An old interview with Justin Greaves from Crippled Black Phoenix

Derek : I read you stopped listening to music to avoid sounding like other bands. How long did this go for?

Justin: That was honestly not intentional, i did stop listening to music for a while but that was for other reasons. My point is though, when you do take time out it gives you a fresh perspective on things and i found that i wasn't so influenced by music so much. I have periods now where i listen to all kinds of music non stop, then, i completely shut off to everything for a while, i think it's just a matter of being more relaxed about the whole thing, i can't force myself to write music and i can't stick to a certain formula either, so when my mind is clear of all outside trends i feel more able to make music that isn't contrived, and anyway, nothing is free from influences, i would be a fool to pretend that i could avoid sounding like something along the way....these things have a habbit of finding their way into to what i do regardless. I just think honesty is the best policy, as long as the music is honest in what it is and we play it with conviction, we'll see victory.

Derek: You started this project alone, then recruited members to the group. Has the vision of CBP remained or has it changed in anyway?

Justin: I think it's changed in some ways, but i never really thought about it. I mean, the live band is ever changing and my commitment to seeing it through has got stronger, but when it comes to the vision, it remains to be seen. The way the songs are written hasn't changed though, Joe writes the words he sings and i write the music, some of it is written together but mostly i will have an idea, then depending what mood i'm in, i'll name it and then we muck with it....it's pretty simple. Playing live and recording are two very different disciplins to me, that's where things have changed, when i first started CBP, i wasn't even thinking of playing live at all, that came after the recording of the first album. It was really cobbled together at the last minute and we kind of treated it like an experiment to see if it could be done and also i wanted to find out if i personally could handle being on tour again. So, when we found we'd enjoyed playing, it started to grow into a full live band with a vision, a vision we haven't yet realised i reckon.

Derek: It seems by what you say that touring has been a personal problem in the past. What about touring did you find hard?

Justin: I used to love touring, i saw my band mates struggle sometimes but i always enjoyed travelling and playing, it never used to get to me at all, but then i over cooked it a bit and i got really ill, i had to quit any kind of "partying" and i ended up in hospital, then also i had a stroke when i was on tour, so i had to calm down. I did carry on touring and playing but then a few years ago i saw a friend die in a car crash, they literally died right in front of me and it effected me mentally. This is not a sob story, but it's the facts that made it difficult to be around crowds and why i took time out, now i also don't drink or anything, it's harder for me to be out in public and makes it more difficult to be in social surroundings like playing gigs, i don't see the world in the same way as i used to. Then i had some help with dealing with things and it took some time recovering just before CBP came along, so when we started to play live, i wasn't sure i was ready for it, but because i've been really lucky in finding good people to work with and there's no real preasure on me, i am enjoying it again and i tell thee, it's the best kind of therapy, making music, it gives me something to put my mind on and also it's a vehicle to release my thoughts. Just don't take me the wrong way, i don't usually talk too much about personal stuff but it maybe gives you an idea of why CBP exsists at all, let alone playing live.

Derek: You said the live lineup is ever changing. is this just how it is, or is it difficult to keep members for live shows? does this also mean that the studio lineup is everchanging?

Justin: It has changed over two years, sometimes because of peoples other commitments, sometimes because it just didn't work out, it is just how it's been but that's not to say that's what i want, a stable live line up would be great and that's what we're working on at the moment. It's always been the same core-members though, myself, Joe, Dominic, Kostas and Chipper, we've just had to find people to fill in alot for the other instruments, it's just down to circumstances. As for the studio, it's like this...everyone in the "core-band" have their parts to play, i usually go in and record the bare bones of the songs on the drums and guitars, then we start to add the colour with other instruments as and when they're needed. We also have extra folk come and contribute, like my dad, he an absolute wicked guitarist and he came and played a couple of amazing leads, we have Jack who plays violin and he also plays live sometimes. On this album we have the ever expanding "Brutes Choir", we got brass instruments and some other vagrants roped in to help out, so it's really down to how much we can get away with, if the song requires something then we find a way to make it happen.

Derek: From what i read, there is a story behind the inspiration of CBP. Would you care to enlighten us?

