The Crosbi Show

“Don’t you feel there’s like been a lot of records made in the last few years that are almost made to suit a market? A band gets really successful, and then you get about five bands a year later that sound the same. My ambition was never to get on the front of a magazine or play Top Of The Tops. I couldn’t give a **** about that” Such is the rate at which Andy Jones talks, the conviction that he puts into every declaration of self-belief, that we were genuinely tempted to write this interview as one long quote from the curly-haired spiritually-Liverpudlian frontman of Wrexham’s exciting (two words not normally used together) new five-piece, self-proclaimed “last indie band”, Crosbi.

In two hours they play in Islington at a show featuring highlights of Manchester’s recent ‘In The City’ showcase, but right now we’re sitting in The Rakes’ pub chain of choice, sipping on Coke and discussing part-time jobs. “I teach guitar, I’m a self-employed guitar teacher” Andy says. “We’re like a real indie band, signed to a proper indie!” laughs the other member of Crosbi in attendance, tattooed drummer Ben Jones, aware that in these days of instant rock celebrity, holding down day jobs is increasingly rare.

Said indie label, Split Records, have to date released their debut ‘Sonny’ (that’s since been re-recorded for the album) and latest single ‘Coastline’. A swelling track about “realising what it is you wanna do and doing it”, the subject matter is lent further poignancy given the members of Crosbi and their juggling of professions. Andy nods in agreement. “We’re constantly hanging on the financial cliff-edge, you know what I mean? It’s good though, because our feet are well on the ground”

Songwriting since the age of eleven, Nirvana were the band that changed everything for the young Andy Jones: “They made me want to go down the park with my mates, get pissed on cider and dance on me neighbour’s car. I was like, “I want to do something!” The eventual formation of Crosbi “just seemed like a really natural set-up. We all had this hunger and drive to play music for a living”

His brother Steve takes lead guitar duties, while Ben completes the two sets of siblings, his younger brother Simon holding forth on keyboards and, er, a rack of congas (long-time friend Jamie Owens completes the line-up). So what’s the dynamic with having your brothers in the band? “It’s quite healthy because we get straight to the point (with each other), whereas a lot of bands split up because tension builds and ego and stuff…There’s no room for egos. If I’m out of line I get a slap, if my brother’s out of line he gets a slap!” replies Andy.

Everything in Crosbi’s close-knit world at the moment is leading up to the release of their debut album, expected sometime in February. “We all feel really proud of it” enthuses Andy when questioned on the recently completed record. “It sounds exactly how we want it to be. I think a lot of people will respond to it.”
 “It just sounds like we do live, because all we’re doing at the moment is gigging” says Ben. Andy: “If you make a record that affects a thousand people, and those thousand people hold that record close to their hearts and they love it then that’s something worthwhile”

Off the beaten track, it’s time for a (future) trivia fact: Crosbi recently played the wedding of early 90s pop-royalty Clint Boon. Ben explains, grinning child-like at the memory: “Mani was there, Peter Hook, guys out of The Smiths, Tony Wilson, Terry Christian…and we were the only band that played!” “Clint is really behind the band, and he’s been playing us on radio a lot” adds Andy.

It was Clint that passed on a demo tape to Shaun Ryder that led to Crosbi supporting the Happy Mondays at last year’s ‘Get Loaded In The Park’ gig. But the cream of Manchester’s icons aren’t the only ones to have been seduced by the charms of Crosbi. No less than Steve Lamacq has declared them his “new favourite band” and promptly booked them in for a session on his 6Music radio show. Occupying a niche that sees their sound pitched firmly between quietly epic, itchy post-punk (say Echo And The Bunnymen at their most rousing) and, live at least, the dynamism of The Rapture, it’s clear that Crosbi’s list of admirers can only continue to grow.

Last word goes, appropriately, to Andy: “It’s hard to predict how it’s going to go for us. It’s great though. None of us are greedy, we’re all happy that we’ve made a record, and we’re proud of the record. We got to do what a lot of people love to do”
Crosbi: firmly off the bandwagon, and not a handbook in sight.