Interview with: Gev Barrett (Crow Black Chicken)

-Gev, how did you discover music in general maybe not even drumming, but when you went, “I want to do that for a living” ?

The funny thing about music is I don't think you ever decide you want to do that for a living because to be quite honest, there is not much of a living to be made in it for the vast majority of people. I guess I discovered music when I was very young listening to my brother and sisters playing anything from Nirvana to the Smiths to Kate Bush but its wasn't until I was a teenager I got myself a drum kit and teamed up to form a punk rock band with Stephen McGarth on the bass guitar and myself on Drums and vocals. When you're that age you never think about making money, its all about getting the band together, practicing in the garage and doing some gig and just having fun. It wasn't until 2011 when we won the Battle of the bands competition and went to play the BBC introducing stage in Glastonbury that I think we all thought we could be onto something good here. Because after Glastonbury and into 2012 things really started to take off for CBC and I finished up working in IT, Christy gave up driving the cab and Stephen finished up in college and we were on course to doing this full time. So i guess you just kind of fall into it as opposed to sitting down one day and deciding to do it. Its something you love doing and if you didn't love it so much we'd probably be all off working office jobs and making a nice living for ourselves.

-What made you decide to play drums (if a particular artist, which one)?

I don't really think there was one defining drummer or artist that made me want to play the drums. I 've always loved the drums and I knew I wanted to play music and I thought which one will annoy the neighbors the most. Ok ,maybe not but I was fortunate enough that when I inquired in the local music shop about drum lessons there was somebody local doing drums lessons. Well he wasn't really that local,he was a drummer from Chicago called Chris Fabie. Chris and his wife Derbhile ( a native Clonmellion ) had their own music school in Clonmel. These guys opened up a whole new world of music to myself and Stephen when we went there for lessons and the rest as they say is history. We were lucky in a way that we had people who could inspire out young naive minds into thinking we could have a go at this musicians life.

-Who were your influences while growing up?

I have many influences while growing, my father was an art teacher and many of my brothers and sisters were involved in art so we had a very artistic upbringing. If it wasn't for my poor mother the whole place would have fallen apart. As Christy says "Your mother is a saint". Musically myself and Stephen were very influenced by Chris and Derbhile who introduced us young punk rockers to the like of Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane among others. This totally widen our musical tastes and meant we gave the Metallica records a break for a while. ( not to be dissing Metallica, I spent many a night rocking out to Lars and the boys ).

-Seems today we have a lot of clones and empty virtuosity... Is the industry too full of hype?

The music industry is exactly as it is described, and industry. Like every industry the idea is to churn out as much product as possible and if you can ,mass produce and market that product at the cheapest price. The funny thing is its one of the only industries I can think of where nobody except artists with labels behind them make any real money. Making a living playing original music is hard and there is not much help in this country from anyone unless you play whatever is fashionable at the time and wear very skinny pants. Which we will not be doing anytime soon so as far as the industry is concerned ,they can hype whatever great new act they have and ditch them as quickly a year down the road. We operate totally independently of all that hype and we market ourselves directly to our fans and meet them in person at our shows every week and they allow us to do what we do by their continued support.

-As a follow-up to that question, what new bands in your mind represent a change for the better?

Crow Black Chicken! Ok but seriously, I'm gona be honest with you, I'm one of the most out of touch people ever when it comes to these things. I pay little or no attention to what the industry tells me is cool. I just know bands that we meet along the road. My favorite band that I like to see is the Pat McManus Band. You might know Pat from back in the day ,he played with Mama's boys or so I've been told. Well I didn't have a clue who Pat was until I saw him playing at the Rory Gallagher Festival a few years back. Pat is not just a great guitarist but a great fiddle player, and what you get is real, to the core ,what you see is what you get with Pat McManus, there is not bullshit with that man. No spin behind him, no shite talk. He plays from the heart and puts on a great show., and what more do you want from a band.

-Do you sing or play other instruments?

I sing a little back up vocals on our records and I dabble in a little Sax from time to time but the drums are my only love.

-What contribution did you have in the process of writing „Rumble Shake”?

My main job is to work with the lads is to create groovy songs that flow and transition into each other. We try to vary the rhythm on different tracks so that things dont sound the same. The drummers job is to play for the song. You have to know when to play busy and when to sit back in the pocket and let the guitar, bass or vocals take the lead. Its all about complementing the other players in the band and giving them the freedom to express themselves while creating a solid base for them to play on.

-What is coming up for you?

We have a live CD coming in May. We had our first night of recording on Bakers bar Clonmel and we are really looking forward to April 11th in the Gypsy Rose Dublin when we will be doing the final night of recording for the CD. After hearing some of recordings from the last night we are really excited for the release in May. It's going to be full of energy and a chance for the fans to take home a piece of the live show with them.

-Thank you for this conversation Gev. Is there any piece of musical advice you would like to give to our readers before we finish?

If there is any record you listen to this year , make it Ray Wylie Hubbards , The Grifter's Hymnal . Great record.