Justin: There's different stories underlying pretty much everything we do, every song is for a reason, apart from a couple that were jams and one i had in a dream. Looking back on the first album, those songs were mostly reflecting on some bad times, that's why it's a pretty melencholy album, there were songs that date back to 2004 and were written as very simple tunes on an old borrowed acoustic, so when i got the opportunity to record, i had to get those songs out of my head and move on. It was like some kind of redemption for me and a huge weight from off my back, i would never be obvious about the subject matter because i don't believe in promoting misery. Writing music that's more miserable or dark or whatever, i find, is a way to find light and hope and it can be really uplifting, because honeslty, i have had so much utter shit in my life i can't stand it and the story of this band is just to get things said and done without sounding contrived. That's why i don't believe in alot of bands, they sing about dark and misery and misanthropy etc, but if you have lived through something truly dark and life changing the last thing you want to do is dwell on things. Some bands just don't have conviction and it's all a big fib and you can tell, i just don't believe in making music that has rules and boundries and isn't true any more. The CBP story is moving on now and instead of reflecting on how bad it all is, i'm just laughing at how shit everything is.

Derek:Which songs did you write in 2004, and at that time was CBP on your mind?

Justin: The earliest songs i think were "Long Cold Summer", "My enemies I fear not..", "The Whistler" and some others that didn't make it on the album because we ran out of space. These songs were written when i had hidden myself away for six months and i wasn't thinking of doing any band at all at that point, i did it to occupy my mind. The CBP idea came along the following year. I had thought about getting something together, something not too demanding, i talked with Steve O'Malley about getting Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine back together for another recording, but although we still may do it, the timing wasn't right with everyone involved. So i thought i'd just do my own thing. That's when it all took off, i had talked about doing a band with Dominic for years and never got round to it, so he came down to stay for a few days and we recorded some demos at my house while we watched the Eurovision song contest, it all came together from then on.

Derek: CBP is a supergroup of sorts involving Doomheads from all over the map (whom are all old friends from whati read). I find it refreshing myself to see people drop heaviness to create bueauty. Was it difficult locating all these artists for your project?
Justin: It wasn't difficult at all, like i said, Dominic and I wanted to do something for years and everyone else just sort of fell into place, i never really went out looking for players, it was a case of "this song really needs a piano", "oh, i know a guy who'd be up for it"...etc....It's just a spooky coinsidence that our musical backgrounds cross over and we all have a mutual respect for heavy underground music. I did call on some old friends but it was all pretty organic in it's expansion. The band didn't really exsist untill we went into the studio, before that it was just Dominic, Kostas, Andy and myself making some odd demos in my living room, we didn't have a grand plan. I met Joe in the studio on the first day of recording and i also first met Chipper during that session too, so it was only when we decided to play some shows that we got a full live band together, it made sense to invite the Gonga boys to play in the band as it was Joe's old band and we knew them. This is the way it's been, some changes along the way but it's always natural.

Derek: I also read you want to play venues that arent typical to what you have played before such as theatres, and what not. what is your favorite or most interesting venue you have played so far?

Justin: Yep, that was the plan, and we have played some interesting places but not as many as we hoped, it's really hard to go out and find these places and restrict ourselves to not playing so much, so, we've played all kinds of venues, we're just not fussy really, getting to perform is the priority and not being pretentious. I think my favourite show was in Montebelluna, north Italy, it was an open-sided barn in a really small village. We had driven across the Alps in a dodgy bus into the biggest thunder/lightning storm and into the pitch black counrty side and we were running out of fuel, eventually we get there late to see everyone had waited and gave us a most memorable welcome, we played on the dirt, it was like a punk rock show, i loved it, like the old days!

Derek: which is the one venue you would like CBP play at most if say you were to play one last show?

Justin: Oh.....definately the amphitheatre at Pompeii....for obvious reasons.

Derek: you are recording two albums this year. i have also noticed a few tracks from an unreleased album entitled "the resurectionists" on myspace. will this be released soon, or are you waiting to release both records together?

Justin: Yes, we're just getting into the final mixes now. We have recorded two albums at the same time, although the sessions started March '07, most of it was done since last November. They will be released together, hopefully around October this year. One is called "The Resurrectionists" and the other is called "Night Raider", the latter is more "out there" i reckon. The plan is to package them together, one to compliment the other with re-appearing themes running through both.

Derek: There is to be a trilogy of albums. is this to say that when the third record is released that CBP will cease to exist?

