{"id":27960,"date":"2015-09-18T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-09-17T21:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=27960"},"modified":"2015-09-17T00:09:03","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T14:09:03","slug":"whitfield-crane-of-ugly-kid-joe-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/09\/whitfield-crane-of-ugly-kid-joe-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Whitfield Crane of Ugly Kid Joe"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201c\u2026when we disbanded in 1997 that was a good time to do that, no one\u2019s heart was in it anymore, it was over, we all love each other but we just ended the band, and then fast forward to the making of this full length record as you call it, everybody wanted it, and everybody was in a good space\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

After a nineteen year hiatus, rockers UGLY KID JOE are set to return with a new full-length album entitled, \u2018Uglier Than They Used Ta Be\u2019. Known predominantly for their massive hits of the early 90\u2019s, which saw \u2018Everything About You\u2019 and \u2018Cats in the Cradle\u2019 achieve huge chart status, with other albums following before the band\u2019s hiatus in 1997. Then they returned in 2012 with an EP which then saw the band back out on the road, and now with \u2018Uglier Than They Used Ta Be\u2019, Ugly Kid Joe are back and ready to continue rockin\u2019<\/p>\n

Jetlagged in London, we caught up once again with Whitfield Crane of Ugly Kid Joe to fill us in all about the band\u2019s new album, touring, the state of the music industry and much more\u2026<\/p>\n

Name wise the album is a great throwback to your debut EP, whose idea was \u2018Uglier Than They Used Ta Be\u2019?<\/strong>
\nI gotta say that was Daniel Mercer the artist, the guy who did all the art. We all had our ideas for the album title and Daniel Mercer\u2019s like a super fan that does all this kick ass art for us, he did all the artwork on the CD and the vinyl, and the vinyl artwork is incredible, so it was his idea *laughs* and we\u2019re all like \u2018huh\u2019\u2026 Here\u2019s how it works for the creative process for us whether it be a song or a lyric or a riff, or in this case the title of the album is you know right away if it should be that or not, you know instantaneous, it\u2019s a snap call, so it came through Daniel Mercer.<\/p>\n

What was the experience like with the pledge campaign to make this album?<\/strong>
\nIt was first person which is really cool. As you may or may not know the record industry or whatever you want to call it is dead, it\u2019s over how it was, you\u2019re never gonna sell a million records, you\u2019re probably not even going to sell a lot of records either way so that said there\u2019s not a lot of people that are going to back you up financially to make a record except for your fans which is first person and super cool. So basically you outsource it and if people are down with whatever you\u2019re doing, if you\u2019re writing a book, or making a video or a movie or whatever you\u2019re trying to do to make money, in this case it\u2019s an Ugly Kid Joe record you go first person and I was sceptical at first and fair enough, I was like \u2018what is this?\u2019\u2026 It\u2019s really neat if you have a fan, somebody that is in to what you do, they\u2019re involved in the whole process from nuts to bolts, so they invest in an album that doesn\u2019t exist yet, they witness the whole process of making the record and they can ask questions like \u2018what about this?\u2019 and you can instantly communicate with somebody first person. So on that level I think it\u2019s very liberating because there\u2019s no middle man and there\u2019s nothing better than no middle man.<\/p>\n

Now this is your first studio album in nineteen years\u2026 man, what was it like going in and doing a full Ugly Kid Joe album with so many years between drinks?<\/strong>
\n*laughs* It was great, when we disbanded in 1997 that was a good time to do that, no one\u2019s heart was in it anymore, it was over, we all love each other but we just ended the band, and then fast forward to the making of this full length record as you call it, everybody wanted it, and everybody was in a good space and everybody had gone and done so many other things with their lives that to have a reprise of sorts, to go in the same room and we brought everybody in, we brought everybody that\u2019s been involved in the band the last seven years. We had Shannon Larkin was there, the old school drummer, we had Zac Morris the new school drummer, we had Sonny Mayo in there who replaced Dave Fortman *laughs* you had Dave Fortman producing, writing and playing on the record, you had Klaus Eichstadt, Cordell and myself, we flew some tracks to Wales where Phil Campbell the guitar player from Motorhead, he played on three tracks. So it was exciting, we went in there and we literally went in with no preconception, no direction, nothing like that, and we went in there for twenty one days, that\u2019s twenty one days in a row, straight up, and thirteen hour days and it was gruelling but I think we came out with something really cool.<\/p>\n

