Youth. For the moment, we are all really content with that! We are all really pleased we got the chance to work with him. He’s the type of person who wouldn’t work with just any band, so we were really happy he wanted to do something with us.

3 albums and a banned video, what’s next for The Cribs?
Just going to go out there and tour the new record really hard, just the way we did it with the last two records. As long as we can go out there and do things on our own terms, keep writing music with a label putting out whatever we want, and more people keep discovering the band, we are happy.

Finally, what you listening to at the moment?
I am currently listening to the Thermals new album -the body the blood the machine. We recently had the pleasure of them opening up for us in the UK, and they were awesome !t

Check out The Cribs website for more info here.