Andy Johnson is the charismatic front man of North East based ‘Crimson Bloom’ (@CrimsonBloomUK) who are to release their 2nd album ‘Finer Times’ at the beginning of August
Pre Order Link HERE
Their 1st album, 2018’s self-titled debut album is an unashamed love letter to the late 80’s / early 90’s Indie Scene (Stone Roses, The La’s etc) with (as Andy says) ‘a knowing nod to the psychedelia of the 1960s and a few clubby, dubby flavours thrown in here and there’
I first come across Andy whilst he was performing as ‘Old Red Eyes’ (his solo Paul Heaton act) when supporting ‘The Smyths’ in 2019 and then found out about the exceptional ‘Southmartins’ (a Housemartins / Beautiful South act which he fronts)
After exchanging a few messages, I then found out Andy was also the lead singer of ‘Crimson Bloom’...
Before we talk about ‘Crimson Bloom’, how did you get to this point
Were you in bands previously?
I’ve been writing songs since I first picked up a guitar and learned 3 chords. It’s just a machine to write on for me. I’ve been in a couple of bands here and there but never really gave anything a proper go. Making the music is the result for me and its always hard keeping people focussed, motivated and ‘happy’ in a group. Always egos including mine!
I do, technically, still exist in a duo - Cherry Head, Cherry Heart - which is a spin-off with Naomi from The Southmartins. More pop-orientated really.
I’ve also been writing some “dance” stuff with a new music friend. I have a variety of masks. I’m like a musical Worzel Gummidge.
Is this your day job?
Music is my day job yes.
I make 95% of my income if not more from gigging and selling bits of original stuff too.
I do a little bit of teaching with adults with learning difficulties which is rewarding and I manage a girl called Amelia Coburn.
She was nominated for the BBC 2 Young Folk Awards a couple of years ago and is set to get cracking with music as a career too. I also do some painting and art etc when the feeling takes me.
How has Lockdown been for you and your family?
For me it hasn’t been a massive lurch as most of my week is spent at home sorting stuff or gigs and writing/recording etc. The vast majority of gigs are at the weekend.
I guess the big change for me is getting used to having people around when I’m recording and writing. I have to sing quieter now!
The big change for my family is having to listen to me singing the same thing over and over again or trying to play the guitar decently. I pity them.
You’ve been doing a lot of acoustic ‘online gigs’ for charity, as well as ‘Old Red Eyes’ you’ve been mixing it up a bit, you have a far-reaching repertoire.
Do you find it easy to learn and adapt songs for your acoustic performances?
I’m trying to keep my hand in really as if I don’t gig for a long while I go stir crazy but also my voice goes out of shape and I need it to be decent, particularly for the Heaton stuff.
It’s been a great opportunity to expand my repertoire across the board really too.
I got a bit stuck in a groove of a song list set in stone for Old Red Eyes. It’s been developed and it’s like a proper show when you see it live with jokes and interaction and stuff but you can only get away with that once or twice with the same audience, so this has kicked me up
the arse. It’s been great to play some of the lesser known stuff
He’s got an amazing catalogue of songs and I’ve learnt a lot from knowing them a bit more from a writing point of view
Do you think ‘online gigs’ are going to be something that are now here to stay?
Well… I was doing them before the lockdown! Ha.
It does seem like everyone’s doing them now and that’s great really.
There’s a ton of talent out there and it’s good to see people you may never come across otherwise.
I think most people into playing and writing will keep doing them in one form or another. For me it’s been good to play to people across the world that aren’t likely to be able to see me in the flesh.
Looking at the ‘original’ songs you’ve produced with ‘Crimson Bloom’ did you know in advance that the songs / sound would be a ‘love letter’ to the late 80’s / early 90’s?
I’m thinking particularly about tracks like ‘Fall For You’ with its ‘Elephant Stone’ drumming or ‘In All The World’ which is reminiscent of ‘Waterfall’?
Absolutely. No denying it. I set out to write another Stone Roses album. I had been leading up to it I guess with the previous solo albums I made - Underneath the Damson Tree and Imaginary Perfect - which both tapped into some of those sounds from my youth.
The Roses were clearly not going to make another album and certainly not sounding like people hoped deep down - that early sound around the debut and up to Fools Gold.
There’s a song I wrote called Sunshine Deluxe on Underneath the Damson Tree which was an early attempt to write something in a Roses style.
I never listen to them though when writing this kind of stuff and didn’t at all when writing and recording the first album. I like the idea of it being a fairly naive take on that sound and as such it has a bit more of me and other influences in there.
There’s definitely a bit of The Smiths in there too. I’ve heard the Stone Roses debut album so many times though I can replay it in my head at will anyway! My instinct when writing is usually to steer things away from being pure pastiche/homage but because that was the intention I actively made decisions to make stuff more like the influence.
That said there’s a few bits in there on the first album that are developments of where they were headed after the debut album rather than pure imitation. I did sit and write the songs as songs in their own right though and they are mostly about real situations so that had to work first and foremost.
