The Cribs Interview

R13 caught up with The Cribs after their performance on the NME/Radio 1 Stage at Leeds Festival. Three brothers from Wakefield, Ross (RS), Ryan(RN) and Gary(GY) are fast gaining a reputation for dynamic live performances and with two albums already under their belts things are looking good.

R13: So what's it like playing Leeds Festival then?
RN: Really, really good today, I had a really good time you know, with it being like a hometown crowd it was a really good gig. I think one of the best things about it is that being a festival, people are there to have a really good time. We've just done a really long tour and this is like the last day of it so it's a really good way to end the tour.

R13:Are you still based in Wakefield? Any pressure from record company to move to London?
RN: We couldn't afford to live in London but our record company don't give us any pressure to do anything! We're on tour that much, I mean we tour a lot more than anyone else I know really so we only get a couple of days off every month so there's no point in getting our own place, it would be money down the drain. So when we finish on tour we just go back and sleep at our parents house and then just get up and go off again, so yeah we're still in Wakefield.

R13:What's the music scene like in Wakefield/West Yorkshire?
GY: Shit, Wakefield's always been shit, there's no venues.
RN: It's a cultural void but you know, Leeds is taking off now and you can understand why, people are starting to do a lot more for themselves, there's a lot more focus on the north as well, which is good and that hasn't happened for quite along time. So I think because it hasn't happened for a while there's a lot of bands that have been going for quite a long time that have been doing stuff for themselves. Because there were no venues, it was all clubs, people started their own nights doing DIY stuff so it's good there are bands coming out of this area with that DIY ethic.
R13: Did you find it hard to break out of that scene?
GY: Well we were never part of it.
R13:So how did you get yourselves known then?
RN:The main thing with us was because there was nowhere to play in Wakefield we never did any gigs. We never did any gigs in Leeds, we just used to practice and play for ourselves in our bedrooms. Then, I don't know how it happened, we did a demo and we got signed on our third gig, we did a gig down in London and got a record deal.
GY:There was a lot of interest around that demo for some reason, I don't know why!
RN: This was going back to 2002 though, so we did that and then it was just by chance that bands such as The Kaiser Chiefs started coming out of Leeds as well so now people put a focus on it and say it's a kind of scene but we were never playing in Leeds before we got a deal.

R13:Your second album came out in June (The New Fellas) how has it been received? Has it done as well as you were expecting?
GY: It did really well, I mean the singles all did a lot more than we ever thought they would, so far we've put two singles in the top thirty and I never expected that!
RN:For a band that's on a small label, I mean we don't have any money put behind us for advertising, we've never had big adverts or anything, the only way we promote ourselves is by going on tour all the time so it's really good that we've had two top thirty singles and that the album's done really well on such a grass roots kind of thing. I know that everyone who buys the singles has just seen us live, not because we've had massive adverts in magazines, it's been really organic.

R13:I understand you were in charge of production on the album?
RN: The first album we were.
GY: The second album was produced by Edwyn Collins, which was really good for us, he's someone we totally trust to do it because we really like his work anyway.
RN: We had produced our first album, me and him (GY) record all the b-sides anyway so when we go into the studio it's really awkward to give over full control to a producer but we got on with Edwyn so well and he was so smart that he had a lot of the same ideas as us anyway.
GY: We had a lot in common definitely.
R13:So did he produce the record you wanted?
RN: Yeah.
GY:I wouldn't change anything on it I don't think, I don't mean that in a cocky way, like I mean it's perfect, I don't mean that at all. It was perfect for what we were doing at the time, I'm not the sort of person that goes back over stuff and regrets it or worries about it, I'm always thinking well what are we going to do next? As far as I'm concerned that record is exactly like how it should have been.

R13:Following this weekends gigs you're off on tour of Europe, what sort of reaction have you had over there?
GY:It's been great, particularly in Germany, German crowds have been really good, we started off going over there supporting people like Bloc Party and Kaiser Chiefs. So now it's good when we go back that people come and see us because they've seen us live before and we've converted them.
RN: I like it over there though because the venues are open all night, they don't have shit licencing laws so everyone has a few more drinks and it's a really good vibe.

R13:You're then off on tour with the Kaiser Chiefs who you've already toured with (earlier this year), must be a great opportunity to get yourselves heard by a wider audience?
GY: That's like an NME tour, they just asked if we wanted to do it.
RN: We always have really good fun when we're on tour with the Kaiser Chiefs what with them being from Leeds we've known them for years, so it's really good. About a year ago they were nowhere near as big as they are now so I'm really pleased that they've done so well. We used to just sit in the pub and talk about how good it would be to be doing alright and going on tour together. Now we've been on tour together a few times, even places like America, so it's always good fun, it's just good being on tour with your mates! When you've spoken about doing it before and then you're actually are it's just really good.

R13:Any amusing tour stories?
GY: There's been quite a lot but the ones I can remember I'd rather forget!

R13:Have you got to the stage yet where you have fans that follow you around?
GY: Yeah.
R13:What do you make of that commitment?
GY: Some of our fans are really cool, really committed, it baffles me but it's really flattering. I've never been into a band so much that I'd do that, I've been into music for many years but I've never been into a band to that extent.
RN: I really like having hardcore fans, which we do have a lot of, most of the people that are into our band are like proper hardcore fans. That's really good because it shows we're connecting with them in some way, it's not just that they casually like the music, there's obviously something there that they can connect with so I really like that. We've got really good fans, I really like all of them!

R13:Have you had chance to check out any other bands today, if so who?
RN: I haven't had chance yet.
GY: I saw Nine Black Alps as soon as we came off.
RN: They're good friends of ours, haven't had chance to watch anyone else as we've been quite busy all day but I think later on we might try and check some other bands out. I'm friends with someone out of Arcade Fire so I want to go and check them out as I've heard they're really good. Probably watch a bit of Babyshambles, I mean as soon as we finish I'm just going to try and see as many bands as possible to make up for the fact that we haven't seen any all day!
GY: We live just outside Leeds anyway so it's not like we have to rush off home which is good.
R13: What about you Ross?
RS: I think the Radio One stage has been a really good line up today, probably go and watch The Tears as we're recording our next single with Bernard Butler, so we'll probably go and check the Tears out. I think all the bands on there have been really good today though.