INTERVIEW: The Cribs
The Wakefield lads talk about their famous new recruit
THE Jarman brothers were immersed in legendary music from an early age.
"When we were kids our mum used to sing us nursery rhymes as we went off to sleep," says Ross Jarman, the youngest of the trio, who formed The Cribs together in Wakefield in 2001.
"It was only a few years later that we realised they were songs from The White Album!"
The influence of those songs returned to shape the careers of the brothers Jarman – completed by twin (in both senses of the phrase) vocalists Gary, on bass, and guitarist Ryan.
"When we first started the band I was in the middle of a massive Beatles phase," Ross says.
"That was part of the reason that, when we did our first recordings, we used a load of vintage gear.
"It was like stepping back in time, and it ended up sounding like Please Please Me or Help!.
"I think The Beatles are definitely where we got the pop side of our sound. When we started out Gary and Ryan were big into Nirvana, and that's probably where we got the punk rock side.
"We were also really into the Sex Pistols, The Ramones when we were younger, and we really liked Queen as well as kids. Our sound is a horrible mess of all these different things."
It makes sense. While earlier Cribs tracks like Martell followed a vaguely similar mid-paced, Britpop-by-numbers template which brought no-marks like The Fratellis such tediously predictable success, 2007's third album Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever was a delightful about-turn, fusing grunge and new-wave and topping it with a gloriously raw Yorkshire brogue.
The NME called them 'the biggest cult band in Britain'.
The Cribs will record their fourth record in March, and in advance of the sessions they are embarking on a four-date mini-tour, taking in Bradford's St George's Hall on February 8.
"We played there a couple of years ago and it was one of our favourite gigs we've ever done," Ross enthuses.
"It's healthy to play new songs live before recording them, so we thought we'd book a few small shows.
"I think a lot of bands miss Bradford out, so it'll be good to play there again."
Joining them for both tour and recording will be iconic ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr, who became a Crib earlier this year. But how did this somewhat surprising collaboration of northern indie faves old and new come about?
Well, since 2006 Marr has been a full-time member of Modest Mouse, based in Portland, Orgeon and one of American alternative rock's greatest bands.
Gary Jarman, meanwhile, ended up in the Pacific northwest through different means.
"Gary met Joanna, who's now his fiancee, when we were touring in Europe with Stephen Malkmus, who used to be the frontman in Pavement," Ross explains.
"She's in Portland, and Gary started going over to visit her, and eventually got his own place there.
"Me and Ryan have been out there a few times, we're going to do some writing there I think. It's a really exciting, cheap city. It seems like everyone's in a band."
Any chance of The Cribs moving to Oregon full-time, then?
"No, I think we'll always be an English band. We're pretty well rooted in Yorkshire."
It was Portland, however, that brought Marr and The Cribs into glorious unison.
"I first met Johnny at Glastonbury two years ago," Ross remembers. "But what actually started it off was that Gary was at a barbecue in Portland, and Johnny heard his accent.
"Obviously, two people from the north of England in Portland (is unusual]...so Johnny comes over, says 'I really love The Cribs'.
"Gaz didn't clock that it was Johnny at first, even though in the early days we had him on a poster in our van! They got on really well.
"Then Ry met him at the Q Awards, and said 'do you fancy doing a tune together?'. Johnny was really up for it, obviously he'd been touring with Modest Mouse, but I think he wanted to play with an English band, for something a bit different.
"We met up in Stockport, of all places, which was as depressing as it sounds! But we wrote four songs in four days, and we were really pleased with them.
"So we thought we'd do another session and make it an EP. And then we ended up thinking, why not the whole album? And we've not looked back.
"It's really refreshing having a new member – it throws new things up."
So what are the new songs like?
"As obvious as it sounds, pretty much exactly like you'd expect The Cribs to sound playing with Johnny Marr," Ross muses.
"There's definitely a big difference with the old stuff, but fundamentally it's still us guys. The songs are better and I think people will really like it."
The Cribs have also recently released a limited-edition DVD, with footage from and a documentary of their charity gigs at Leeds' very own Brudenell Social Club last Christmas.
"We did them for Cystic Fibrosis charities, which is a cause close to us," Ross explains.
"So we got Franz Ferdinand, Kaiser Chiefs and Kate Nash down to play with us. We did three nights and played every song we'd ever written, even old demos. One of our friends filmed it.
"We used to play at the Brudenell in the early days, and we like the people who run it."
Despite a momentous year, Ross is in no doubt of The Cribs' greatest moment of 2008.
"Headlining (the NME/Radio 1 Stage] at Leeds was probably one of my proudest moments.
"When we were younger we used to go to Leeds Festival. I was a lot more nervous than at any other gig we've done. But we had one of the best gigs we've ever done."
www.myspace.com/thecribs
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Leeds
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -9 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South
