The Cribs @ O2 Wireless 2007

United Kingdom | | 19 June 2007

Third on the bill in support of Kaiser Chiefs on the final day of Wireless, The Cribs put in a top performance, wowing the crowd with their stomping indie anthems, including cuts from their third album, 'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever'. 

Afterwards, we caught up with singer Ryan Jarman, to talk about being treated like animals, ignoring everything around him and all those generic bands...

Virtual Festivals: How’s your O2 Wireless experience been, Ryan?
Ryan Jarman: "It’s been good, I enjoyed the gig earlier on, I had fun, and it’s been nice weather, so no complaints. It’s been a good time, basically."

VF: It looked like you had a good crowd today.
RJ: "Yeah, I mean, it were good because we played in Leeds yesterday and we’re kind of from round there, you know, you get a good crowd by default. So today it were good to have a good crowd and great to have a good gig. It’s definitely a good sign."

VF: The new album is great, it seems to have been received really well...
RJ: "It’s cool, I’m glad that things have worked out this way. The first two albums were kind of lo-fi affairs, and it seems that the word has spread in a very organic way, you know. It’s not been a load of advertising, which can make you a hyped band where you’re big one day and then the next day you’re forgotten about. It’s gratifying to do it in this way, in the more organic way, where people just get into it just because they get into it, you know? It’s definitely an encouraging sign for us. I think that indie music has become so mainstream that it’s nice to be doing things without all the pomp and seeing it pay off, really."

VF: I’m dying to know, what’s Our Bovine Public about, who is it about? Is it about certain people or just people in general?
RJ: "It’s kind of about a lot of things. We got the title for it because in Wakefield, where I live, they started closing down the main area of town on a Friday and a Saturday with gates so that cars couldn’t get in. Everyone pissed off because we were being treated like animals, but at the same time they were kind of acting like animals, but I don’t know… It’s pretty self explanatory. I think there are definitely a lot of generic bands around at the minute, and that’s kind of what the lyrics are about, I suppose. We never like to be too obvious about our songs and what we write the songs about, but I think that’s the most obvious song on the album. I guess everyone knows the way things are at the minute."

VF: Do you want to name any names?
RJ: "I’m not into that, I think that kind of cheapens stuff, it makes stuff a little bit gossipy, and I definitely want to avoid all that stuff, I’m not really into the sensationalist side of the music industry or the celebrity lifestyle, where people seem to relish in slagging people off because it furthers their career and I think that’s quite cheap, you know? Especially if you’re in a band. Why would you want the mass majority of your press to be involved in you slagging someone else off? It’s a bit lame, really."

VF: Have you caught any bands today?
RJ: "I haven’t had a chance to see anybody. Yesterday I saw the Wild Beasts, they’re from Leeds, they’re a really good band, and they’re definitely an original band, which is a good thing to see. They do their own thing, so I have a lot of respect for them and I thought they were really good yesterday. But I didn’t get to see them today, they played on a different stage, so I’ve just been wandering around doing nowt. Busy doing nothing, I suppose."

VF: It’s always good to take a bit of time out.
RJ: "I guess so. I don’t know, I always look at the running order and most of the bands I’ve never heard of anyway, I don’t really know who anyone is. I think I spend most of my time being blissfully ignorant about what goes on around me."

VF: Do you actively shut yourself off from what’s going on, do you think?
RJ: "Well, not actively, I think definitely subconsciously something in me does tend to ignore everything that goes on around, purely because I don’t think it’s a particularly healthy way to do things, to take note of all the bands and what’s cool and what’s not cool, you know what I mean? It’s not a particularly healthy way to be if you’re in a band, so… I know what I like, and I just keep myself to myself, basically."

VF: You’ve announced that you’re supporting Bloc Party on an arena tour…
RJ: "Yeah, there’s only three gigs or something but we’re gonna do that. That should be good fun. I like Bloc Party, I think they’re a good band, and they’re on the same label as us, and I think compared to a lot of bands they’re definitely a band you can respect, so I don’t have any qualms about supporting them. It should be fun."

VF: You’re playing a lot of festivals this summer. Which ones are you looking forward to the most?
RJ: "I don’t know, I guess I’m looking forward to Glastonbury because I’ve never been there, but we’re doing Lollapalooza in America, and we’ve never even had a record out over there. Again, we’ve done everything on word of mouth from the first two albums, so it definitely seems like quite a milestone, really, to be doing the main stage at Lollapalooza, so I’m definitely looking forward to that. That’s the other one that I’m looking forward to most, I think."

VF: You named Wild Beasts, are there any other bands that you want to tip?
RJ: "A band that we went on tour with recently called Shrag from Brighton, they’re a really great band, and the 1990's as well, I think they’re good. But I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head."

'Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever' is out now.