The Crimea have never been a band to do things, let’s say, the conventional way… When Warner Bros. Records dropped the boys due to poor sales of debut album Tragedy Rocks, the four-piece shrugged their shoulders and embarked on a campaign that would change the future of music distribution. Releasing follow-up album, Secrets of the Witching Hour as a free download was a shrewd move; a means of establishing a new and firm fan base. Their method of reaching the masses has been followed by more established bands such as Radiohead, so you could call The Crimea trend-setters. Ahem, but rather than letting their growing success go to their heads, the four-piece have continued to show their fans the same appreciation, support, and dedication that they’ve shown to The Crimea; playing intimate, almost exclusive, candlelit shows, and releasing new single ‘48a Waiting Steps’ as yet another free download. Here, Planet Notion catches up with singer Davey Macmanus, to talk Dear Deirdre, crack-whores, and going for Gold! Words: Dangerous Dave
When bands release a single taken from an album, it’s usually for a particular reason… Why did you pick the ‘48A Waiting Steps’, and where does the inspiration behind the track come from?
We picked the ‘48a Waiting Steps’ and ‘Loop-a-Loop’ becuase we kinda’ wanted to be seen in a different light. Warner’s had always released the poppier songs so, when we became disentangled from them, it was the obvious thing to release something we thought better represented us as the successors to Siegfried Sassoon and Da Vinci before him.
Sure, I mean, with ‘Secrets of the Witching Hour’ there was a clear indication of your music developing – or at least going through noticeable changes… How would you say that your music’s developed?
Well I guess we just grew up a bit; went round the world a few times and got more of a sense of it. Became more humble; thankful… The reason that ‘Secrets’ developed musically is cos’ we spent seven months making it and tried a-hundred different things for every part before we picked our winner… We went round the houses but we done it all ourselves - mostly at home, but also in Latvia, Norwich, and various other studios around London. The latest stuff has further developed… I’d say it’s also developed because, financially, we’ve always ridden a fine line - so we’ve had to better ourselves each time. We still have something to prove basically.
So the inspiration for the music that you’re currently producing has come from different sources, places, or moments, than your older material?
No. It’s all been reaching towards the third Crimea album. I only got a guitar when I was eighteen and was in a punk band for seven years, so it’s taken me a while to find my musical destiny… I was thrown onstage way too early.
And how imminent is that 100,000 Gold [download] mark with ‘Secrets of the Witching Hour’… Can you reveal any of the plans for the extended edition you’ll release in celebration?
I'm not sure how soon the imminent gold is, but touch wood in the next few weeks. The new version basically has a different running order and pieces of music between the songs; a strange Kentuckian woman whispering interludes I wrote. On the original version of ‘Secrets’ it was done by a very famous American singer but, when we released it for free and it went up on Reuters, her label freaked out and we had to remove her. So we've redone it with this crazy woman we met in New Orleans.
You tend to promote new releases to an exclusive sect, an in-crowd lucky enough to know: “Where and what time”. Is this a means of being in touch with your fan base or a way of breaking from the mainstream mould?
Jesus, it’s basically because we’re a cottage industry operating out of the mainstream; doing our own thing. We rely heavily on the internet, we’re trying to promote to everyone, and we haven’t got the money behind us - so we have to think of ingenious methods of promoting ourselves. Once, I went in Dear Deirdre in The Sun the week our single came out. Once, I spray-painted ‘1939 Returning’ all over London, including every bridge along the Thames…
Having interviewed Anton Newcombe [Brian Jonestown Massacre], I’m only too aware of his involvement with Perry Watts-Russell [Warner Bros. Records]. Was Perry equally as nuts as Anton and how did you find him to work alongside?
It was tough working with him. He’s a great guy but basically, major labels in general are a humdrum of non-activity, and everybody has to ask everybody else and think about it for six months before they can take a shit. I have a good relationship with Perry; I told him at the time we were dropped that we were doing the free record, and then when Radiohead did it I asked him if he stole the idea. He said he was really annoyed when they did it because they hadn’t mentioned it to him…
So, with breaking from Warner in mind, how have you found the transgression from being on a label to producing music alone; has it been a positive change?
It’s been great in general; in that we’ve been free to do whatever we want. Last year we released the free record the day after we mastered it, whereas it took four years for Warner to release one album we'd already recorded before we signed the deal. Last year we toured in China twice and released the record there. This summer we’re touring the States and releasing ‘Secrets’ as a free download there through Tripwire. The launch party sees us playing Venice Beach, and we’ve just kind of been doing the English campaign since Christmas - releasing the two singles.
Your live shows are generally intimate affairs; do you ever feel like you should be playing large arenas or concerts, or would that feel like “Selling your soul to the devil?”
We have sold our soul to the devil; many times! Perry wouldn’t even let me meet his secretary until I got a new front tooth. When they dropped us, I knocked it out again. We’ve done lots of supports in arena style tours with big bands, and festivals et cetera. I do love having a big crowd, but these days we go for sit-down candlelit shows. It's supposed to be like going to the cinema.
Away from the intimate gigs, have you ever considered doing an epic opera? You know, like R. Kelly’s rap opera: ‘Trapped in the Closet’… You could have midgets, gun scenes, and crack-whores!!!
I’ve actually got a mini opera going. It’s a trilogy of songs; my version of the Requiem. It’s gonna be on the next record… Our drummer is a midget, our keyboardist is a crack-whore, our bass player shoots from the hip, and I could beat R. Kelly in a ‘rap off’ any day.
Using your reputation to send out political, sociological, or economical messages to the neuro-transmitters of the masses - like Bono, Sting, and Thom Yorke are doing; where do you stand on that?
Our statement is basically: Life can be terribly unjust, but there are moments of wonder out there, and some people actually think about things other than shoes and what’s for dinner.
You kicked-off the free albums and downloads boom, with bands like Radiohead following suit. How do you feel about the doubters, those that say that FREE downloads are killing the industry?
I'm still in two minds about it. My personal reaction to someone giving away something for free is that it must be terrible, and I think that applies to a lot of people… It seems to be an unstoppable force and everyone just downloads illegally anyway, no matter what, so that’s that. You have to make money in other ways now.
But what does it mean for the future of music? Do you think the CD will continue to thrive, or will it go away before having an eventual resurgence like the Vinyl? Or will it just die a death like the Tape?
I’m not sure about the future of music; that died with Dusty Springfield… The CD is doomed, as are the people who use it to fund their livelihoods. The dole will always be there to shelter us, it’s just [that] I missed the last five weeks and the fuckers cut it off. It’s all about being cool, which isn't much fun.
Finally, if you were to do a fucking Bono on us, or go all Sting on Planet Notion’s red raw arse, what words of wisdom would you have for our readers?
Fill your body with anything which helps you forget it’s a body in the first place.
Wise words, Davey, wise words…
The Crimea’s new single, 48a Waiting Steps, is available on free download through 7Digital. For a free download of The Crimea album, Secrets of the Witching Hour, visit The Crimea’s website.