How has your sound developed for the new album?
The sound has changed a fair bit.
There’s definitely a few songs that could have sat on the first album but the touchstones are less obvious. For the first album you could almost say “ah well this is Elephant Stone, and this is Waterfall”.
I’m not sure there’s anything on the new album that you could say that about although it still feels fairly familiar. I would say everything has gone to the extremes. The jangly stuff is more jangly, the groovy stuff more groovy. The number of clear influences has increased too. I would say The La’s, Charlatans, The Coral and Can are all in there to a lesser or greater degree.
It’s more psychedelic in places and more heartfelt. It deals with death, love, corruption and the seven deadly sins.
During 2020 so far you’ve been prolific with your recorded output, as part of ‘Crimson Bloom’ name you’ve released the ‘Cut Me Down EP’; ‘This Is The Future’ single and the new album due soon. You’ve and the ‘Strawberry Sunshine’ EP in your own name.
Was ‘Strawberry Sunshine’ something planned or spontaneous as it seemed to appear from nowhere
I’ve been writing and recording constantly in lockdown as well as now trying to get the album finished.
I did put an EP out a couple of weeks into lockdown but didn’t really promote it.
Strawberry Sunshine and the tracks that are on the EP (as well as a few others that may appear at some point) were mostly written as potential songs for the band, so they fit in, sonically, with what we’re doing really.
I don’t tend to plan to sit down and write though. It’s always when I get some inspiration. For instance, a song on the Strawberry Sunshine EP - Kissing The Morning - was inspired by Shiner Sam (@shiner_sam) from Twitter. She’s a big voice for unsigned and upcoming bands.
She posted a picture of a beautiful morning and she has a real get up and go attitude (particularly since she like to have a good party/drink too) so it was a bit of that and it just fell out of my head and I had it recorded before 10am on the same day.
There are also a few tracks left off the album that will probably become standalone singles. One has a definite Second Coming kind of feel but a bit sparser and we have a cover that
we play live that we’ve recorded too.
You’re very active on Social Media, especially Twitter. Would you say for new / upcoming bands this has replaced things like the NME to reach a wider audience?
I think it’s possible to find an audience on Twitter.
I hadn’t really done much promo at all for the band/album for the first year or so. It was just water under the bridge really but then I saw another couple of bands bubbling up and getting a response that were, essentially, playing the same kind of stuff so I went looking for Roses fans and people into music along those lines and found a whole community of like-minded people on Twitter in particular.
I love it on there. I probably spend too much time on it to be honest! There is a genuine community feel though if you follow the right people. Really supportive of each other on a personal level and you get introduced to all kinds of new and old music too.
I think because what we do isn’t particularly in vogue at the moment, we struggle to get our foot in a lot of doors but we’re happy slowly building on what we have and finding genuine fans not just people following some hype.
We’ve only really done a handful of gigs and generally have to rely on putting them on ourselves (like most local music scenes the Teesside/North East one is pretty cliquey) and now the lockdown is looking like taking that promotional aspect away Social Media is where it’s at for now.
For new/upcoming bands (we’re one of them by the way!) I would just say don’t compromise what you’re doing musically, and you’ll find people that like it. There’s a load of independent blogs and radio stations that love this kind of music. It helps if you have someone to champion you somewhere but that can take time to find the right people.
Failing that just make up a load of shit about yourself and lie your way to the top which seems to work for some. Ha.
With Music Streaming being the main way many people consume music, how hard is it to build an audience? I imagine there are pro’s and con’s?
Streaming is pretty terrible for us to be honest. It has helped a bit having people putting us on playlists and getting found by the odd person but most days we might get 20 plays on Spotify (and still the biggest amount compared to other platforms) for instance and that doesn’t even begin to pay for the cost of recording, mixing and mastering songs.
It gets frustrating and it’s difficult not to be negative about it but it is what it is and to win their game you have to play their game. We’ve decided not to put the new album on streaming sites until we’ve either built an audience/demand for it on there or made the production costs back through physical releases. All things in life are better physically anyway.
Gigging aside, what will be the first thing you do once Lockdown is over?
Just get out and see some mates. I live two doors down from the pub so I imagine a pint or so in there will happen. Looking forward to working with others more closely on music too.
Finally, ….
5 ‘Challenging’ Quick Fire Questions…
Favourite gig as a performer?
First time we played Leeds O2 Academy was pretty special but also selling out Middlesbrough Town Hall with the Southmartins.
Favourite gig as a punter?
The Polyphonic Spree at Manchester Academy. Just a mad, happy, inclusive gig that was essentially a legal high.
Favourite album
The Stone Roses. It’s just got everything you need
Favourite single/song
At a push… There Is A Light That Never Goes Out. Or A Day In the Life. Prettiest Eyes… ask me tomorrow.
All-time favourite band/artist
The Beatles. Where it all started for me.
Iain Key 2020
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