5:07pm Friday 30th July 2010
By Kate Proctor
IT has been a remarkable year for Sheffield based band the Crookes.
The handsome foursome with a penchant for tight sixties trousers and D. H Lawrence have gone from arriving at back room pub gigs in a clapped-out family saloon to recording with one of Sheffield’s musical heavyweights, the great Richard Hawley.
Their debut single Bloodshot Days won them rave reviews after being promoted by Radio 1 DJs Steve Lamacq and Huw Stephens.
Their EP Dreams of Another day will be released on Fierce Panda records in September.
Drummer Russell Bates spoke to reporter Kate Proctor ahead of their appearance at this weekend’s Kendal Calling festival.
Kate: Are you looking forward to playing Kendal Calling?
Russell: We really are. It’s one of those festivals that started off really small and it’s getting bigger and bigger and more well known every year. We’re really looking forward to being there for the whole weekend too, take a more relaxed approach for once. I’m looking forward to seeing the Heartbreaks and Frankie and the Heartstrings.
Kate: You played industry festival SXSW festival in Texas earlier this year, how was that?
Russell: Honesty one of the best experiences we’ve had as a band. It was pretty surreal place though. There’s no stage and so we ended up seeing Muse play at a BBQ in the back of a pub! I think that brings everyone back down to earth. It was good to go because a lot of guitar bands being pushed in the UK are American, so at least we got to play our stuff to them.
Kate: Are you still taking the band to gigs in your Dad’s family car?
Russell: No, things have moved on slightly since then! Though I guess we’re still your stereotypical indie band as we’re now crammed into a slightly ageing Ford Transit van and most nights are spent sleeping on top the amps.
Kate: How’s life on the road treating you?
We’re literally in a different city every night at the moment, so you get used to living out of a van pretty quickly.
I think I’ve realised that bands are kind of like children because we’re not very good at doing things for ourselves! When we’re at festivals our tour manager hands out the pocket money and tells us when to eat, literally.
Kate: You all met at Sheffield univeristy four years ago. How much do you think the city has had an influence on your music?
Russell: Because we only came to university here and weren’t born here we have never really felt like a proper Sheffield band - not in the same vein as the Arctic Monkeys at least. It’s a real honour to be talked about as being part of the Sheffield scene because so many amazing groups come from here. John McClure (Reverend and the Makers) has been really supportive and Richard Hawley’s been really good to us too. We did a cover of his song Born Under a Bad Sign which we’re going to release on our EP.
Kate: Did you all quake in your pointed boots when you got to record with Richard Hawley?
Russell: Ha! Erm, no. He’s just a really supportive guy and because he’s been in the music business for so long and has really got sound advice. We have been to his practice rooms and you won’t believe the number of guitars he’s got. He said we could borrow what we wanted...maybe at that point we were a little bit awestruck.
Kate: So what next after Kendal Calling?
Russell: We’re working on the artwork for the EP which we do ourselves, and in my former life I was a press photographer, so I have been busy making a photo documentary of the band. We’re also recording our album and generally trying to keep everything in order. Hopefully we can carry on making good British pop and hope eveyone goes out and buys the EP!
The Crookes are Daniel, 21, Alex, 21, Russell, 22, and George, 21.
See our picture gallery below of Kendal Calling
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