CRANELY GARDENS (EN)

1- Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What are you guys currently up to?
Currently we’re promoting the release of our new EP, House of Decay, which comes out on August 11th. This is our second studio EP, self-recorded and mixed and mastered at Ghostship Recordings. We’re planning to tour the East coast throughout the remainder of the year while writing our full length album to hopefully have out early 2019.

2- First off, could you make some history of the band?
Many line-ups ago, the band was started by former co-vocalist, Dean Graboyes, and Chaz Macklin. We gathered 4 other musicians, one of whom being Randy Mac, lead guitarist and the only other original member of the band, and formed Cranely Gardens. Our name was taken from an apartment complex in London where serial killer, Dennis Andrew Nilsen, murdered and buried his victims. I read a story about him in a book and thought he was a fascinating creature. The band had struggled on deciding on a name for quite a while but that name was accepted unanimously by the band and we got out of the garage on the stage.  After a few twists and turns, the dust settled and the group fused into its most powerful and longest maintaining line-up comprised of members Ryan Shane on drums, Joe Fedele on guitar and Alex Niszczak on bass, Randy Mac on guitar and Chaz Macklin on vocals. Since then, we self-released our first EP, Locust Valley, and played hundreds of shows in the northeast area, trying to make a name for ourselves in our local scene as well as online.

 
3- How could you describe your sound?
We feel that our sound is a blend of many different metal subgenres. Everyone in the band enjoys a wide array of bands and genres, but everyone tends to lean on one specific genre a little more than others. With that being said, everyone tries to incorporate those different interests and elements into an amalgamation of melody and heaviness.

 
4- What are the band’s main musical influences?
As a common collective, I think what currently influences the band to the greatest degree is the current state of the world around us. With the US consistently struggling to find a way to unite its people and constantly teetering on the verge of war, modern atrocities and global terrorism taking place on a regular basis, and the general neglect of the environment and disregard for the dire consequences this negligence may bestow on us, the band feels a heavily obligation to not let these things and many other concerns go overlooked and left without contemplation and discussion.  Whether through lyrical content or the feel of the music, we’re trying to pull our sense of fear and passion and urgency into our art to create a palpable sense of our concern for the future of the place human beings call home. We’re in fragile times right now and I think that uncertainty for what’s to come helps push our need to manifest our thoughts and feelings into our music.

 
5- How has the feedback for your new album been?
So far the album has been very well received.  Whether through casually showing the music to some select friends and fans, to the responses that we’ve seen in regards to the two singles we’ve released or the current press reviews that have been published, the EP seems to be enjoyed by most of the audience that’s had the opportunity to experience it, which we obviously couldn’t be happier about.

 
6- And are you personally satisfied with the final outcome?
I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but personally I’m very happy with the songs that we were able to put together.  I think we’ve grown a lot as a band and I think our songwriting has really stepped up from our first release. On top of that, I really pushed myself when writing the lyrics for these songs, and for the first time, I can walk away from my words and feel good about what’s left on the page. For me personally, it’s an incredibly satisfying feeling to experience that, because I generally always see room for improvement in my lyrics, but I feel content this time around.

 
7- How could you describe this opus in just 3 words?
Musical panic attack.

8- How was the production process for your new release?
The production process was arduous, to say the least. We wrote some of the songs in the studio, reworked all of the written songs over again, and then changed some bits and pieces along the way. On top of that, we all maintained a 40 plus hour work week and tried to squeeze in whatever time we could, whenever we could to make this come together.

9- And how does the songwriting process work?
Typically, Randy will bring a riff to practice and then the guys will jam it out and just play until something catches my ear that I think they did well and didn’t realize it.  We’ll try to form that organic idea into an actual part, and then everyone will add their input into what type of direction the song needs to go.  We’ll run through a litany of other riffs and ideas and most of the time the group just knows when the right parts are coming together. The bad part about allowing everyone some say in the process is the different backgrounds that everyone is bringing to the table.  Some of the guys are into black metal, some are into nu metal, some are into death metal and some are into hardcore. These different styles don’t always blend as well as we’d hope, so it takes a fair amount of finesse to graft a sound that everyone can agree is good and the right choice.

 
10 – Finally, what are you near-future plans?
Our near future plans are to stretch our legs and get up and down the coast as much as possible through the fall and get as much writing done as we can once we get back into the basement to have our full length come out on schedule. We’re looking to work with a producer and let someone else take control of the recording process this time, so we’re excited to see how that affects the songs moving forward.

 
11- That’s all from our side, thanks again for taking your time to answer our questions. If you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
All I can say is please check out House of Decay and hit us up on Facebook to let us know what you think about it. If there’s something in a song that strikes you, take that inspiration and do something positive with it. Some of the songs may come off as negative, but they’re a social commentary on the way things are, not a resignation to the way they have be.
All questions answered by Chaz Macklin-Vocals
https://cranelygardens1.bandcamp.com/album/house-of-decay
http://www.cranelygardens.com/
https://twitter.com/cranelygardens