“Icicletrycicle,” the closing track on Cr&m’s EP Parasol, wraps up the project with a unique blend of warmth and texture where earthy, organic sounds meet gritty saturated synths. Read our discussion below!
Describe your sound in 3 words
Xennial Elevator Music
Can you describe the evolution of your sound from your early mainstream days to the eclectic, dreamy and warmly saturated soundscapes?
When we first met up in school our attempts at music were mostly informed by surreptitiously ripping off Radiohead without getting caught and as a result we sounded a lot like the majority of Landfill Indie bands that were formed around the turn of the century (God that sounds weird to type out). After the band split up everything about the music industry and music consumption changed drastically. We used to buy albums and then give each other cassette recordings, but we found our musical horizons expanding exponentially during the golden age of MP3 Downloading. As a result I think our musical tastes developed independently and in all different directions. When we reconnected after being apart for the better part of 2 decades and started sending each other demos I think we were all surprised by the ways in which our tastes and influences has changed over the years. It made everything seem fresh and new.
Can you walk us through your typical songwriting process, starting with a rusty old piano or acoustic guitar and incorporating classic synths, foley, and cut-up vocals?
We all start on tracks by ourselves, putting an idea together which we then share with the others through Dropbox. We usually refer to these as skits. The rest of the group then will pick and choose whichever skit they want to work on depending on if an idea occurs to them. Individual stems for each track are then uploaded to Dropbox and eventually when we feel like a track has reached its logical endpoint, we mix it down. We tend to only give each other minimal guidance on what sort of sound or vibe we’re after, and a lot of our tracks have been put together with barely any steering, we just know what feels right for a track. A lot of our music is informed by us playing around with sounds, chopping them up, re-pitching and re-sequencing. We essentially treat each other’s recorded parts as samples to loop, cut and chop. Amusingly I wouldn’t be able to tell you how Marc or Ran get some of the sounds they create, and I’m sure they’d say the same for me.
Can you elaborate on how you blend different musical genres like classical, ambient, Nordic, drone, rock, jazz, and folk into your compositions?
When we started making music again we didn’t really have a sense of what we were doing in terms of genre and we were just smashing together different elements of whatever we were listening to at the time. A lot of the fun in making music together is how often we surprise each other by introducing an element that the others weren’t expecting or weren’t planning. A processed vocal melody here, a percussion part there, a change in tempo or time signature. I think we always primarily try to make music for each other. Anyone else who happens to enjoy it too is an unexpected bonus. We only set one ironclad rule which was that “No Agreement was Needed” in our approach to making music. In the past we were obsessed in ensuring everyone in the band was happy with the music we were making and consequently we ended up with tracks born out of compromise which ultimately left everyone a little dissatisfied or even worse a sort of creative stalemate where tracks became victims of analysis paralysis, unable to be finished or progressed due to disagreements over directions and choices being made. Now we tend to work on whatever we like with not one member necessarily having final sign off on a track or there even being a final official version. We do the work until we feel like moving on to something else.
How did the experience of playing in iconic Camden venues like the Rock Garden, Bull & Gate, and the Garage shape your early music career?
Playing live shows was always a logistical nightmare given the number of people in the band and the equipment we used to have to lug around. I’ll always be grateful for the experience of having played those venues, but if I’m honest I always found the live shows to be anxiety-inducing and exhausting and I think the rest of the band felt the same. I think we’re just a band of introverts at heart, we’d much rather be in a room making music by ourselves than performing to people. This is testified by the fact that even though we reconnected 2 years ago and have been in constant contact on WhatsApp, we have not actually all been in the same room once in that period.
What was the catalyst for reconnecting and creating music together during the lockdown, and how did that process unfold?
Marc reached out to us in the first year of lockdown and set up a WhatsApp group. We had a video call and caught up with each other, although thankfully nobody suggested that we play Among Us. Marc sent us a number of skits he’d been working on in lockdown and bit by bit coaxed myself and Ran into making music again. Marc is essentially our enabler. We at first worked on some of our old tracks but soon started to become more excited by the new material that was coming out of these digital swap-meets. Before we knew it we’d each spent a decent amount of the money we’d saved over lockdown on music software, hardware, instruments, tape machines and loop pedals. I think our musical journey was born out of equal parts displacement activity and sunken costs fallacy.
If the music of Cr&m was a film, which film would that be?
Probably something by Sofia Coppola or the Sadie Brothers. Lost In Uncut Gems. That kind of vibe.
Would you reveal each other’s funny habits?
Can’t speak for Marc or Ran, but I have a funny habit of ending interviews abruptly.
Thank you!
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