Later this month, The Cruel Knives are set to make their mark with their debut EP – ‘Side One’. Picking up where guitarist Sid Glover and bassist Rob Ellershaw old band, Heaven’s Basement, left off as they draft in vocalist Tom Harris and drummer Al Junior. ‘Side One’ is five slices of adrenaline-fuelled hard rock with recent single ‘Kill The Messenger’ setting the tone for what to expect.
Although The Cruel Knives are just starting out, they’ve already been out playing shows alongside The Pretty Reckless in Europe. Nevertheless, their focus in recent months has been on ‘Side One’. Like many independent bands, the quartet decided to use crowdfunding service PledgeMusic to fund their debut EP.
It’s common knowledge that crowdfunding services thrive off the direct band-to-fan relationship. We recently quizzed bass player Rob Ellershaw to give us five reasons why the band decided to use PledgeMusic.
Unique Experiences
We get to offer unique experiences to our fans. One item I really liked was the ‘studio day’ where fans could come down and watch us record and build up the tracks, It’s kinda like peeking behind the curtains which is something I’d love to do with my favourite bands and everyone that came down seemed to be into it.
Full Creative Control
As a band, you get to make the record you want. We had full creative control of this EP which meant the songs, artwork and title were chosen by us, I think that’s really important for a debut release because we get to show everyone what we’re all about. There was no-one looking over our shoulders suggesting to put a triangle or something on a track, (Actually thinking about that now that could be pretty good.) Now it’s done, we all stand by the finished article and can’t wait for everyone to get their ears round it!
Tight Bond with Fans
Hopefully, it gets fans to feel more invested in the band. I think when you pre-order a record and then see mini updates and get exclusive access to content, it just tightens the bond between the band and its fans, it was cool sneak previewing snippets of new songs and short studio videos and then seeing the reaction on our Pledge page.
Listening to Fans
We can listen to what our fans want. When a fans pre-ordered the new EP they can comment on our page and react to shirt designs/new songs etc, but they can also suggest items they’d be interested in. We’re always open minded when it comes to things that like that and there’s always stuff that as a band you don’t even think about.
Disposable Cameras
We got to become paparazzi. One of the items we offer are disposable cameras documenting our European tour with The Pretty Reckless as well as the studio days. Everyone normally just uses their phones for photos these days, so it was good craic to go back to the disposable cameras, reminded me of being a kid and going on a school trip with one, but all those ended up black or blurry and these photos will actually come out alright!
‘Side One’ EP by The Cruel Knives is released on 28th July on PledgeMusic.
The Cruel Knives will play an EP release show at Thousand Island, London on July 26th.
