In the past twelve months, Those Damn Crows have gone from grassroots hopefuls to proper rock contenders, on the back of their game-raising album Inhale/Exhale. We caught up with frontman Shane Greenhall, backstage at London’s Forum a few hours before their headline show there.
After that, he tells us, they head to Paris for a show with Ayron Jones, then back home for Christmas with their families, guitarist David’s wedding and laying down demos for their next album.
“I never stop writing,” Greenhall enthuses. “I’ve probably done, like, three songs on this tour now.”
Can you sum up Those Damn Crows’ 2023 in three words?
Busy, intense, gratifying. At the start of the year plans were pencilled in, and that’s always kind of, ‘okay, we’ll believe it when we see it’. And when they officially happened, in Europe with the Goo Goo Dolls, Hollywood Vampires… It’s helped the fan-base grow because a lot of people on these [headline] shows saw us for the first time there.
Back in February, Inhale/Exhale hit No.3 in the UK. Has that changed things for you?
It’s great to have the recognition for all the hard work. It’d be different if we were having that and not selling out tour dates. But we are, so they go hand in hand. It’s a way that the fans can show their love and loyalty, by putting you in that position. So it does matter to bands, but what’s more important is that people are coming to the shows. And it’s history as well. Once you do that you can look back and go: ‘Yeah, that was number three’. That’s really cool.
There’s been a renewed focus on rock bands doing well in the charts. Why is that?
I think the fans want to make a difference. I think the love for it [rock music] is growing every day. Fans are buying the material and they’re putting us there. They care about it as much as we do. Every show, there’s people on our fan page saying: “I’m gonna to go on my own today.” And then there’s fifteen to twenty people saying: “We’ll meet you in a pub beforehand.”
What’s the most memorable thing a fan gave you in 2023?
There’s a lot of knickers these days. Someone, I think in Wolverhampton, I’m coming back to the bus after the show, and she said: “Did you get my knickers?” I go: “No, I missed that, sorry.” And she said: “Oh, they were my best ones!” When we released This Time I’m Ready [written about Greenhall’s late father], sadly, since then people have lost people in their family. I’ve had loads of messages after shows saying thank you for your music, and this song in particular. That's a huge gift.
This Time I’m Ready really resonated.
Yeah, especially guys in the rock scene. It’s perhaps about having the tattoos, cut-off jackets and stuff, then you see grown men lose control of their emotions. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s okay to lose it and take that feeling and move forward with it. “So what? I cried. So what? I got upset and it showed.” That's okay.
Over the summer you toured with Hollywood Vampires. What were your impressions of them?
I’ve nothing but love and admiration for Johnny Depp, because that guy literally can’t do anything without security around him. It must be so difficult. You couldn’t be too close. He’d just say “Crows!” and put his hands together and punch his chest. So he knew who we were. And Alice Cooper spoke with Dave [Winchurch, guitarist] and said he played us on Planet Rock. Joe Perry was very quiet, though we got on incredibly well with his guitar tech. But it just felt like another level with Johnny being there.
The band and music seems to be a kind of leveller for Johnny Depp.
He must just be doing it for the craic. I mean, he doesn't need the money. He looked so happy, and you’d see them getting into a huddle before they went on stage, they did this whole ‘vampires put your hand in the middle’ type thing… Just watching these legends still killing it, hopefully that’s us in twenty years.
Closer to home, you drew one of the biggest crowds at Steelhouse. There seemed to be more Crows T-shirts than AC/DC or Motörhead.
Everyone knows how special that festival is for us [Those Damn Crows were a headliners]. And it’s not just a Welsh thing; so many people come from the UK down to Wales. And all the support we’ve had from Mikey [Evans] and Max [Rhead, organisers] from day one has been incredible. It’s a special festival.
Whose new records have you enjoyed this year?
Rival Sons. I just love Jay’s voice. Just when you think: “How is he going to hit that note again?” bam, there it is, effortless. I think that whole vibe they’ve got is killer. Nobody else was really close, to be honest.
