Interview: Rob Crow
by Jeremiah Griffey
Rob Crow could have stopped at Heavy Vegetable and indie rock would still have a place carved out for him in it’s varied annals, albeit hidden in an obscure corner. Crow has perfected his own brand of pop rock structure, or so everyone thought. He started blending the angular guitar noodling of Chicago math rock in other projects, including Pinback. Countless albums later, he’s got his own wing.
With each new release by all of his non-metal projects, Rob Crow steps toward perfecting his “Rob Crow” sound. Can it get redundant? Sure. But if the right listeners tune in to the right project (choose from any of the following: Thingy, Heavy Vegetable, Optiganally Yours, Pinback, Holy Smokes, The Ladies, Other Men, or his solo stuff) they might just find their new favorite album.
If that list seems overwhelming, relax. One or two snapshots of Crow might be enough, although Heavy Vegetable remains essential. Lately he dropped his most focused album to date by any of his projects, the solo “Living Well,” followed up almost immediately by Other Men’s “Wake Up Swimming.” The latter project successfully reunites Crow and fellow Heavy Vegetables Travis Nelson and Manolo S. Turner. It would appear Crow anticipated a potential backlash of surplus pop-infused math rock and preceded these more traditional Crow projects with the metal of Goblin Cock, and his first attack on the mainstream, Chino Moreno’s long-awaited Team Sleep record. Other projects in the works include two new Goblin Cock records, the third Thingy album and releases by Pinback, Optiganally Yours, Alpha Males and his debut with Aspects of Physics.
Rob Crow is a man of many musical projects, but, as you’ll see, few words.
How did the Heavy Vegetable guys decide to get back together to make a new album after such a long absence?
Rob Crow: Well, it was all pretty organic. Travis started writing songs by himself, and found out Manolo was trying to buy a drum set again. They started messing around for maybe a year or so working on some stuff and I saw them at a Pinback show and they told me about it. I begged for the chance to be involved somehow, and since they didn’t have a bass player, I took that spot and eventually vocal duties as well.
Why was it important for you to start the project under such a different name?
A few reasons. Elea (the other H.V. singer) is not involved. Travis and I switched guitar and bass duties. Most importantly though, it just sounds different.
Does it make you feel weird at all that labels/PR folk trumpeted your new solo album as the best Pinback album Pinback never made?
I don’t quite understand it, but it doesn’t bother me.
You’re churning out new albums in multiple projects at an almost unprecedented rate. Do you worry about over-saturating your audience?
Yes, but the longer I wait to put out a project, the more backlog I’ll have piled up.
Are you worried about burning yourself out?
Of course, but I’m pretty driven.
How did you get involved with the Sacramento folks (Zach, Chino)?
Hella toured with Pinback a couple times and I am a big fan. Zach Hill called about contributing to his “Holy Smokes” project and that led to spending a couple weeks on his couch up there working on the The Ladies record. He was gone at the studio working on “Church Gone Wild” during the day, so he handed me a cassette of unfinished music that needed some vocals to work on if I was bored. This turned out to be “Team Sleep”. I wasn’t sure if I’d actually record on it, but I magically woke up in the recording studio one morning after pulling an all-nighter drunk with the engineer. Figured it was a sign. Recorded six songs in a few hours with a massive hangover.
2007 Living Well (Temporary Residence)
2003 My Room is a Mess (Absolutely Kosher)
1996 Lactose Adept (Earth Music)
1995 Lesser / Rob Crow (Split) (Vinyl Communications)
