Preview Camden Crawl 2014

DIY arrives at the Camden Crawl this weekend, with a stage featuring Johnny Foreigner, Slaves and more.

Words: Sarah Jamieson
16th June 2014

This year, the Camden Crawl is returning under an ever-so-slightly new guise: CC14. Whether you’re planning to see Brolin in the Lock Tavern, or Brontide in the Purple Turtle; if you’re trying to get into of Montreal at Electric Ballroom, or Big Deal at Black Cap, there’s plenty to take in over the two-dayer.

“I can’t wait,” begins Slaves’ guitarist Laurie Vincent. “On a tour it’s sick but you see the same bands every night, so it’s gonna be nice to catch some of the other bands that we like.” Coaxing you in with their brash, loud brand of garage-punk, they’re guaranteed to be like no other band on the bill.

“It’s like a test of how far you can reach,” continues Vincent, reminiscing of their last major festival slot. “At Reading and Leeds, there was a core group of people at the front, but then there were people as far as a couple of hundred metres back. You have the challenge of stopping them and making them watch you. I feel like that’s what we do, we try to pull people in.

“It’s very intimate,” chimes in drummer Isaac Holman, who also takes on vocal duties. “Usually it takes a good few songs for a crowd to get it. Usually, they’re halfheartedly clapping and being like, ‘What is going on?’, but then by the end of the set everyone’s laughing and dancing and singing along.”

"We were really angry; now it’s a bit more fun."

The sense of bewilderment seems to be a constant when performing. Having just finished up a tour of the UK with Blood Red Shoes and DZ Deathrays, they’re prepared for the challenge of taking on new crowds. “Making people stop and think, ‘What the fuck is that?’ is the best challenge,” the guitarist concurs.

“I think we do get that quite a lot! The biggest thing we always hear is, ‘I don’t usually like the type of music, but that was cool.’ I think every gig we’ve ever played, someone has come up to us and gone, ‘I don’t like this music, but that was cool’.

“There have been reviewers say that we’re scary and intimidating; that it’s an intense show. I think it’s chilled out now but when we first started and we were trying to find our feet, to combat our nerves we just went over the top.”

“We were really angry,” Holman casually throws into the conversation. “Now, we’ve been at it, it’s a bit more fun. It’s still angry and it’s still really energetic, but some of our shows now are becoming more like a comedy show!”

Slaves will play the DIY stage at CC14 on Saturday 21st June, along with Johnny Foreigner, God Damn and Gnarwolves.

Tags: Gnarwolves, God Damn, Johnny Foreigner, Slaves, Festivals, Features