@TheCrowleysBand are four good boys that enjoy looking for an Old Milwaukee Ice sponsorship, playing D&D in the van between gigs, and writing love songs. @MusicNews360 caught up with The Crowleys from their dungeon-like lair in Hamilton, Ontario. We mused about pugs, cabin fever, fusilli, and the color pink. Below are excerpts from our conversation.

 

Music News 360° Interview – The Crowleys

The Crowleys – “L.A. Sunset”

 

MN360° – What is your astrological sign?

The sign of the Zodiac killer. Nah, just kidding Gemini…such a Gemini thing to say.

 

MN360° – What is your spirit animal? How does it manifest in daily life?

The pug, girls think we’re so ugly we’re cute, and we have difficulty breathing.

 

“Girls think we’re so ugly we’re cute, and we have difficulty breathing.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

MN360° – If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

The power to butter toast with our minds.

 

MN360° – How does Canada produce such great music?

Must be something in the water. Or the fact that we are trapped indoors for 5 months of the year.

“We are trapped indoors for 5 months of the year.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

 

 

MN360° – Have you noticed more Americans moving to Canada, as of late?

We don’t notice Americans, but we hear that most of them get to Minnesota and think they’ve made it, so that could be why.

 

MN360° – What first sparked your interest in music?

Pink Floyd in the womb.

 

MN360° – What was your first instrument? Did someone gift it to you?

Probably a pink super-shredder recorder, Satan’s gift to parents everywhere.

 

MN360° – Who is your least obvious musical influence?

Bob Ross. We try to emulate the smoothness of his voice with all our work. Also P!nk.

 

MN360° – What is your process for writing/recording new music?

All different ways and shapes and sizes and colours. Sometimes someone will just start playing a random progression or riff and we will all just put a part to it and see where it goes. Sometimes someone will bring something a little more structured. Sometimes we write while recording.

 

MN360° – What is your ‘truth’?

T-tell no lies

R-remain honest

U-under no circumstance should you lie

T-tell the truth

H-honesty

 

MN360° – Whose basement did you practice in? Did it have concrete walls, or was it a finished basement?

We’ve hopped around from basement to basement (literally). From dungeon to decorated.

 

 

MN360° – How did the basement smell?

Like creative genius and freedom, aka stale beer.

 

MN360° – To the extent it does/does not matter, what do your parents think of your music?

It does not matter. Just kidding ma/pa, love you.

 

MN360° – Favorite psychedelic bands from the 60s/70s?

The Monkees, Willie Nelson. Are The Wiggles from the 60’s? They certainly have a vibe.

 

MN360° – Tell us the background behind LA Sunset? From what vantage point are we watching the sunset?

 

Stu, drummer, brought the song to the band and it evolved into something totally different with everyone else adding things in. A beautiful mosaic, just like Canadian culture, eh. The sunset is being watched from the Moon. Is that possible? During an eclipse?

 

MN360° – Do you believe in magic? Can you give an example?
No, but this one time I didn’t want to get up from the couch so I tried to jedi telekinesis the remote from the table but just ended up peeing a little.

 

“This one time I didn’t want to get up from the couch so I tried to jedi telekinesis the remote from the table but just ended up peeing a little.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

MN360° – What percentage of your songs would you say are autobiographical?

All of them, but also none. 60%

 

MN360° – For each primary color, can you tell us what kind of amplifier and effects rig the color would be, I️.e. tone?

Red – Whatever rig slayer uses

Blue – BB kings guitar with a ring modulator

Pink – Our tone!

 

MN360° – Any dreams/visions/insights experienced while in the studio?

The dream of being able to do it all the time, it feels like a second home.

 

MN360° – Did your sensei require you to perform special tasks while in the studio? Any stories?

Michael Keire had us on a strict schedule of 4am starts, raw egg shakes for breakfast, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats, and a 10km run. Everyday. We all went bald.

 

“Michael Keire had us on a strict schedule of 4am starts, raw egg shakes for breakfast, 100 pushups, 100 situps, 100 squats, and a 10km run. Everyday. We all went bald.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

But really, Mike’s great. He brings the best out of any type of musician. You should go and make your own stories.

 

MN360° – Is a pink rainbow only pink? What happens to the other colors?

Aren’t all colours just different hues of pink, man?

 

MN360° – Do you see a connection between performance and religious experience?

Stuart’s a God on the drums so…that.

MN360° – How did you meet your band mates? How did you ask them to join your band?

We all met in high school, and Justyn met Kaulin when he was born cause they are brothers. We stole Stuart from another band, we didn’t ask, he just came over once and never left. We bonded over our love of fusilli.

“We bonded over our love of fusilli.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

MN360° – What were your most/least favorite classes in high school?
Favourite:
Stuart: Math because he’s a nerd
Everyone else: Lunch because they’re meat-heads

Least Favourite:
Stuart: Lunch because the meat-heads would steal his lunch money because he is a nerd.
Everyone else: Math because they are meat-heads

 

MN360° – What is the strangest thing you’ve experienced on tour?
A guitarist got naked during his band’s set and only had a guitar to cover his bits. Then the lead vocalist got naked…he didn’t have a guitar. Pinky winky.

“A guitarist got naked during his band’s set and only had a guitar to cover his bits. Then the lead vocalist got naked…he didn’t have a guitar.” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

MN360° – What do you do to occupy yourself between shows while on tour?
We play DnD in the van!

 

“We play DnD in the van!” – @TheCrowleysBand

 

MN360° – How about strangest place you’ve crashed while on tour?
We’ve never crashed, we’re all pretty good drivers.

 

MN360° – What will music sound like in 100 years?

Birds and crickets cause we’ll all be dead, or whatever our robot overlords are into.

MN360° – If you had to describe your music as a color, what color would it be?
See, I know you’re looking for a theme throughout this interview so you probably want me to say pink. But I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna give you the satisfaction.

 

MN360° – If you could have a billboard with anything on it, what would it say?
Nothing. This world is too full of crappy ads as it is. Give the peoples minds a break!