Cellar Door Moon Crow’s genre spanning debut album ‘You Got This’ is the most exciting music to come out of Sheffield in years. Jason Barnard speaks to the duo to hear about their background, present and future.
Can you tell me the inspiration behind your new single ‘Tightrope’?
Its about not taking the easy route, getting from A to B, a journey and taking the challenges on the journey head on, walking the tightrope. Some things in life are hard to do but we can’t go around them, we have to go through them. Take that tightrope.
How do you write generally – do you start with a musical phrase or lyric?
No rules here, we own a professional recording studio (Fat Elephant) in Sheffield and quite often this is the location for the creative process be it building on a ‘live jam’, creating an electronic ‘beat n vibe’, a key lyric or shared story / theme. Either of us may bring the initial idea to the table then collectively both will add flesh to the skeleton and complete the production. Having the luxury of a studio allows the development process to evolve in many ways. Sometimes we write from scratch in the studio and work out the live version after. We believe in making the best song / record possible in the recording session (if this means layering extra vocals, guitars, simultaneous organ and piano parts that aren’t achievable in a live environment then so be it. That being said we do push ourselves to the limit live, we have an Organ and Piano set up within the drum kit space so both can be played simultaneously, we also utilize a custom guitar rig where Bass and Guitar are played simultaneously into a selection of different amps.
What other tracks from your forthcoming album ‘You Got This’ would you recommend and why?
All 15 brother – We see the album “You Got This” as one long track really, it kinda plays out that way. We produced it so lots of the tracks wind down and reignite back into each other. I think sit back with a nice glass of whatever’s your poison and enjoy an uninterrupted half hour or so of CDMC.
You draw from a range of influences and cannot be solely pigeon holed in rock. How would you describe your sound?
We do our thing ya know, we keep evolving. We think it’s important to keep moving forward, stay fresh. We like to push the boundaries. 2 G’s busting it up! Urban Rock you say? We’ll take that for now.
How long have you been making music?
Since the 80’s, we used to travel around with our mum n dad singing for our supper and staying in a caravan. Music has always been very much a big part of our life.
Does being brothers make it easier to play and tour together?
For us totally, we love everything about CDMC, we’re very much on the same page as each other when it comes to work ethic and our approach to the practicalities of getting the job done so to speak. Work hard, play hard.
You’re from Sheffield – what’s the music scene like there at the moment and do you look up to any the Sheffield acts who’ve been previously successful?
Sheffield has an amazing community of musicians and artists that we appreciate and admire. The hub of the family goes by the name Honey Bee Blues Club and the 3 musketeers go by the names of Martin Bedford, Mal Whichelow and Trent Duval. These legends curate the most amazing events in often unique unknown spaces with the friendliest and most loving cliental. We’re blessed to be part of it.
What artists, past and present do you admire?
Jack White – He’s a great example of an artist with vision that’s evolved, grown and accomplished. To combine his creativity in so many different bands and genres and take on the industry with his business model of Third Man and succeed the way he has. It’s truly inspiring.
Do you have any favourite guitarists or drummers?
- Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young, Nuno Bettencourt,
- John Bonham, Patrick Keeler, Bobby Arechiga
What have been the most memorable gigs you’ve played?
In recent times we had a really special night at the Black Heart Camden earlier this year. It was our first headline London show and it sold out. We had fans, friends and family from all over travel to make the show and it was just a really special night. X
Can you tell me about your forthcoming tour with Airbourne?
“Born and raised on AC/DC with a bedroom full of Natalie Imbruglia posters we love Australia. Our uncle Don lives in Perth and he says it’s great. With that in mind we were in London back in 2008 reminiscing of an NME tour where Nic JET had made a mess of some penne pasta across from the Leadmill. It had been a messy session in the Barfly, so we decided to chip over to Oxford street to the 100Club. Refused entry because of Tommy’s porkpie hat we went across to the Astoria. A friend of ours knew Dan Hawkins and he was down that night for a guest appearance with the mighty Airbourne. It was the last time we would ever go to the Astoria. We were half cut and they lifted the roof off. Halfway through “Whole lotta Rosie” I was crowd surfing and I launched my beer at Joel. He caught it, downed it and launched it back. I knew at that exact moment one day we would share a stage. We are beyond excited to complete this Autumn line up, Tyler Bryant is the man. Riff Rap with Riff Raff.”
What are your post-tour plans and for 2020?
Back out on the road in March 2020 and hit the summer festival season hard. We’ve just confirmed Download festival. New music on the way too, we’re currently relocating and building a purpose-built recording studio to be the new base of Fat Elephant Productions. This should see some more CDMC sessions soon.
Check out cellardoormooncrow.co.uk for more information.
BRILLIANT ARTICLE.