SXSW Interview: The Crookes

Named after Sheffield suburb Crookes in order to affirm their allegiance to the Steel City, The Crookes (guitarists Daniel Hopewell and Tom Dakin, vocalist George Waite and drummer Russell Bates) are no strangers to SXSW, having been active on the festival circuit since 2008.

Shortly after the release of debut album ‘Chasing After Ghosts‘ in 2011, original guitarist Alex Saunders was replaced by Dakin, previously of Sheffield based band Silent Film Project. Work soon started on what was to become the follow-up record in 2012’s ‘Hold Fast‘. The album comprised infectious hit single ‘Afterglow‘, showcasing Waite’s plaintive yet alluring, Morrissey aping vocals, soaring over a punchy and jangling Libertines style lead guitar and a crowd pleasing ‘oh-oh-oh’ based chorus.

Latest single release ‘Hold Fast‘ hints at further connections with the past, reflecting the murkiness of The Smiths earlier records, contrasted with decidedly catchy pop hooks and melodies, a sound perhaps best defined by BBC Radio 6 DJ Steve Lamacq, stating: “They are kings of romance. It’s the romance of the Seine, of walking in the Peaks; or lying on your back reading and daydreaming. There is something almost subversive about their odd mix of influences (The Smiths/’60s girl groups/’50s rock and roll)”.

The band sat down with Live4ever at SXSW to discuss how chance meetings in a Sheffield nightclub and relentless gigging around the city eventually led to them being adopted as one of Sheffield’s own. They also comment on where they see themselves fit into the city’s recently rich musical tapestry forged by the popularity of a certain Arctic Monkeys and Reverend and the Makers, alongside a passionate desire to shun major label endorsement in favour of a more organic route through the music industry, utilising their unique brand of past and present musical influences for a refreshing take on the indie pop rock genre.

L4e: There seems to be such a happening music scene in Sheffield – can you tell us what’s so special about your city?

The Crookes: The last 5 or 6 years since the Arctic Monkeys came out, Sheffield has sort of been in their shadow a little bit, I mean they’re a great band and they keep getting better and better, but there is a certain group of bands in Sheffield that seem to think the only way to write good songs is to copy the first Arctic Monkeys album. But in the last year or so bands seem to have cast off that attitude, such as us, Hey Sholay and High Hazels, people who are starting to try and change Sheffield’s musical identity.

How did you guys meet and establish yourselves as a Sheffield band and where are you actually all from?

Well we’re from all over the place, Scunthorpe, Margate, Southampton, Nottingham. We all sort of met together really by chance in a nightclub that our manager Penny used to own called Fuzz Club, which is suddenly not there anymore. We sort of all found ourselves gravitating towards each other when like ‘Blister in the Sun‘ by the Violent Femmes would come on and we sort of recognized each other, and then we’d see each other bleary eyed in seminars and lectures the next day, and that’s how it happened really. We started practicing in Dan’s bedroom and taking our gear to gigs in shopping trolleys, so over the last 5 years or so it’s sort of been constant gigging and stealing a Sheffield place name as a band name to sort of hammer it home. We’re the kind of people that couldn’t do anything else; the idea of a normal job drove us mental and created desperation to do something different.

How are the fans in Sheffield – do you have a good following?

It’s always good to do a hometown show; the people of Sheffield are pretty spoiled for choice with the amount of bands playing. Touring bands are always shocked when they come as you’ve got to be really special for people to get excited and actually turn up to see you. Our favourite show was actually last year in Sheffield. Because we’re not all actually from Sheffield, it took a while for people to be won over to the idea that we’re a Sheffield band, and so when we had 700 people turn up and watch us in Sheffield, it was a massive deal for us. We enjoy playing live; we would never have guessed 5 years ago we’d be here in Austin, Texas.

Who’s your producer and do you use a recording studio in town?

At the very beginning we stayed in Sheffield, but then we met Matt Peel, who works in Leeds. He’s got a studio called Cottage Road Studios, we’ve done pretty much everything with him in the last 3 or 4 years, we’re really good mates with him, he’s able to tell us if something’s absolutely terrible! He’s recorded Leeds bands such as  Eagles and Hawk Eyes, alongside Hey Sholay and High Hazels. There are good places to record in Sheffield – it’s strange it seems that ‘Sheffield’ travels 30 miles down the motorway to record in Leeds at the moment – but yeah Matt Peel just has a really good ear.

How would you describe your style to readers in America who haven’t heard or seen you yet?

Well, someone told us this morning we’re a synth-electro band, which is a surprise to me. It’s a really difficult question; with a massive amount of hubris, we occasionally describe ourselves as northern soul for the 21st century, tongue firmly in cheek! I think on this last record, Hold Fast we set out to make a pop record you can sing along and dance to.

