The Crimea were formed from the remnants of V2 signings The Crocketts. Having released their debut Tragedy Rocks they became the first established band to release a 'free album’, Secrets of the Witching Hour, in early 2007, a landmark industry event which led them to appear in Q magazine’s 'Top Five Moments That Changed Music History', receiving global news attention from the Hindu Times to the Wall Street Journal and everything in between. Music News met frontman Davey MacManus and keyboardist Andrew Stafford to find out what we can expect in the future from the Camden based band.
Davey how did you break your tooth? Davey: I broke it when I was skateboarding as a kid, had it capped and then broke it again about four years ago, Warner Bros made me get a new tooth. Have you seen the film Dig? The guy in that is the guy that signed us in America Perry Watts-Russell, a rather annoying posh bloke, we were signed to them for four and a half years. As soon as that ended I knocked it out again.
It reminds me a little of Justin Sullivan from New Model Army. Davey: We toured with them around 10 years ago as The Crocketts in Germany and Eastern Europe, they are still massive over there, always on the radio.
We saw your gig at Birmingham’s short lived Sound Station festival last year when you came out into the middle of the crowd with your microphone, what do you remember of that? Davey: Sunny day wasn’t it? New festivals start up every day and then they go away, yeah, good memory. Sometimes if a crowd fails to intervene then you just go and kind of wake them up.
Now you’re no longer with a label how have things changed?Davey: I can’t see that there’s much difference really. Now you can directly intervene, where before you had to go through a succession of people.
Musically we can do our own thing much more and be portrayed as we want to be portrayed. We can be in charge.
Andy: We are our own bosses now which was the same as our last record which was our most successful to date the free album. We’ve now got these new songs which Davey has written and will be the start of the third album. When we were signed to a label based in LA we had this time difference thing and things got lost in translation too.
How would you express what the new album is? Davey: Thinking mans music, real music like in the 70s, the songs tell a story, there is no fashion involved or hierarchy. We didn’t get caught up in the new metal scene, the 80s thing, the rave scene. We managed to dodge those trends.
What do you class yourselves as? Davey: Classless, a circle in a world of squares.
Andy: I was looking through the NME recently after a long while and they had 50 future trends, well you’re not going to go wrong if you are predicting 50 are you?
In the current scene who would you listen too. Davey: Davey I’m not a massive listener of music.
Andy: I went to see Nick Cave and he was brilliant haven’t got the album yet but will get it. Vampire Weekend are really good too.
What is the new single 'the 48a waiting steps' all about? Davey: It’s about sitting on a bus really falling asleep and walking up at the end of the line. It’s about Isolation, like what being in a band is all about, a circle in the world of squares. It’s about walking down the street and thinking who the fuck are all these people and why the fuck are they so happy, what’s their problem? Why haven’t they got a wider consciousness instead of worrying about going down to supersavers and getting some toilet paper.
In the Euros who would you go for? Andy: Croatia probably?
How has this album deviated from the last? Davey: It’s become more open, it could appeal to your average Jo, it’s more approachable, as a pose to the first, just appealing to weirdos. We have thought about it more and more each time. Instead of just writing a song we have sat there for weeks and weeks and weeks without talking to anyone, answering the phone, switching on the computer, watching the TV or reading the newspaper, in the end something has to happen.
Andy: I was reading a book about Bill Hicks and he would take himself off to the desert every six months and take a load of acid and that’s where he’d get his inspiration for the next six months. It’s that kind of process, taking yourself and your mind and your body to a stupid place.
Beatles or the Stones? Andy: Beatles probably?
Davey: Definitely the Beatles by miles, although Paul McCartney upset me at that royal concert recently. Hey Jude went on for about 25 minutes by the end of it I couldn’t stand him anymore. He’s had so much surgery that it looks like someone has taken his chin and fucking tied it behind his ear.
What would you like to add to the Music News readership? Davey: Just stop for a minute and think.
Download 'Secrets of the Witching Hour’ at their website
www.thecrimea.net now!
Owen Hopkin - Drums
Davey MacManus - Vocals and Guitar
Andrew Norton - Lead Guitar
Andrew Stafford - Keyboards
Joseph Udwin - Bass and Backing Vocals
