Indie Gem: Cruz
Written by: Freya Zaidi
In the heart of the indie music scene, a vibrant new force is emerging, ready to make its mark. Welcome to the world of Cruz—a four-piece band whose dedication and craft is as impressive in as their music. As the leaves begin to fall and the air turns crisp, Cruz is gearing up to release their highly anticipated debut EP, promising a sonic experience that will transport you to the realm of their live gigs.
With an origin story that sprouted authentically from a time when the world was mostly at a standstill, this band's music is characterized by electrifying live performances and diverse influences, promising to infuse the season with a fresh and invigorating energy. Stay tuned as Next Wave Magazine delves into Cruz's journey with Tom, exploring their roots, sonic evolution, aspirations, and the authentic connection they foster with their growing fanbase. Get ready to be swept away by Cruz's debut EP, a testament to their undeniable talent and unwavering passion.
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For those who may not know Can you give us a brief introduction, who you all are and how you all came together?
Basically it started in University where I met Sam, our singer, through a mutual friend. A friend from my home town was also Sam’s flatmate, we were using his room as like a “toilet” before we went out. You know how you have pre drinks and stuff. So We were around his flat, went in and I noticed he had a guitar so I picked it up and started playing, having a dabble on it, and then he came in and started playing a bit. So it was at that moment we acknowledged that we both played guitar and then it sort of got left there. There wasn’t really much that happened from that point, then we hit covid and obviously lock down. He started sending me a few bits on snap chat, just videos of him playing and clips of some songs he wrote. That’s when I picked up and started playing a bit of lead guitar over top adding different bits in, or I’d write a guitar riff and send it. So there was a bit of back and forth going on there. It was when we came out of covid that we were like “right are we going to have an actual crack at it and try to get the rest of the band?”. So we found Jamie, the bass player, through another friend. Met him at the pub and I asked (mutual friend) “how come you never said Jamie played bass?”. I had known him (friend) for a few months and we were actively looking for a base player, but he hadn’t been playing that long himself. So we got Jamie in and at the time we had another drummer, but he moved to Australia. So Ethan, our current drummer, this is a bizarre story… So Jamie works at a venue in Sheffield, he was asking his mates there, his colleague, if they knew any drummers. This one guy, can’t remember his name, but he said “oh I know of a drummer”; he said that from a memory of when he’d seen Ethan playing the drums about 4 years ago. He didn’t know whether he still played or anything but we got in touch with him, met and it all went on from there. We’re pretty much always together all the time now gigging most weeks.
How did you come up with the name Cruz?
So it was Sam, we actually had a list of names but we hadn’t found one yet. Then he saw a Santa Cruz t-shirt and he thought “how about we just do Cruz”. So that’s how it came about, it’s quite a simple story, not as long as how we formed. I just quite like the short kind of snappiness of it, and when I started to design the logo of it I thought “ oh how about we reverse the R?”. We just wanted something to be short and sort of eye-catching.
Sheffield boasts a rich musical history, birthing bands like Arctic Monkeys and Pulp. How has this city's sonic legacy impacted your sound?
I’d say Sheffield itself quite a bit, we’re all massive Arctic Monkeys fans. We went and saw them at Hilll Park, which is a big park in Sheffield. So I’d say they influence quite a bit. Also originally, Ethan is the only one to be born and grown up in Sheffield. So he speaks of bands like Milburn and sort of the older Sheffield bands; whereas us lot are just sort of mainly Monkeys (Arctic Monkeys). However I think there’s also quite a few other influences brought in. I’m really into some Australian indie bands like Sticky Fingers and Spacey Jane, so I write riffs that are influenced by that side of it. Of course there’s the older bands like Nirvana and The Sex Pistols, I think there’s all sorts of influences from all over. Still we have had quite the strong comparison to sort of the Monkeys sound, especially in the earlier stuff. We’ve all been non-stop listening to the Monkeys for years and years, so it’d be hard not to have that influence on us. But like I said there’s Milburn, which is one of Ethan’s favourite bands so he draws on that quite a bit as well.
Could you walk us through your songwriting process? Do you have primary songwriters or is it a collaborative effort?
I think the songs we’ve got out at the moment it’s been a bit of a mix. “Life of Misery” and “Flammable Light” sort of stemmed out of a guitar riff that I came up with, then Sam puts the lyrics to the riffs; we sort of build it structurally like that. The newer stuff that isn’t released yet, that we all have an influence on. So it’s stemmed from either Ethan’s got a bit from the drums, or I’ve started with a riff and then Jamie has come in with the bass; we sort of build it a bit more together now. So we’re all in the practice room, and we’re just in there for a few good hours, all just trying to add in little bits and influence it that way. Whereas songs we got out at the moment they stem from lockdown so it was a lot of back and forth between me and Sam mainly because we wrote them before we found the other two.
Do you reckon that’s shifted the sound from your singles to your first EP?
I’d say so, I think the rest would say so as well ( chuckle). We have an EP coming out which will be released in November and it’s a lot heavier. I think it’s just exciting. The tunes we tried to test before we put forth the EP, we sort of just settled with this (current singles). We thought “right it’s a first debut EP” so we went fast out of the blocks. Sort of hit it with what we’ve gone for with the singles. Hopefully everyone enjoys it (the EP) as much as we do playing it. It doesn’t stand out of place with the tunes we got out at the moment, but I think you can definitely tell that there’s a bit of a shift and I think that’s because we do enjoy playing the faster stuff a lot more.
