Dallas Crane
Dallas Crane are riding high after the ground swell of support to support the release of their fifth album Scoundrels through Pledge Music. The band hit the target within a week of being released which blew the band away including front man Dave Larkin who talks quite openly with Across The Ocean about the release.
Are you happy with how Scoundrels panned out?
I’m happy with the reaction for sure, definitely happy with it. Nothing gets out that we’re not happy with but by the time you get to release point you’re so married to it that is it love – I don’t know? Maybe we need time alone?
Was it that hard to let some of those songs go though?
I don’t know if it was hard, the hardest thing with this album was the time we didn’t have to do it. We’ve all got plan B lives activated now outside of music and a lot of pulling this album together was done after hours and any gaps on weekends. That was the hardest bit, what it did give though was time to breathe and really hang on to the songs that were good and still cared about. I think you still always have love of a song when you write it and if you still give a shit about a year later it should be probably be there because it is good. Not everything we wrote made it obviously, there was about twenty other songs that didn’t make it. We recorded quite a bit and I reckon we chose the right ones.
Has having a plan B made it easier for Dallas Crane these days?
I think by the time we got to Factory Girls we had all our eggs in the Dallas Crane basket and everything was riding on that album. Most of the pressure on us was self imposed and we knew that we hit a ceiling in terms of where we could go in Australia. We needed something to take us through to the next level. There was immense pressure and we had all sorts of dramas with Factory Girls internally, in the studio, with the label, it was a very stressful record and to not have that this time and to be just doing it on our own clock, not really caring what becomes of it makes it so much nicer. It was great, we really felt like we really got in this record without sounding all kind of naff.
It must be reassuring with the Pledge campaign knowing that there are still plenty of fans out there?
We couldn’t believe it! We the target in a week and I was really reticent to do it just because we dipped our toe in and played some shows around Australia and there was still some love but we just didn’t know how wide reaching it was. Two or three Facebook posts and we hit our target was a phenomenal effort. I still can’t believe it! It is something we’ll look at again.
It is great how fan support can turn in to a brand new album isn’t it especially when people don’t buy a lot of CD’s like they used to?
It just shows whether it is for Dallas Crane or any other band that there is still a hunger for rock ‘n roll. People have to look a bit harder to find good stuff these days and I think crappy bands like Dallas who have been putting out records have come back shows that people do care more now because it is not as frequent as it used to be. The turnout in Adelaide on Australia Day, it was a tricky day, was great. It is interesting with this album as I have love songs before which haven’t done well but the feedback has been overwhelmingly good. I think we’ve been very lucky and we’ll know after this tour if there is another chapter. It has taken a lot out of us to do the record and we really want to be able to carry on and keep doing it to at least break even in effort just as a reward. I think we’ll know more after the tour whether it will be viable but all things are shaping up to be viable, which is good.
Do you take great heart from the buzz on social media?
Yeah, I can’t complain at all!
Does Steve Pinkerton on drums bring a different dynamic to the band now?
Absolutely, total game changer in a positive way and that’s nothing against Shannon or anything who is a fantastic guy and a fantastic drummer but just a little nuance of having a bubbly personality really evens out what at times in the past could be not a toxic chemistry but something tricky. We’ve all grown up which makes it a lot easier and Steve is great. It is a really nice balance of personnel and it has obviously made for a lot happier place the where we wound up in the first place which is getting close to all the clichés you hear about bands breaking up we were starting to tick some of those boxes.
During the creative process were you conscious of what you’ve done on previous records or did ideas just evolve?
We weren’t about to pull out mini samplers, synthesisers or anything to stay on track with the kids that’s for sure. We still paint with guitars and one way or another it is still going to have a guitar feel about it because that is our thing and what we know. Definitely, the songs had to, more so than ever, go down not like in the past hand held to the finish line to get them done. This time everything made the finish line and was there because it deserved to be there. So, that has definitely changed, spend a lot of time on the lyrics making sure the whole picture is in the right spot. I could crap on for hours about that stuff.
Have you started thinking about the Dallas Crane album or whether the Gun Street Girls or Dave Larkin band will make a resurgence?
Possibly, I’m only really a one man band and can only do one at a time so if anything it will more likely be another Dallas one. Like I said, it will depend on where we sit in a couple of month’s time. We’re always writing so one way or another there will always be some sort of release. I’m hoping we can churn out another a bit quicker than we did this one. There is no real reason why we wouldn’t keep going.
Will Dallas Crane bob up somewhere over the summer on a support slot?
Hopefully, if anyone will have us we’d love to. I love being the support band on a big tour it’s great! Touring with The Who was amazing and any band’s of that size, we’ve toured with Chisel and it’s a whole another level especially being the support band with no onus to sell tickets or move merch is pretty exciting.
Will Scoundrels be played start to end on this tour?
Ha! I don’t want to give that one away! It will be worth the ticket in put it that way.
Tour Dates
JANUARY
30th – Newtown Social Club, Newtown
FEBRUARY
5th – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
6th – Jive, Adelaide
12th – Miami Tavern, Gold Coast
13th – Wooly Mammoth, Brisbane
19th – Westernport Hotel, San Remo
20th – Corner Hotel, Richmond
25th – Republic Bar, Hobart
26th – Club 54, Launceston
For more information, visit http://www.dallascrane.com
Whether it is rummaging through vinyl at record stores such as Clarity and Title finding hidden gems to scouring the internet to find that album by the next big thing or chasing bands to get that elusive autograph and photo his passion is music all the way.
- Aversions Crown - January 27, 2017
- Sick Of It All - January 19, 2017
- Refused - January 11, 2017
