Striped, Ripe, Culty, and Sultry: the Cribs. Photo by J. Beckman.
Who are these mystery scamps in UK's the Cribs - working with Franz Ferdinand's Alex, Sonic Youth's Lee Renaldo, and the Smiths' Johnny Marr alike? And landing at Popscene tonight, April 3? I traded e-mails with the youngest Jarman brother, Ross, who drums in the threesome.
SFBG: What's it like being a "family band"? And do you think they get a bad rap?
Ross Jarman: To be honest, we are unaware what it is like to be anything but a family band. I'm curious what being in a band with your friends is like. I think being in a band with your brothers is easier, as there is more honesty towards writing, etc., and it keeps the three of us on a level playing field.
SFBG: What was it like to work with Alex from Franz Ferdinand on the Mens Needs... album?
RJ: Being in the studio with Airwolf was a lot of fun. We had offers from other producers before he came into the equation, but we didn't want to make a record that sounded like a load of others, so going in with a producer who was producing for the first time out of his own circle, we knew we were going to get something unique. He also knew the band a lot more than any other producer, as he had seen us play every night for two months on a tour of the US.
SFBG: What is the band like in the studio? And do you prefer live performance to studio recording?
RJ: The studio is one of the most exciting parts about being in a band for me. It's hard to say which i prefer out of recording and playing live, as I like them both in different ways. When in the studio, we don't like to totally isolate ourselves like some bands, so we will go to a city where we don't know anyone so we aren't distracted, but have the option of getting out of the studio and doing something different for a while.
The Cribs' "Men's Needs."
SFBG: Has the brouhaha died down from your "Men's Needs" video? What do you think of the furor now? And what did you want to do with that video?
RJ: We wanted to make an alternative to your typical rock video. The girl in the video is without question the empowered person, where as in most pop promos the girl is objectified, which we find appalling, not to mention old-fashioned.
Watch most videos and you will see girls being objectified or dancing "seductively." We wanted to do the exact opposite and we were very happy with the results. Anyone who found it shocking or offensive need to take a good long look at their morals.
SFBG: What are your needs?
RJ: We don't have many needs - we are a pretty low-maintenance band. It's nice to eat occasionally on tour, though. We are sometimes so busy, we don't eat every day.
SFBG: Any opinion on controversy in pop or rock in general? Do you see a lack of it in rock in general these days?
RJ: I see a huge lack of opinions in rock/pop these days. I've always believed that a band should be about more than just the music. All my favourite bands had something else about them that made you believe in them.
SFBG: What is Wakefield, UK, like? Would you say you are extremely influenced by your environment?
RJ: I definitely think Wakefield has had some influence on us. It has a small-town mentality, where you feel in danger walking around if you're a male and your hair goes past your ears. It feels like if you were into music you couldn't be into sport as well in Wakefield, so that isolated us from a lot of people there, and made us go off and do our own thing.
SFBG: Why would Q magazine name the band the biggest cult group in the UK?
RJ: I think we have just taken a different approach than most bands to get to where we are today. We are on a small independent label, with not much money, and we have built up a real hardcore fan base by just going out and touring the records relentlessly, and having people find out about us by word of mouth rather than reading about our album on a bus-stop wall somewhere.
SFBG: How do you feel about the Replacements, who you recently covered? Do you see yourself in line with their sound and aesthetic?
RJ: We have a lot of respect for the Replacements - they were a band who did everything their own way and on their own terms, and had the DIY attitude that makes a lot of sense to us. I think that you could draw a few parallels between us and the Replacements whether it's down to attitude, sound, or the fact that they were always seen as an underrated band, which i believe is a position we find ourselves in also.
SFBG: What's coming up for the Cribs?
RJ: We have now pretty much come to the end of this album campaign, so we are going to take a breather, recharge our batteries and just play festivals this summer. We have also started writing some new songs with Johnny Marr, which has been exciting for us bringing in another member.
SFBG: Any good tour yarns?
RJ: Our guitar tech Shippo recently got his fingers stuck in the van door on this tour, and his fingers look in really bad shape, so would just like to give him a shout-out and a get-well-soon.
THE CRIBS
With Ra Ra Riot
Thurs/3, 8 p.m., $8
Popscene
330 Ritch, SF
(415) 541-9574
digg •
del.icio.us •
sphere •
google
•
