Interview by Ed Stuart
Who’s answering the
questions?
Ray
Nelsen
Where is the band from?
Eastside
of Portland, Oregon
Who is in the band and what
instrument do they play?
I
play guitar and sing, and Brian Crace plays Lead Guitar and sings, Dave Berkham
plays Bass and sings, Evan “Maus” Mersky holds down the drums.
How did the band start?
Brian
Crace and I were hanging out in the garage at my folk’s house. We were writing
pop tunes with big background vocals.
I think that I wrote most of the songs on our first LP in that garage. We started recording the tracks at Fetish Pop Studios in late 2010.
Originally, Johnny Martinez was going to play drums (and did for the first half
of the record) but that didn’t work out. So we prowled the streets for kids to
play with! We started checking out
local bands looking for mates. First we recruited Dave from The Midnight
Callers (lead singer/guitarist) to play bass. Quickly the word got out around
town that we were looking for a solid drummer. Maus was drumming for a punk
band called “Ripper” when he asked to meet us. I was looking for kids who had
the chops but also had the style and swagger that all great rock n roll bands
need (as a bonus, Maus was starting a new analog/digital recording business
called “Red Lantern Studios”). From
the start there has been magic when the four of us play together.
What is the story behind the “Never Suck” motto?
It’s just something we live by! It’s simple really; most bands
that play these days suck. Yeah they are having fun (most of the time) but they
don’t put enough time into their craft.
We didn’t and don’t want that; we make sure to do things to prevent us
from sucking which sometimes means all night practices and a longer time in the
studio.
What bands did you have in
mind when starting this band?
There
was a lot of 60’s records spinning and lot of just classic pop! We really
didn’t have bands in mind when we started. We knew we wanted the sound to be
fast and fun. We know we wanted to be great musicians. We knew we wanted to put
on great shows. We knew we had to work our asses off to do any of it. We do
love The Nice Boys, The Exploding Hearts,
The Ramones, the Booze, etc… but, our music does also reflect all the pop
oldies our parents made us listen too in the family mini-van.
Maximum Rock
N’Roll stated that “The Cry have both crucial aspects of
power pop: Style and substance” and “[t]heir songs have all the hooks . . .
impressive instrumental flourishes [that] solidifies The CRY somewhere in the grand lineage . . . of quality power pop
music.” Faster and Louder described
the LP as “this long player could pass for a greatest hits collection!” A
review like that is very impressive after the release of a debut LP. How does
this make the band feel? Does this put any pressure on the band moving forward?
Was the marriage of style and substance a predetermined choice for the band?
Nothing
we do is predetermined. The “style and substance” just seem to be there. We
look the way we have always looked. As for “pressure” for the next album: yeah,
a lot cool shit was said about our first record. I guess there may be a bit of
pressure to have our next LP better the first one but that is self-imposed
pressure. At this point we know the material slated for the next record is fun
and fasts. We know we are better musicians today than two years ago. We know we
have better recording facilities and we know that what we have so far kicks
serious asshole. We just want to be done with it and hit the road!
Do you think music can still
be a vital force in such a disposable age?
Seriously?
Man’s natural inclination towards rhythm, story-telling, and melody has never
changed. Popularity of specific “genres” will always be in flux but “music” (in
some form) will always be a painfully accurate mirror on society (read: Justin
Bieber).
50 years ago people used to
buy music and get their water for free, now people pay for water and get their
music for free. How do you think this affects music in any way?
I
don’t know. We still see lots of kids picking up guitars. The Internet and
digital technology have hurt the music industry (economically) but also have
provided much broader access to music and potential fans for bands like The CRY!. Shit, we just play songs. The
other stuff is above our pay grade…
According to the band’s
website, the band is currently recording the second album. Can you tell us how
that is going? Any idea when the release date will be? Any labels offer to put
it out especially after the universal praise the band received from the first
album?
Its
going great the songs are great and the tones and sounds were getting are
killer.
The
songs I have been writing for the second record are a little different (as they
should be). They have more balls then the tracks on first record and fans will
see more of a 70’s influence (as opposed to the 60’s feel of the first LP). We
were trying for a spring release but realistically it looks more like Fall
2013. We will begin reaching out to labels once we have some good mixes of the
new stuff.
Where can people hear the
band?
We
post all our shows and links at “thecrypdx.com”. Folks can go from there to our
Facebook, Reverbnation, MySpace, etc..
What’s next for The CRY?
Same
plan as always: Tonight We Take Over The WORLD!
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