Crazy Arm talks to PRSD about Born To Ruin album

By PRSD, on Sunday, May 24, 2009

The PRSD caught up with Plymouth-based alt-rockers Crazy Arm ahead of the release of their debut elpee Born To Ruin and the Broken by the Wheel single. Here’s what frontman Darren Johns had to say for himself.

Describe the band in under 140 characters so we can Tweet about you.

Hard-twang, punk rock country boys doing their level best to marry the earthy lilt of Murder By Death with the hardcore blast of Hüsker Dü.

You’ve got an extensive summer tour, with only a few spare nights and have had five UK tours, how important is touring and live performances?

All important. Playing live is the first point of communication. It’s the only time a band is vulnerable, which is why so many bands don’t last the duration. Everything else – albums, singles, videos – is past tense by the time anyone hears or sees it, and is easy to perfect.

How do you keep that energy when you’re recording?

Focus. Studios are pretty static places so you need to draw inspiration from a different well. Thankfully, we’re all pretty used to it now, and the studio where we recorded the album (Peter Miles’ Holne Bridge Studio, Ashburton, on the edge of the moors) is an amazing place. Huge vegan curries, night-time Seinfeld sessions and leaps into the nearby river also helped keep spirits up.

You mention Ennio Morricone and Kurt Vonnegut in your influences – does that show through anywhere in your music?

We love the eerie drama and cinematic imagery of Morricone but we’ve only utilised it to a very small degree. The Vonnegut thing is more a personal influence as he’s probably my fave writer/satirist. I think that anything you hold close to you rubs off somewhere along the line.

Your debut album ‘Born To Ruin’ is out on June 8 – what can we expect?

To be pleasantly surprised, hopefully. Loud stuff, quiet stuff, acoustic stuff, melodic stuff, rock stuff, punk stuff, country stuff, folk-rock stuff, socio-political stuff. Lots of stuff.

How did you come to the decision to release the limited vinyl edition of Broken By The Wheel?

We were forced into it by our tyrannical publisher. He knew the label (Seven Inch Records) and kept on at us to get our shit together and do a single with them. So we went along with it and it’s been really great. Our album deal with Xtra Mile came along a few weeks later so they ended up doing the digital side of the single release.

What’s coming up after June?

July. Comedy was my Plan B. We’re hoping to do a mainland European tour in August but I haven’t heard anything about that for a couple weeks. It looks like we’re playing a few festivals in summer and we intend to release Still To Keep as a single in September, which means recording a couple new songs for B-sides, maybe turn it into a four-song EP? After that, more UK tours, try and get some good support slots, start planning the next album… We’ve got enough new songs for it.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Please don’t give the BNP any room to campaign in the European elections. They’re neo-Nazis and they need to be stamped out .

Please support Dave Mahoney – a friend of ours who’s facing imprisonment and a huge fine (on ludicrously trumped-up charges) for his part in an anti-Republican demonstration in the USA.

Please go vegan and keep an eye on the police. Many thanks.

Posted by Cptn

Interview questions answered by Darren Johns (vocals/guitars/words). Other band members are: Jon Dailey (bass); Simon Marsh (drums); Daniel Couling (guitar/vocals/keys).

• Watch the Broken by the Wheel on D+CFilm, where it’s the Something For the Weekend Music Video, with an interview with filmmaker Chris Southern of GET Crucial Productions