The band was coined a \u2018seven headed monster\u2019 so what was it like now working with such a big band musically and different guys who are all different players?<\/strong>
\nAwesome, it could\u2019ve been a train wreck but it wasn\u2019t, everyone was focused and excited, you know there\u2019s so much history with everybody, like Zac\u2019s brand new for the band so he\u2019s kind of learning from us, he\u2019s never toured the world and it\u2019s a brand new thing for him. His skillset is incredible, but he\u2019s an incredible player, but in a sense it was probably more of a learning curve for him to see how it could be done. For us, the guys that have known each other for twenty years there\u2019s such a familiarity there and once again, I can\u2019t highlight the point enough that everyone wanted to be there, it wasn\u2019t a pain. The interesting thing about the state of music as far as a business construct goes now, there\u2019s not a lot of money to be made off the music itself which means there\u2019s nobody around there trying to make money off you because there\u2019s no money, right. So that said if you\u2019re in there making music at this point, making records, it\u2019s cause you want to do it, there\u2019s a purity to it that\u2019s pretty liberating, plus just the fact of saying hi to everyone again. It was cool.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re not planning on touring as a seven piece are you?<\/strong>
\nNo, no, no, Dave Fortman is a big time producer, Shannon is in Godsmack, so all the guys are meeting up today, I\u2019ve got my other band Richards\/Crane is opening up for Ugly Kid Joe, Richards\/Crane is a side project I have with this guy Lee Richards, and this guy Tim McMillan, so I\u2019ve got my acoustic based project opening up for Ugly Kid Joe on a two week tour that starts tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Double duty? You\u2019re gonna be a busy man\u2026<\/strong>
\nYep, it\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

Song wise for the Ugly Kid Joe record, what was the process like in putting these tracks together?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s similar to how it always is, some of the guys will have songs pretty much done, mostly not, and you just go in there and let it happen, there\u2019s no practising, you\u2019ve got to do it right then and there, in a twenty one day experience and here\u2019s how it goes, I\u2019m just quoting Dave Fortman who was the producer\u2026 \u201cWhat we did in twenty one days is what usually would take three months\u201d so that said you have to shuck and jive, you bring up a song to everybody, you track it, you know right then and there if it\u2019s going somewhere, that means should you follow where it\u2019s going or should you discard it and move to the next song\u2026 so once again some of the songs were pretty much done, most of them weren\u2019t, so I would say we literally kind of let the music dictate what we wanted or what we should be doing.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s talk covers, not only did you have our Aussie, Dallas Frasca on \u2018Papa Was A Rolling Stone\u2019 but to have Phil Campbell from Motorhead as you mentioned on \u2018Ace of Spades\u2019\u2026 how did that come about?<\/strong>
\nWe have a great relationship with Motorhead and always have *laughs* since 1992 and Ugly Kid Joe when we blew up in 1992 meaning when we had our success in \u201992and we immediately got on the Ozzy tour and that tour had Motorhead, Ugly Kid Joe and Ozzy Osbourne, and so ever since then, Lemmy\u2019s rad, those guys are rad, I mean they\u2019re really salt of the earth type people and they\u2019ve always looked after me whenever I\u2019m around or if I\u2019m at a show they\u2019ll invite me to sing on stage, and stuff like that, so we\u2019re always hanging out. Over the last couple of years I\u2019ll be touring in Europe and then Motorhead will be touring, so what I\u2019ve done over the last few years is I\u2019ll show up to their bus and knock on the door and they\u2019ll go \u2018what?\u2019 and it\u2019ll be me with a backpack on, not touring, just a backpacker and I\u2019ll go on tour with Motorhead and just hang out and sing every third show, so that said that kind of highlights the relationship I have with those guys. As we were making this record I love to make music dimensional and a lot of times that dimension will incorporate other players and I love to share with other people music that I love and admire and all that. So we called Phil and he was all excited and like, \u201cAlright, I\u2019d love to do it\u201d and I go \u201cIt\u2019s Ace of Spades!\u201d and he was like \u201cWhat?! I\u2019ll play Ace of Spades but how about you let me play a couple of other songs?\u201d and we\u2019re like of course\u2026 so he played \u2018Ace of Spades\u2019, he plays on a song called \u2018Under The Bottom\u2019 which I think is Ugly Kid Joe\u2019s Heavy Metal opus, and then he plays on another song called \u2018My Old Man\u2019, he plays the first lead in \u2018My Old Man\u2019 and Klaus plays the outro lead, so that\u2019s a big honour for us for sure.<\/p>\n