How do you capture the energy of your recordings in a live setting?
Initially, because we recorded the first two singles without playing a gig live which is, I think, sort of a weird order to do it. Most bands have been gigging for years and years and they’ve never put something out there officially; and then they go into recording. Whereas we did it the other way around. So we came out of lockdown with these songs written and were like “right, let’s get in, let’s record and let’s get something out”. I don’t know whether it was because of my marketing background, I wanted people to be able to hear us at the gigs and if they think “oh what’s this song” be able to find it. Rather than, “ oh there’s this band but they don’t have any tunes out, but let’s sort of keep an eye on them”. So, for that sake we did it that way around and we’ve been playing the EP songs live at our gigs for a few months now. So when we went in to record, it must’ve been about 3-4 weeks now, the actual EP. We booked a bigger studio because we wanted to replicate how it actually sounded live when recording. We all played together in a big room, and then we did a few bits over top of it - but we were trying to replicate the live sounds on the recording rather than the other way around. When we wrote these tunes, we’d been buzzing about how it was going to go down live. The reception that we’ve had on the new songs since we’ve been playing them has been more energetic. So we didn’t want to take anything away and have it too polished, we wanted the scratchier live tone; and a few (polished) bits on the recording for it to sound more well rounded and huge in general on the tracks.
What would you say is your favourite/ most memorable show or venue thus far?
I’d say from a Sheffield perspective, we played The Lead Mill. Which is this massive iconic venue. It’s where the Monkey’s were playing when they were coming up and there’s been some huge bands playing the Lead Mill. It’s got a really rich history in the indie scene, we played as a support act there. It’s actually facing eviction, the landlord is trying to move them out, he’s found a loophole in the legislation. So there’s a whole petition to try and save The Lead Mill which you can sign online. So it’s still going and hopefully it continues to do so. because it would be a shame if the landlord comes in and converts it into one of these nightclubs and takes away the heritage. We’d love to play it again, but it was an honour to do it if it does end up getting taken over. It was a special night.
Looking ahead, are there any dream venues or festivals you'd love to be a part of?
I think one of the obvious ones would be Glastonbury, not only because it’s massive and it’s sort of the god of all festivals but we’d get tickets for it (chuckles). Tickets are so scarce to get. So I’d say personally Glastonbury, I think the others probably would too. I think venue wise we’d love to play the O2 in Sheffield, which is where Jamie works. I think we’d love to get a support act spot, sort of supporting a bigger band on the main stage there in the big room. I think it’s an aspiration, but doable as well, fingers crossed.
How do you engage with your fans, both online and offline?
I think we’ve got a sort of core following at gigs, so we always make sure to go out and have a chat with them beforehand. At the end of the we’re still at the stage where it’s just four lads messing about. So we’re always out just listening to the other bands and the people that support us. Online I think we’re quite good with how we run our social media, if I don’t say so myself. I think we just try to keep people updated, that’s something we try to do to act like a full-time band; even though we’re not yet, in a sense. I think when people hear the music they just want to keep updated, sort of keep following it, and that’s what we provide. So we have clips of us messing about and how we’re recording the music, stuff like that to keep fans involved.
Your social media presence is a very interactive one, which is lovely to see. Fans have a sort of camaraderie with the band. Was that intentional?
We’ve always said that we want to still message people on a personal level. We don’t want to be one of those bands that’s just not answering anyone, not putting out any sort of content with personality and just pushing gigs at you. There’s these two people Ryan and Jacob that sort of come to the majority of our gigs, and they got the set list from a festival framed, which was great. So when we had two guest list spots at the Lead Mill gig we made sure they had free tickets to that show. It’s always just sort of keeping that connection, so we always go speak to people at shows. It’s just that sort of personal level that we enjoy.
I noticed you had videos up of either acoustic versions of your own songs and a few covers, do you have any favourite covers?
One of my favourites is a Sticky Fingers ones, just because of the sort of indie Australian influence again. We did “Cyclone” which I think really suits Sam’s voice as well. I think the ones that proper popped on TikTok and instagram are the Arctic Monkey’s ones, and we’re trying to do a full band one with Jamie and Ethan as well. I think we’re doing it to try to keep content out there, but I think we’re going to take a step back. Focus on trying to make them more polished, rather than lets see what we can record to put out on a Wednesday.
Covers are a way that some people come across new music. Have you noticed that with your covers?
Ya, I think initially that was sort of what we were aiming for, to sort of capture other audiences with our covers, and then hopefully that leads to them listen to our music. So we continue to put them out, but we enjoy playing them as well, they’re great tunes. I think we just want to put out more of our own at the moment.
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As our conversation with Cruz draws to a close, it's clear that this band will ignite the landscape of indie music. Their story, a fusion of Sheffield's musical heritage and boundless creativity, is just the beginning. With their debut EP on the horizon, now's the time to immerse yourself in Cruz's sound. Feel the pulse of their energetic tracks, forged through collaboration and a love for music. The first single 'Take Off the Pressure' of their Upcoming EP is out on the 1st September. Join them on their social media channels to stay in the loop and pre-save the EP and witness their evolution firsthand.
Twitter/X: @band_cruz
Instagram: @band_cruz
pre-save the EP here: http://bit.ly/CRUZEP
linktree: https://linktr.ee/band_cruz