THE CRINGE
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 22nd April 2010.
We recently reviewed the forthcoming album Play Thing from New York alt rockers The Cringe and came away impressed.
We caught up with vocalist/guitarist John Cusimano to find out more...
Hi John, thanks for taking a moment to answer these questions. First of all, congratulations on new record “Play Thing”. Have you been happy with the response to it so far?
John: So far the reviews seem to be 90% positive which is amazing. We've been giving birth to Play Thing for almost two years now -- it's so close to our hearts we get a bit nervous reading reviews. It goes on sale June 8th so hopefully the sales will be strong too.
Could you give us a brief history of how The Cringe came to exist?
John: The name The Cringe is something that's been following me around since high school . . . The first version of the band was really stripped down and punk, very garage with goofball lyrics. We joked that we made people cringe. The current version of The Cringe has -- with a couple of personnel changes -- been through three albums and together 6 years and has much more of a big hard rock sound, with more of a hook driven song writing process.
Did you start out with a specific sound and ultimate goal, or have you gone with the flow and let the creative juices guide you?
John: We have a particular sound in mind for The Cringe -- it lies somewhere between The Who and Foo Fighters. We strive for a big arena rock sound. That being said we try to deviate within "The Cringe" sound . . . Sometimes skew more punk, or more pop, or more 70's guitar rock.
How does the new album compare in terms of quality and style to your first couple of releases?
John: We've matured a lot as a band. Whereas the last two albums were recorded rather quickly, without a lot of thought as to experimenting with arrangements or tweaking lyrics, we picked apart this album, reassembled it with different parts and worked collectively (and fought a lot) as a band. Also we were lucky enough to have a lot of input from a good friend of ours -- Steve Lillywhite. Steve has produced some of the best rock records around (including U2, Peter Gabriel, Dave Matthews, etc.) and we were lucky enough to have him in the studio with us when he was in between projects, giving us invaluable feedback.
Do you think your sound goes through evolution or revolution between albums?
John: As a band you are always looking to grow your sound and evolve it. This album is much more arranged than our last two. We tried to stay away from some of the angst and brooding of the last record, "Tipping Point" and inject some more of the fun from the first record, but do it with a much bigger brush and with more colours.
Who would you list as both your and the band’s influences, musical or otherwise?
John: The Who have always been the complete package for me -- arena rockers, with four distinct personalities, with a great sense of theatrics, and frightening punk energy and abandon, all strung together with killer hooks and catchy pop melodies. Some of the late 80's punk influences our songwriting stance . . . Bands like Husker Du, The Replacements and Fugazi. Roto (our lead guitarist) is a big fan and student of 70's rock guitar gods like Page, Perry, and Blackmore.
When did you start working on the new album, and how quickly did the various parts come together?
John: We have been working on this album on and off between touring, etc. For a year and a half. It's been a long, slow process, but one that allowed us to experiment and change the songs until everyone in the band was 100% happy.
How does the writing process work for the cringe? You obviously write and compose the music, but do the rest of the guys get an input too?
John: The writing process typically starts out as a very personal process -- i lock myself in a room with a digital recorder and sort of strum away on a guitar until a melody starts emerging . . . Sometimes i sing phonetically and this can become the basis for a hook. After this process is over, i bring my song ideas to the rest of the guys in the band. At this point the song can either be edited, combined with other song ideas the other band members have, or trashed.
Is there a theme or concept to play thing, or are the tracks standalone entities?
John: There are some reoccurring themes but it's not a concept album or a rock opera or anything like that.
How would you actually describe the sound of the cringe to somebody who hadn’t heard you before?
John: A Clydesdale kick to the cojones.
Have you tried anything completely different this time round, as in new instruments or recording/mixing techniques?
John: We used a wobble board. That was pretty cool. And a dobro. I changed the way i tracked vocals: instead of being in an iso booth with an expensive vintage mic, i tracked my vocals in the control room with an sm58 -- essentially a $99 mic. This allowed me to get immediate feedback from the other guys in the band as to how to approach a vocal passage or what to do differently, and as a result i was able to work faster and my performance was more effective.
There’s a real variety of sounds and styles on the album. Is keeping it fresh and not getting caught in a groove something that’s important to you?
John: Of course . . . At root bottom we are a rock band and we aren't going to make a dance record, but we like to stretch the context of the rock track when it serves the song.
Do you have any favourite parts or tracks on the album?
John: No control . . . Poison . . . Hiding space. And the monkeys on the cover.
Where did the album’s artwork come from, and who came up with the concept behind it?
John: Speaking of monkeys . . . I had seen a bizarre collection of vintage (and evil-looking) toy "cymbal" monkeys in a book about Kurt Cobain. Apparently he collected the things. I thought having four of these evil type monkeys (as opposed to the band members) on the album cover would be a cool and unique image. Chris Gorman (who did the album cover art for our prior two albums as well) took that idea and ran with it.
How is the album doing so far - in relation to airplay?
John: Album isn't released until June 8, so it's too early to tell.
Any thoughts on doing a video for one of the tracks?
John: Yeah . . . Nothing we've committed to yet but we'll do something soon.
What’s one of your live gigs like? What should fans expect?
John: We strive to bring a big rock show into whatever venue (large or small) we play. Also i have a habit of jumping into the crowd.
Are you planning a big tour on the back of this release?
John: It is being planned right now.
Any question you love being asked that i’ve missed? If so, what’s the answer?
John: Question: can you play one more song? Answer: yes.
What are you up to once you’ve finished answering these questions?
John: Band rehearsal.
Anything else you would like to mention?
John: Please go to http://www.thecringe.com/ and http://www.myspace.com/thecringe when you can. And thanks Rock Realms!
Thanks again to John for his time. You can check out the Rock Realms review of The Cringe's latest album Play Thing by clicking here.
http://www.myspace.com/thecringe