And that Dallas Frasca has got a set of pipes on her, huh?<\/strong>
\nOh my god! That\u2019s incredible; she\u2019s the bees knees, man.<\/p>\n

You were back in Australia last year and played some amazing shows, were you happy with the reception the band received after so long away?<\/strong>
\nYeah we were blown away, I think we played the last hard rock show at the Palace Theatre in Melbourne which is a great room, I can\u2019t believe they took that down. Yeah Australia, that was one of our bigger markets in the world back in the day and I love Australia across the board and the people of Australia remind me of kind of California, everyone\u2019s like \u2018Hey what\u2019s up?\u2019 and they\u2019ll party really hard but they\u2019ll recycle the cans you know\u2026<\/p>\n

Also your voice is on point too, when you were here it was unbelievable, how do you keep it up?<\/strong>
\nSleep, singers should just sleep and not stress, those are the two components to life.<\/p>\n

Obvious question is, when do you think we might see you back?<\/strong>
\nOh I don\u2019t know, man, let me let you know on the skinny here\u2026 the whole thing we\u2019re doing right now is we\u2019re being creative, the record\u2019s done, it\u2019s Ugly Kid Joe \u2018Uglier Than They Used Ta Be\u2019 and now hopefully what we can garner from this is killer tours, like we\u2019d love to come and do, I know you guys have got a couple of festivals there in Australia, we\u2019d love to do that, or we\u2019d come back and do some clubs or whatever it is. We want to tour and that\u2019s the whole quest, do we want to come to Australia? Straight up, we love Australia.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not going to be twenty years between tours like last time though, right? *laughs*<\/strong>
\nNO WAY! We\u2019ve got a new record, gotta come tour, come on!<\/p>\n

So let\u2019s jump back twenty four years to when you released \u2018As Ugly As they Wanna Be\u2019, what for you is the biggest difference in the way the band works and makes music now compared to how it was in 1991?<\/strong>
\nProbably experience and fear, when we were kids, we\u2019ve always been a great live band, we\u2019ve always had that element to us, right, the moment\u2026 I can only speak for me but the studio and going into the studio was like going on a foreign planet, you had to have all this patience and it wasn\u2019t live, there are some components that were live but tracking record I felt caged and weird and I was scared of all that and fear can be used as currency for sure, but anyway, so now I\u2019ve been in lots of different bands and I\u2019ve tracked a lot of different times in the studio and I\u2019m not scared whatsoever to go in the studio and I get what my placement is there and I\u2019m way more patient than I was in twenty four and I have a macro amount of experience of the studio. Equally in that experiential bubble is I\u2019ve had a lot of experience in let\u2019s say 1991 I wasn\u2019t quite sure what to embrace and to hold on to that would be healthy for me and then what would be something\u00a0 that I could look at and let go because it all looked the same to me. So now, at least from my perspective and I could be right or wrong, but I feel like I know what was good for me to hold on to and what was a good idea and a healthy idea and this has currency and forward motion, and then over this other side it\u2019s all the stuff and it could be from people to the whole thing of rock and roll. So I get what to hold on to and I believe I know what to let go of.<\/p>\n