I think intelligent pop music is what we’re trying to write, anything in America or England like that doesn’t really get much attention, so I think it’s kind of a challenge trying to write pop music with a fundamental melody and catchiness, then attribute some ideas to that which run a bit deeper.

The song you just played for us, American Girls, can you elaborate a bit on what it’s all about?

War! (laughs). It’s probably the one song written where it’s not serious, there’s no deeper meaning to it really, it’s quite a literal song, you know like the fact we’re English and we can attract American girls. Our tongues are pretty much firmly in our cheeks, people often don’t realise this but our humour is quite dry, rather than taking ourselves really seriously, but it can be blurred, especially concerning American audiences who don’t get our sense of self deprecation.

Well you’re getting praised by Noel Gallagher for your lyrics, that’s pretty cool, yeah?

People keep telling us that, we owe him quite a lot really, whether or not he said it or not I think there are a lot of people who have booked us and bought our records on the back of that quote, so we’re just going to go with it. I just can’t believe it, because I can’t imagine Noel Gallagher saying anything nice about anybody!

You probably know the band The Answering Machine who sadly split up? We met them several years ago at CMJ in New York.

Yeah, from when we first started out, about 3 or 4 years ago now, they’re really nice guys; we actually did a seven inch single on Heist (mutual label) with Mick Scholefield (Founder: Heist or Hit Records).

And now you’re releasing through the Beggars Group label?

That was just a seven inch as well. I think that was the first single we ever did. We were dead lucky to be able to do it with them. We’re on Fierce Panda now, a really kind of legendary indie label in England with a history of a lot of English bands such as early Coldplay, Maccabees, Ash, and a lot of our favourite American bands such as Death Cab and Bright Eyes, so they have some true indie credentials. They released that taped argument of Noel and Liam Gallagher (Wibbling Rivalry), which made the Top 40 and basically defined their record label! They cut through the bullshit and kind of let you do what you want and put your records out; it’s nice to have that relationship with your record label.

Is it safe to say your influences aren’t contemporary; they’re 50’s/60’s? What drew you to that whole style of music?

It’s not a conscious or contrived thing, we just happen to listen to a lot of that music and we kind of think the 50s and 60s had some of the best melodies, and that’s the most important thing us in a song, that it has a memorable melody. It’s not intentional, it’s not like we’re deliberately trying to be a 50’s 60’s band, and we’re kind of a modern band who likes a lot of aspects from that time.

Do you have a preference when it comes to Analog VS digital production tools?

In an ideal situation, if we could play our instruments better, it would be awesome to do a live album all to tape; we’ve done it before, we did a few songs with a guy called Tim Hampton (Bromheads Jacket), he’s got a studio called Crystal Ship, and he had a tape machine with a Watkins Copycat echo unit, which was a cool experience. We haven’t done much to tape though unfortunately due to time and money. Our producer’s moving into a new studio and he’s getting a tape machine so I’m sure our next album is going to have some analog all over it.

It is kind of a mixture though, we use a lot of stuff that is quite modern I guess, but we take a lot of vintage equipment to make it sort of an amalgamation of the two. We’ve got the older influences, but the worst thing for us would be to be considered a sort of niche 50’s/60’s style band.

We do pop on a shoestring but we want to be able to compete with the major labels, that’s the sort of thing we thrive on, just punching above our weight the whole time, sort of fighting against the majors who are chucking money at bands who’re not going to get past the first album.

What’s on your agenda? Touring? Getting back into the studio? What’s next for you after SXSW?

We’re releasing a double A-side on Fierce Panda, I think around May time, two brand new songs. Then writing the third record basically, write that over the summer, record it and release it next year, which sounds easier than it is in practice. We might get to Brazil at some point, and we’re hoping to come back to America as well.

Was there a different purpose  in comparison to last time you came over to Austin? Was there a goal on this SXSW trip?

I think there’s always the same goal, you want to come out and be successful. I think when we first came out we were probably a bit naive and it was our first time away from England. We enjoyed ourselves, but in terms of the business sense we didn’t make the most it because we were just a bit too young, this time we came back and knew what we were doing, we’ve got a better sound and we’re just a lot more experienced, we hope to take it a lot further this time.

You can go and catch the Crookes on tour with Little Comets at the April dates below:

Sat 13th – Wolverhampton – Slade Rooms

Sun 14th – Oxford – O2 Academy 2

Mon 15th – Bournemouth – Old Fire Station

Tues 16th – Exeter – Phoenix

Thurs 18th – Bristol – O2 Academy

Fri 19th – Cardiff – Gate

Visit the Crookes official homepage
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Jamie Boyd