Q&A With Davey MacManus of The Crimea
By: Music Staff |
Friday July 08, 2005 |
| Davey MacManus of The Crimea, in his own esteemable way, took some time to answer a few of Static's queries before heading out as support for labelmate Billy Corgan's debut solo tour. |
| What's the last song that flat-out scared you?
The Irish Eurovision song contest entry, was a hideous affair, sung by a ginger brother and sister duo, a love song no less. I shat my pants when I saw them on telly, they didnt make the final. I was ashamed to be Irish, and scared that these bog trotters came from my country. What was the worst show you ever played, and why? Our worst show was at the Mercury Lounge. We were unsigned and showcasing, it was carnage, everything broke and we had a full bore shouting match for 10 minutes, which is still ongoing. We ended up doing one song acoustic, and that was terrible, so we gave up, and went downstairs for a post mortem. (Ruck) Gandi almost had a seizure, and turned into a beetroot. We were all stone cold sober, and it was about 7 on a Sunday, the crowd of two A&R men were blown away. What will you do immediately after completing this interview? Hang myself. Coke or Pepsi? London tapwater. What song are you most proud of on this album? Why? "Losing My Hair," because its about going bald young, and losing your confidence, and as a result losing your ability to get women, and as result calling it a day, it's a timeless song, which came from nowhere at Christmas. What can fans expect to get at one of your concerts that they couldn't necessarily get on your album? It's completely different. Most of the album was recorded in my bedroom, which is the design of our set onstage, its just totally different. Its real, afterwards it feels like you've had triplets, with post gig depression. I guess its a lot stronger and more in your face. The songs are all played and sound differently as we don't wanna replicate the album live. It's a seperate entity. What direction do you feel you're headed in artistically? What's next? Well I've stolen all the good ideas from the sixties and seventies so I guess I'm gonna gave to raid the fifties. I think the major step is to take the recording out of home and make a killer studio album. We have a full band now, so we are just enjoying trying to write and work together What other creative mediums would you ever care to dabble in? Why? I like to write short stories and poetry, etc. Pessismistic stuff really, but lately I have put every ounce of effort into music. I tried to draw once but it was woeful. There are so many drastic lyrics out there. I identified this as an area we could kick everyone else's ass in, and put all my talents into coming up with one liners. Michael Jackson - pedophile or misunderstood eccentric? Well I think he's definitely made pedophilia known around the world. It's unbelieveable how much coverage his trial got. So lots of kids will know now what it is, which is weird. He's a madman. No sane person would let kids in their room. I used to be a Cub Scout leader and we weren't even allowed to cuff them 'round the ear for fear of being sued. What would you like to come back as in a later life? Jesus, I hope there is no next life. If I had to come back I would like to not have a conscience and just be a bastard without worrying about it. Whose phone number would you most like? I'd like a few words with the Lord. Talking to God on the great white telephone. C'mon...there is nothing. It would be a pretty one-sided conversation. I might as well be talking to the wall. What's your favorite sandwich? Peanut butter and custard creme. What periodicals, if any, do you subscribe to? I buy the Irish Independant everywhere I go, which is sad quite, but I don't subscribe to anything. I think I would have to be quite organized to have a subscription, which is out of the question. Andy, our keyboard player, gets National Geopgrahic as a subscription, but i think his mum gets him it every Christmas. Name something non-musical (e.g. book, person, building, animal) that has inspired or influenced you. I have lately been influenced by J.T. Leroy, to the extent that he has made me look at my life and say it's great compared to being analy raped when you are fucking six years old. He is life affirming, and I usually hate authors, or am jealous of them. Do you read music criticism? Who are some of your preferred critics, if any? This is tricky. I want to be rude, but unfortunately my conscience tells me not to say anything bad. Name a canonical, respected, revered artist whom you think is wildly overrated. Oasis. Favorite recreational tour stop...? New Orleans. Though we have yet to have a truly chaotic night out there, it has all the ingredients and we have laid anchor there several times. Our bass player's girlfriend lives in the middle of the French Quarter, so we stop off there. Got any pets...? Owen, our drummer, lives here with me. As long as I give him a bone every now and then he's happy What's the best thing about being a musician...? Not having to get up in the morning, just not having to work. Work is the worst. My coal pit is an armchair. You sort of live outside the real world in a bubble and talk about how wonderful you are all the time. Your whole life and career is based around trying to get people to say you are wonderful If you weren't a musician, what would you be doing...? Dream job, etc. I always wanted to be a soldier, but now I think I would like to be a boxer. Although, this is small man syndrome, I thought of being a paramedic for awhile, when my musical career was in less glorious surroundings. What's the most truly subversive piece of music you know? Ween - "HIV Aids Song" What was your first rock and roll record? Michael Jackson, Bad on 12-inch. It was brilliant and still is, every song is a classic. Do you have a day job? If so, what is it? I usually read the papers for about two hours, rack up a few spliffs, get dressed and mince about in my studio for a while pretending I'm writing or recording. Then I watch the telly whislt sitting on a chair far away from the telly like I'm not really watching it. If it's sunny, I go in the garden. I write down a list off things I have to do, and then read it and stress out. Then I don't do anything on the list and blame it on someone else. Prior to becoming a full-time musician, what did you do for a living? I stacked shelves, and worked in the park which was my favourite except I couldnt deal with all the kids. If I touched them, they would scream and call me racist, peadophile, rapist. They were clever kids and in the end I had to leave as they locked me in my hut, and I had to call the police. How did you come up with your name (if a band or alter ego)? I wanted something like Wal-Mart. An international brand that thick people could understand. I had "Fat Camp Heroes," but that was too jokey. Crimea was safe, and obviously there's the Justin Timberlake thing. |
