Crows formed in 2015 and after some time releasing EP’s to bring a loyal fanbase together, they released the epic ‘Silver Tongues’ in 2019. I first heard them in late 2015 and rushed to buy their ‘Unwelcome Light’ EP on vinyl, their epic sound had me hooked.
At the start of 2019, Balley Records which is run by Joe Talbot and co from IDLES, signed them and it was a match made out of heaven! The album was released to much acclaim and was everything and more, it sounded amazing and one of my favourite releases of 2019.
I had that privilege of asking James from the band some questions and it did not disappoint, enjoy!
instagram: @jamie_noise
What musicians inspire the band? Does each member bring an influence to the table or is generally a collective spirt with influences?
There are definitely some common influences we all share as a band, but the way we have always written is quite democratic. Someone will have an idea or a hook and we’ll ‘jam it out’ (for lack of a better term) until it grows and takes the shape of something we like. I’ll then work separately from everyone with the lyrics and melodies which in turn might changed the shape and structure of it, then we might shelve it, come back to it, cook it a little more before its ready for daylight. There’s no solid formula, that’s keeps it interesting.
I first heard you guys in 2015 with the ‘Prey’ single. The b-side ‘Crawling’ stood out to me, how was that song written?
That song was written just after Margret Thatcher’s funeral, not many people know that that’s what the song is about. Lyrically it’s an example of how I write quite ambiguously about a subject, leaving the listener to interpret it the way they want. We used to close our live shows with it for years because its got such a massive end, there’s no where else really to put it in the set.
Eventually you got in contact with Joe Talbot from IDLES, which led to the LP being put out through Balley Records. How much did it mean to you to join something that you knew appreciated and got your your band so much?
That’s exactly the reason we were so happy to release the album with Balley. We had been offered really poor offers from label who we knew just didn’t care very much and wouldn’t make us a priority. Joe and Mark cared and really wanted to release it because they loved it. That’s how music should work, based on passion and enthusiasm.
Chain of Being sounds so epic, can imagine hearing it before a big event in a stadium! How did it feel playing music from your debut album live after its release and how important is the live shows for you?
We are first and foremost a live band, it’s always been our strength and the thing we care most about. It’s also probably why it took us so long to release the debut record, because we tour so much. You need to learn the balance between writing recording and touring, otherwise you get out of a cycle and you’ll struggle to continue. That’s why after we released ‘Silver Tongues’ we were straight away writing the follow up so we didn’t fall behind.
The artwork has always been a great representation of your music, who is the mastermind behind it?!
That would be Elliott Lane. He has always been our artistic director and is basically the fifth member of the band. He’s even in our Crows group-whatsapp. He is also a tattoo artist at a studio called The Lace makers Sweatshop so go hit him up – @elliottlane
What’s the update on new music? Hope when normality starts to return, that there’s something in the pipeline!
The new album is about 95% finished. We just need to do some extra studio bits to it before its mixed and mastered and then we can unleash it finally! We’ll probably need to wait until the world has healed so we can tour it properly.
Thank you once again to James for his time to answer my questions, this has been mind blowing for me as I’ve been such a fan of this band for a long time. Its been so great to see them put out an album and thank you to Balley Records for making it possible because Crows truly deserved it to and be appreciated by a label. Here’s to their next album!