| The Crocketts were always likely
to implode at some point – far too much in the way of kinetic energy and an excess
of pent up adolescent frustrations. Made for an often fascinating spectacle whilst
they careered through 2 albums and a mini, mind. There were loud guitars, raggedly
wrung songs, plenty of swearing and occasional damage to venues the length and
breadth of the country in the late 90s. There was always a tender heart buried
in lead protagonist, the passive/aggressive oddball Davey McManus, though.
And he dragged himself out of the car crash and started massaging that heart.
The results of which, after years of honing and touring with new band The Crimea,
turned into their fairly wonderful debut album ‘Tragedy Rocks’. He’s still go
that glint in his eye though, sparks always threatening to ignite, so it’s not
an entirely easy ride. If you want to see his happy side, he tells us on his new
album’s standout track, just tell him that his girl just died. See? We sent him
some questions to see where his head was at… Where are you now? What
can you see?
We are driving to Liverpool. I’m sitting in the back. I
can see swathes of black cloud and the dour English countryside, going under a
bridge with a stupid pro hunting banner. It’s raining. No surprise there.
What was the last thing you ate?
Eating is for those who cannot control
their urges, I live on Ecstasy and Westlife CDs.
What was the last
album you bought?
I am not known for my buying of albums. I think it
would be Buffalo Springfield ‘Again’ which I bought for my brother’s birthday,
it’s an all time classic. It is kind of other worldly, Neil Young is really young
and the last track ‘Broken Arrow’ is a kind of his version of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.
I thought it was amazing, my brother didn’t like it.
What was the
last movie you saw?
Well I saw ‘March Of The Penguins” on the plane the
other day. It was pap. Morgan Freeman did the voicover, and he’s got nothing on
David Attenborough. They tried to make penguins Hollywood. I didn’t think they
were great actors, they were suffering all this hardship but never really showed
it on their faces.
What are you most looking forward to?
Eternal sleep, with no dreams, and no couriers waking you up in the morning, and
no phone and no conscience, and no poxy body and no one asking for a cigarette.
What do you hate right now?
I am sort of bored of hating
things because I understand the reason I hate something. For example, I hate another
band, Reason – I’m jealous. I guess I hate people who cross me, but I have long
given up exacting revenge. I hate myself most, because I am constantly reminded
what a wanker I am every time I open my mouth.
What was the last thing
you saw that you liked on TV?
I watched a documentary about the siege
of Stalingrad, where men ate rats and eventually fellow humans, where soldiers
waited like vultures beside dying comrades, in order to eat to eat the cadaver
fresh before it froze.
Where or how do you feel most comfortable?
Alone, stoned, writing the new ‘Relationship Of Command’ .
What
would you class as your most defining moment?
Probably deciding not to
give up music. It was a massive decision to try again, which was mulled over for
a long time, but since then we have given everything and it is slowly starting
to pay off. But I’d like to think we haven’t had our most defining moment yet.
And it is yet to come. Let’s hope before we start losing our hair, hopefully they
will have another Live Aid and we can play at that.
What are your
plans for tonight?
Well we are playing in Liverpool. So I am going to
be guarding our hubcaps all night, No only messing I like Liverpool. We haven’t
played here for yonks so don’t know what to expect. I plan to go for a skate when
we get there, then smoke myself into a stupor, do some tai chi and go onstage.
I’m not drinking as I have a kidney infection so I’ll probably read the bible
for a while and then sleepage. On tour at the moment:
2 November
Cambridge The Portland
3 November Manchester Roadhouse
4 November Newcastle
Academy II
5 November Birmingham Barfly
8 November Liverpool Barfly
9 November Stoke Sugarmill
10 November Carlisle Brickyard
11 November
Glasgow Barfly
12 November Edinburgh Cabaret Voltaire
13 November Cardiff
Clwb Ifor Bach
14 November Leicester Princess Charlotte
15 November London
Barfly
18 November York Fibbers
23 November Bristol Louisiana
25 November
Tunbridge Wells Forum
26 November Coventry Colosseum
30 November Chelmsford
Bitterscene at The Basement
12 November Winchester The Railway
http://www.thecrimea.net
Alan Sargeant for Crud Magazine 2005©
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