Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)
PD: What type of artist are you?
JC: I am a punk/rockabilly solo guitar artist
PD: Tell us a brief history of yourself
JC: I was born in Tooting, London in 1992 and I’ve been into music ever since I first discovered Elvis Presley when I was 11. I got my first guitar when I was 16 and have been playing ever since.
PD: Who are you musical and non-musical influences?
JC: The Clash are my favourite band of all time, and their frontman Joe Strummer is like a messiah to me, because of how he and the band wrote political and social songs that reflected around at the time when civil unrest and social injustices were happening in the UK in the late ‘70s. To this day, I think most of their songs are timeless and I often like to duplicate, or show tribute, of the same kind of rebelliousness and reflection they had within their music. I also love The Stray Cats, because I love rockabilly music and Brian Setzer’s guitar playing is one of the greatest I’ve ever seen and love to learn more about.
If I had to choose a non-musical influence, it would probably be every rebel greaser character in film, like Marlon Brando in “The Wild One” or James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause”, because I often like to dress like them, but it’s their daring personalities what I think makes them more interesting.
PD: What are your dreams and goals?
JC: I dream of forming a new band and performing my music on the road until the day I die. I decided a year ago I wouldn’t let anything get in the way of chasing my music dream, because it’s my biggest strength in life I want to work hard to achieve.
PD: Who writes your songs and what are they about?
JC: I write my songs and I tend to make most of them about the traditional fun and wild lifestyle of being
a rock ‘n’ roller combined with present day influences. Sometimes I would write political and protest songs, but I usually like to focus on the ‘rebel without a cause’ phase, because I find it more interesting.
PD: How do you promote your band and shows?
JC: I design my own posters, flyers and videos for any next upcoming show or any new material. Ever since lockdown I have been doing Instagram live shows every Friday and I usually post an advert for it five days in advance so that everyone knows.
PD: What do you think about downloading music online?
JC: In some ways it does affect the artists’ royalty pay, but when you look at it as a whole, it can be rather useful to others worldwide whether it’s in a country where they don’t sell any physical copies of the music or they can’t afford it. And the only way they can hear it is when they stream and download it. I think artists and bands should rely more on selling tickets for shows just before trying to get as many people to listen to their music.
PD: What song do you wish you had written and why?
JC: “White Man In Hammersmith Palais” by The Clash, because it’s got a good reggae beat to it and I think the lyrics to this day are still very timeless about social injustice and hypocrisy within society. It starts off describing Joe Strummer’s experience at an all dub/reggae night at The Palais, which was a venue that used to exist in Hammersmith in West London, but the best part is the rest of it if you listen to the lyrics, and that’s why I love it and wish I wrote it.
PD: What are some of your pet peeves?
JC: Whenever I get requests asking if I can play any Oasis songs, hahaha.
PD: What is your proudest moment in music?
JC: That I’ve never stopped playing and I will always continue to follow my music dream.
PD: So what are you working on at the moment?
JC: I am currently recording new songs for new upcoming EPs which I will be releasing later this year.
PD: What have you available online and where can we buy it from?
JC: I have all my recordings available on all music platforms, Spotify, iTunes, Bandcamp, YouTube, etc.
https://joncrabb.bandcamp.com/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/0lu1Aiu6ryCroaRvTz7F7D
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0-gDt8faDTlYs1b88JKlXg
Jon Crabb links:
Band/Artist location – London England
Facebook – You Tube – Bandcamp – Reverbnation –
Twitter – Instagram – Apple – Spotify – Amazon – Deezer
Check our page for Jon Crabb
