Like uncompromising hard rock, Dirty ol’ Crow have you covered. You may even have read about their recent Metal 2 the Masses exploits on these very pages…
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are based in London but our roots are from Germany, Latvia and Italy.
How did you meet?
We all met in London mainly through friend connections.
How long have you been playing as a band?
Since April 2017; we have been rehearsing on a regular basis.
Before you get sick of being asked, where does the band name come from?
We had a few other ideas until we decided for “Dirty ol’ Crow” – Vikki came up with it one day and well, we all agreed immediately. You know – sometimes you just hear something and you know right away, that this is exactly it. The name itself does not need much explanation.
What are your influences?
That is very difficult to say. We are all influenced by different types of music. Not only hard rock but many other genres of metal have influenced us through the years before Dirty ol’ Crow. The most of us had different musical projects in the past starting from blues rock via punk to the darkest corners of black metal!
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
That’s pretty easy – we don’t settle on any compromise when it comes to making our music, especially fitting into current trends. We just write and play what we feel and what we enjoy, which is raw and undiluted rock n’ roll – down to the bone! This is clearly visible in the sheer energy delivered on stage and in the enthusiasm and dedication of each band member.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We do not have a common theme throughout the songs but mostly, lyrics are based on different life events and experiences. But often there are presented as a metaphor.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
Until now we have played 10 shows. They’ve all been a hurricane of energy. We always interact with the audience as much as possible and the great response we got so far pushes us even more.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
Apart from mosh pits and our singer Vikki jumping into the crowd and crawling through them, the craziest thing was on a show when he shattered a glass bottle on stage. After the show half of the band was bleeding. We still found shards one week later in our gear.
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc.?
Our drummer Keltor uses mainly Tama drums and Paiste cymbals.
Bassist Dom plays Fender bass and amp.
Fil plays Epiphone / Gibson guitars through a full valve Marshall head. He also plays through a variety of MXR and Boss pedals.
Mike plays FGN / Ibanez guitars through Boss, MXR pedals into a Mesa Boogie head.
Vikki Totten uses a beautiful vintage Shure Super Deluxe 55.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
We are promoting our first single “Sex Dictator” which will be released on the 14th of September together with a self-produced music video – It will be available on all major online stores.
What are your plans for 2018?
Our plans until the end of 2018 will be finishing the recordings for our first EP. In the meantime we are focusing on our first headlining shows and on plenty of other gigs in London. Also, we are continuously writing new material and that’s not going to stop any time soon.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you? A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before!
There are many. But if we were to put a show together right now we would call “Temple Lake” (awesome band we got to know by playing gigs around London) as an opener and Aerosmith as a headliner.
Header image by Danni Garner
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