Review Fix chats with Crobot lead singer Brandon Yeagley, who discusses the band’s debut album on Wind-Up Records as well as their upcoming tour. An energetic rock group with loads of potential, 2014 looks to be a year full of their powerhouse riffs and enigmatic vocals.
Review Fix: What makes Crobot different?
Brandon Yeagley: Crobot on the surface may seem a little out there, but we’re not really all that different; so I guess it’s all in whom you ask. To us, we’re just four extraterrestrials armored with leather that landed on Earth to spread riffs to the beards of the universe.
Review Fix: How is this new album special?
Yeagley: We’re so excited about our debut release with Wind-up Records. This past year has been an adventure for us from our first SXSW in Austin, TX, where we met The Machine (the producer of our latest effort) by happy accident to having our dreams made a reality with the adoption to the Wind-up family.
We really have a big statement to make on this album. We definitely understand the magnitude of being given the opportunity to live our dreams and play Rock n’ Roll in a different city every night and we really brought that spirit to the new record. We’re just four dudes raised on Rock n’ Roll with a thirst for the groove; put us in a room together and screaming sonic demon babies are made.
Review Fix: Is there a track on the new album that you feel is a good indication of your strongest traits? Can you explain?
Yeagley: Honestly, you could pick any song off of the new album and it’ll sum us up in a nutshell. Working with The Machine, we’ve managed to capture the essence of what Crobot is in each song individually, which is another reason we are so excited to release our latest effort. No matter what tune you choose, it sounds like Crobot. But, if I had to pick a good place to start it would probably be tracks like “The Legend of the Spaceborne Killer,” a heavy, in-your-face powerhouse riff-fest, “Night of the Sacrifice,” a very groovy, funky soundtrack for your everyday nostalgia conjuring, or “La Mano de Luciferâ€, an epic, demonic tale for the progressive stoner rocker in us all.
Review Fix: What’s the band’s creative process like?
Yeagley: We really try to take a totally free approach to writing. When we write, we just sort of throw the lock on the door of our jam room, turn the amps to 11 and bounce ideas off of each other. Sometimes individually the ideas are born, but they are ultimately formed with all of our hands molding them along the way. We never try to force any ideas out, and we’ll try anything.
From there, we just play the songs over and over until we could play them while sleeping; a songwriting digestion and regurgitation. Sometimes they evolve and parts will change over time or there will be a little tweak on a transition here or a vocal hook there. Sometimes we’ll change a song five different ways and end up right where we started; we try to let these songs write themselves, in a way. After all, we are but musical mediums.
Review Fix: How are your influences different and how do they help form your sound?
Yeagley: For the most part, we all like the same music, which may be a main reason things seem to happen so easily for us in the writing process. We’re all huge Zeppelin, Sabbath, Soundgarden, and Rage Against the Machine fans, among many others, but you can definitely hear all of these influences in what we do. We were all raised sucking on the tit of Mother Rock N’ Roll and it’s influenced who we are as people as much as it continues to influence our music. The bands we worship are the bands that have been put through the test of time and still remain sonic titans. Talk about job security. They can try to, but no one can kill Rock N’ Roll.
Review Fix: You guys have a slew of dates to start the year. What are you doing now to prepare?
Yeagley: Pilates. Lots of Pilates.
Review Fix: What are your live shows like?
Yeagley: It’s like bearing witness to the birth of Jesus and Satan’s rape baby.
Review Fix: What’s on your goal list for 2014?
Yeagley: We are extremely excited to release our new album in 2014 but the year will prove to be just more than just a debut Crobot release on Wind-up Records.
2014 is already proving to be an awesome year starting with the Clutch & the Sword tour on January 2nd in Asheville, NC. That’s honestly our dream tour. We are such huge Clutch and the Sword fans and we can’t think of any better way to start the New Year. After the Clutch/Sword tour, we’ll be jumping around with The Pretty Reckless, Heaven’s Basement, & The Letter Black for the reincarnation of SnoCore which we’re sure will be nothing short of an audible orgy.
As for our goals for the upcoming year, we definitely want to hop back down to Austin, TX for SXSW ’14. Last year was the time of our lives and we can’t wait to make that trek again. There are also a few bands we’re jonesin’ to jam with; so, stay tuned for a Crobot invasion near you.
Review Fix: How do you want this new album to be remembered?
Yeagley: We want our new album to be remembered as the world’s first sonic fertility pack.
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