Crux are a four-piece alternative rock band based in Newcastle. Originally a sixth form band, Max Houghton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, and keyboards) and Jake Waldock (lead guitar) wanted to keep the band going and wanted a bassist. Jake posted on a Northumbria University band page, to which Hallam Press eagerly responded after discovering we were heavily inspired by Muse, and so Hallam Press (bass guitar and backing vocals) was recruited.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with the band about the latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create?
We’re from Newcastle, and we create quite angry, industrial sounding music that we feel reflects the mood of the region, and even the country at the moment. We sort of vent through our lyrics and heavy guitar riffs. If I was to label us with a genre, it would probably be alternative rock.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
None of us really live the rock and roll lifestyle; who can afford to nowadays anyway? But if we were to have any addiction, excluding Jake’s caffeine addiction, it would be music. Music’s a lifestyle, it’s therapy, it’s auditory stimulation in a car journey, it’s expression at its finest, and we’re hooked. We also see it as a means to voice our concerns, to represent where we’re from, and highlight issues in the shithole that Britain has become.
So a combination of that and probably some weird narcissistic complex is what motivates us to keep going. Maybe a dusting of fear that we’ll never escape our 9-5 lives too.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
There’s definitely similarities in Living in Dystopia to our previous singles, in terms of lyrics, heavy guitar riffs, but we went absolutely crazy on the production of the song, trying to capture the frenzy of the world in the sound. This led to experimental techniques, including me screaming down a mic for the duration of the song whilst the producer, Max Heyes, and engineer, Paul Knight-Malciak, would manipulate the audio live, creating some very interesting sounds which you can hear in the song.
This amalgamation of madness, weird noises, heavy guitar riffs, syncopation, thumping bass lines, and social lyrics captures our identity in one song – our brand, our sound and what we represent. It’s easily our favourite song we’ve recorded so far.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age?
I could probably write a novel on the issues independent musicians face in the current world, but I’ll keep it short and sweet. Streaming generates barely any income for independent artists, therefore music is being monopolised by the rich labels/artists who can make money from gaining millions of streams, and further expand their power and foothold within the industry, leaving next to no mobility for smaller bands/artists to climb up the ladder. This creates a social darwinist industry where bands/artists have to fight each other at the bottom of this ladder to get to the first rung. Thankfully we’re seeing bands, artists, bloggers, magazines, etc work together to help each other up this treacherous, twister ladder. Was that short and sweet?
How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
If you get on the right playlists, publications, etc (a big if), it makes it a lot easier to expand your audience massively and attract fans from around the world, which we’ve done to an extent. Social media is a very powerful tool, but the majority of us, including us (Crux), are fucking clueless how to make the most of it!
What was the last song you listened to?
Little Alien by another local band, Butterjunk.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I’m one of those knobheads who collects vinyl records and says ‘don’t you think it sounds so much better on vinyl?’
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
I quite like to test music on Spotify before deciding whether to buy it on iTunes. As I like to make sure I like the song before committing to buying it, plus buying the song means the band/artist gets more money than streaming it a few times. Though, for a simple consumer such as myself, it’s getting quite expensive.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
We’re pretty active across all socials. We have the most followers on Facebook, so are probably most active on there. We’ve got a website that lists all of our songs too (www.crux.band). There’s also a few playlists on our Spotify which feature songs from bands/artists we’re influenced by, and cool local musicians.
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you so much for interviewing us, and stay safe everyone.