Justin:The trilogy will not spell the end of CBP, maybe it will be a point of change, who knows, the problem with having commited to the trilogy is that in order for it to work, i wanted the second part to follow alot sooner, so it made sense, but it's been a long process in making these new(ish) recordings and things change. Mostly the delay was down to getting time in the studio which was out of my control. I do think the connection is there from "love of..." to "the Resurrectionists", but i've also moved on slightly, musically and mentally, i've had to, for my own sake, so i am now going to treat things differently as they come along, maybe it will all make sense in the end....who am i to say?

Derek:I had planned on doing somewhat of a family tree for CBP. But i think it would make more sence if you were to do it. Would you mind filling us in on all the bands connected to CBP. i think people will be very suprised.

Justin: Oh crikey!! I'll try....I'll list our names and what bands we've been in, i guess you can expand on it if you so wish.... Justin - Iron Monkey, Hard To Swallow, Armour Of God, Teeth Of Lions Rule The Divine, Electric Wizard, The Varukers, Earthtone9, Borknagar, Khang (and a buch of others you've never heard of).Joe Volk - Gonga, himself (solo)Dominic - MogwaiKostas - Pantheist, Ereipia, Wijlen Wij, Bellator, Anonymous Soul, Untill Death Overtakes MeChipper - SJ Esau, Oxbow Duo, Portishead, North Sea Navigator, Hinkley Veltones, Mea Culpa (other players live/studio/past/present)Thom - Gonga, Sadaar BazaarGeorge - Gonga, The Flies, RamessesCharlie - Thought Forms, Silver Stairs of KetchikanMatt - Team Brick, GongaMark - Animals With Machinery, Once Said At The Fires, HeadstoneJon - Yellow 6Nial - 3D House Of Beef, -(16)-Geoff - PortisheadGuy - Thought Forms As you can see, it'd take some research to make a family tree but i'd be interested to see how it would look! There's plenty of connections there i guess.

Crippled Black Phoenix

Here we are in the second month of 2009, and I already can safely lay claim to my favorite album of the year; and its not doom metal! But alas, there are members of doom metal and stoner metal present. The band was formed mainly by Justin Greaves who has played in bands such as Iron Monkey, Electric Wizard, The Varukers, Teeth and Lions Rule The Devine and more. Another member is Dominic Aitchison of Mogwai who is another main songwriter. Vocal duties are carried out by Joe Volk of stoner rock group Gonga.
What they call Endtime Ballads, I call heavy as fuck dark folk. I loved this band the first time I heard them, and it grows larger with every listen. Their first album entitled "A Love of Shared Disasters" was an epic piece of music in my opinion, and I didnt think they could improve upon it. Using anything and everything to help create their sound, right down to wood saws and the likes, building some of if not the most textured music I have heard in my life.
The first album was a darker album by the band with the help of Kostas Panagiotou, lead singer of Pantheist, helping out with vocal duties, bringing a more bleak feel to their sound. I was at first disappointed not to hear Kostas taking any vocal duties on the new album, but that was short lived as the song development was not suited for his vocal stylings. A wide variety of other musicians help out including members from Yellow6, Portishead and others including Justin Greaves' father.
Their songs range between mellow ballods and full fruntal heavy folk rock; the likes that has never been heard before, masterfully crafted by this great group of artists, all bringing their expertise to the table to create what surely will become known as the heaviest folk group of all time. They manage to create a wall of sound that all musicians wish to be able to attain. What this does for the listener is create their own little haven from the world. And what better way than to have Crippled Black Phoenix as your guide.
They borrow heavily, and without shame as I have heard unmistakeble influence from Pink Floyd, The Beatles and even Tom Waits in the new album The Resurectionists/Night Raiders (yes,its a double disc album!), sorta like tips of the hat as each time such an influence is shown, they are able to break it into something undeniably their own. Never before have I heard a band play such songs and play with such conviction. It could be said that they play with the intensity of a heavy metal band.
Crippled Black Phoenix opened my ears to the world of dark folk, but will always remain the best of them all to me, and Im sure that when you check them out, you will agree. This is a band to be reckoned with. Folk rock for the hard rocker. Music you can listen to with the family and still get that heavy feeling that normally scares the kids and annoys the wife.