With San Diego’s finest, Crocodiles releasing their fourth studio album ‘Crimes of Passion’ next month we dived into the mind of front man Brandon Welchez to find out just how they went about things this time around. The new album drops on the 19th August and if you missed our review on this beaut you can catch up here. Now come with us on a journey through time and space…
Congratulations on getting the new album out, we’re loving it, you must be itching to get out on the road and play it live?
Yes, definitely. We’ve only played about 10 gigs this year so we’re pretty eager to get back out there. Glad you guys dig the record.
We’ve noticed there’s a theme running behind the title of the new album and the songs, in that Marquis De Sade and Jean Genet’s passions were considered crimes…was this intentional?
Nothing was intentional initially but as the songs started coming together we began to notice a theme. Not sure how Charles works exactly with words, but when I’m putting a song together I just kind of sing any old random words that come out along to the melody as it’s coming together. Later on down the line I try to figure out what my subconscious was trying to tell me and I work the lyrics into proper shape. A lot of these songs sort of deal with the sadism and masochism of love and some of what we were reading reinforced these themes.
It’s interesting that the lyrics reference these obscure historical people and films, how did this come about?
To be fair, I’m not sure how obscure De Sade and Genet are. But yeah, we don’t have enough friends haha, so we spend a fair amount of time with our noses buried in books. Reading is essential to alleviate the boredom on long tour drives and with all the down time at the gigs and of course a lot of this material ends up being quite inspiring.
Ever since the first Crocodiles debut album, the artwork has always been very striking… is there a story behind the current image?
We wanted something that was elegant but also had an air of mystery to it. And we had never put ourselves on our own covers before, aside from our first single. Nothing is more elegant and mysterious than Charles and I in wigs, skirts and lipstick so we went with that. Dee Dee and Hollie Cook executed the cover shoot and art directed it.
There’s a wide variety of styles behind the album, is this something that comes through naturally in the creative process?
Yes, it’s very natural. We are inspired by a wide variety of music and art and it inadvertently comes out in the music when we’re putting the songs together.
What can fans expect to see during the live shows will you keep things out of the ordinary?
I mean, we’re not going to have pyrotechnics or ballet dancers with us or anything but I think people can trust now that we give all of our shows everything we have. We’ll be playing tons of the new music obviously but we’re also going to pull out some old ones that we haven’t played in four plus years.
How would you compare Crimes Of Passion to your previous albums, has the sound changed much?
It’s our best work.
And there you have it…make sure you pick up ‘Crimes of Passion’ on the 19th Aug.
FULL UK/ EU DATES
23-Aug UK Chester The Compass
24-Aug UK Newcastle The Cluny 2
25-Aug UK Glasgow Broadcast
26-Aug UK Edinburgh Sneaky Petes
27-Aug UK Norwich Norwich Art Centre
28-Aug UK Leeds Brudenell Social Club
29-Aug UK Manchester The Ruby Lounge
30-Aug UK London Seabright Arms
31-Aug UK Bristol Start the Bus
01-Sep UK Larmer Tree End of the Road
03-Sep UK Brighton Sticky Mike’s
04-Sep FR Paris Le Nouveau Casino
07-Sep CH La Tour-de-Peilz NOX ORAE
08-Sep ES San Sebastian kutxa kultur festibala @ igeldo amusement park
11-Sep IT Milan Indie Summer Party @ Magnolia
12-Sep IT Turin Blah Blah
13-Sep IT Rome Black Out Rock ClubVia Casilina
14-Sep IT Padova Looop
15-Sep IT Marina di Ravenna Hana Bi
17-Sep AT Vienna Arena / Dreiraum
18-Sep AT Linz Posthof
20-Sep D Berlin Privatclub
21-Sep D Hamburg Indra
23-Sep DK Aarhus Radar
24-Sep DK Copenhagen Stengade 30
25-Sep NO Oslo Café Mono
26-Sep SE Stockholm Debaser Slussen
27-Sep FIN Helsinki Club Hori Smoku” @ Kuudes Linja
28-Sep SE Malmo Debaser
30-Sep NL Tilburg 13
01-Oct BE Brussels Rotonde Botanique