We did talk before briefly about the industry is a much different beast these days too, with social media now such a driver in the way bands promote themselves, essentially negating record labels, how have you personally seen that side of it grow in your time away and back now?<\/strong>
\nWell once again its first person, right? Ugly Kid Joe since we\u2019ve come back, we\u2019re our own manager, we\u2019re our own label, we\u2019re our own everything, so you\u2019ve gotta be first person, you\u2019ve gotta want it. So you know, there\u2019s no middle man like I said before, so there\u2019s a great responsibility to that and there\u2019s a great liberation with that, with the labels and all that it was a weird thing and let\u2019s just be honest, the idea of commerce and art mixed together is a weird marriage you know what I mean, to make some kind of art and sell it is weird to begin with. So you get yourself in a pickle doing that anyway and that said, if you\u2019re just first person and like Sonny Mayo is really great of posting stuff up on tour, like you\u2019re on tour, you\u2019re in a moment, you\u2019re getting a coffee in Scotland or whatever and you take a picture and you can immediately put it out there and keep people in the know of what you\u2019re doing. Funny little idiosyncratic things or like actual tour shots, just interesting stuff and that\u2019s personal and I like being personal, so in a sense it\u2019s got this one thing and the other sense you\u2019re not going to sell any records, it\u2019s not going to happen. From a financial vantage it\u2019s a crazy thing to want to do if you want to put bread on the table, but that\u2019s never really been my first plan of attack, but if you\u2019re just out there for the band in garage you can go make music and make whatever, you can master it or not master it, you can make it really great or really crap, it doesn\u2019t matter, and you can release it around the world therefore inspire somebody and that\u2019s exciting. So it\u2019s an exciting time, it\u2019s the wild west, I think how I look at it, I look at a broken model and still kind of hold on to pieces that are there but you know, it\u2019s change and change is certainly coming, change is here and it\u2019s important to embrace that particular change.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s jump back to \u2018Richards\/Crane<\/a>\u2019, how did this project come about?<\/strong>
\nWell I was in a band with Shannon Larkin called \u2018Another Animal\u2019 in 2007 and that band made a killer record, I don\u2019t even know if you can get that in Australia but it\u2019s great, and inside that band\u2019s matrix I met Lee Richards who\u2019s this prophetic song writing freak, he\u2019s awesome, and my goal is to be creative and sing songs and to use all those things I just highlighted. So I went and made a record with Lee and we had Dave Fortman play on it and Shannon played hand percussion it and we have this record done. We had Myles Kennedy sang on a song called \u2018Black and White\u2019 which you can actually go look at\u2026 people of Australia\u2026 go to YouTube and put in Richards\/Crane which is the name of the band and then the song is called \u2018Black and White\u2019 featuring Myles Kennedy and it\u2019s a great video and a fantastic taste of what\u2019s going on. That dude is amazing, you know what\u2019s really interesting about Myles, is you think of him as a singer and he\u2019s a fantastic vocalist but what he really is, is a guitar player, he is incredible at the guitar\u2026 he\u2019s soulful, magical player and he\u2019s been out with Slash, imagine all the magic he picked up from that guy\u2026 so that\u2019s the guy! Keep an eye on Myles Kennedy for sure.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s look ahead to the future, so finish this sentence for me, in 2016 Ugly Kid Joe will\u2026<\/strong>
\nRock the world\u2026 we shall rock the world\u2026 I\u2019ve got to be honest, it feels good to be singing songs and touring, I really enjoy and for me personally that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about. You do all these things and hopefully you get to the stage and you have a live moment with your songs and you communicate through music. So 2016 we shall rock the world\u2026<\/p>\n

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Essential Information<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> California, USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong> Whitfield Crane (Vocals), Klaus Eichstadt (Guitars), Sonny Mayo (Guitars), Zac Morris (Drums), Cordell Crockett (Bass), Dave Fortman (Guitars), Shannon Larkin (Drums),<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0 http:\/\/www.uglykidjoe.net<\/a><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong> Uglier Than They Used Ta Be \u2013 (Out Now – UKJ Records)<\/p>\n

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