In this interview, The Crawling’s Andy Clarke discusses What We Leave Behind, exploring nostalgia, emotional decay, and the death/doom sound that transforms life’s darker truths into powerful music.
1. What
We Leave Behind explores nostalgia, regret, and the damage caused by living in
the past. What inspired you to build this two-track EP around these themes, and
was there a particular experience or realization that shaped its central
message?
I’ve
noticed over the last while people becoming totally obsessed with nostalgia;
constantly dwelling on the past, looking back to a time when “everything was
perfect”. The reality is, those times where not perfect, and people rebuild
memories, creating a new narrative - effectively rewriting the past into an
untruth. As with all the music I write, I wanted to express my observations and
encourage discussion and how others view this, or am I missing something?
That
inspired the track A Song to Nurse the Sickness, which explores how people
carry these false memories around, nurture them, add to them, make them even
glossier than they every were. Then the lament starts … constantly looking back
and missing the now.
2. The
opening track, “A Song to Nurse the Sickness,” examines the tendency to
preserve emotional wounds rather than allow them to heal. What does the idea of
“nursing” past pain mean to you, and how did you translate this psychological
struggle into the song’s music and lyrics?
The nursing
simply relates to the ongoing rumination of the past. The constant rewriting
and reviewing of memory that get stretched so often they no longer represent
the facts - like an illness, they just distort the body of truth.
The lyrics
came together quite quickly, I had a good idea what I wanted to talk about, and
I took on a first-person narrative; which I tend to do a lot when relaying these
kinds of topics. I do tend to switch back and forth a it, which isn’t always
intentional.
The music
was slightly different, I wanted a strong intro to grab attention, then when
moving to the verse create space to allow the vocals to come to the front -
it’s always important to me the words can be understood; even in death metal.
The music weaves back and forth to represent narrative, melancholy of
remembrance and the closing aggression of the realization of truth.
3. Andy
Clarke described the constant mourning of time as a sickness, suggesting that
people often overlook the present while grieving the past. How important is
this message to The Crawling, and do you see songwriting as a way of
confronting these feelings or making peace with them?
The
Crawling is simply a vessel for me to express how I see things from my
perspective. People don't have to agree, and I always enjoy speaking with
others about the lyrics and hearing their interpretations.
The message
is important because it encourages people to think about their own behaviors
and perhaps gain some insight into whether those thoughts are actually good or
bad for them. I use music to explore emotions, sometimes just to try and make
sense of things myself.
There's
been quite a bit of discussion about nostalgia since the EP came out, and it's
been really interesting listening to other people's perspectives.
4. What
We Leave Behind includes “Bound to the Negative [Requiem],” a complete acoustic
reconstruction of a song originally featured on All of This for Nothing. What
made you choose this particular track for reinterpretation, and what did you
discover about the song when stripping away its original arrangement?
It wasn’t
entirely deliberate. I got an acoustic as a present and was just jamming on it.
Bound is a predominately clean guitar track - well, kind of - it has acoustic
parts more than the other songs. So, it was easy to play and it was interesting
to hear it on an acoustic guitar. I was also able to put a clean vocal on it,
as I’m not a great singer - so that was really fun.
The main
takeaway from this version is the message and emotion remains. The response has
been great, and super interesting. People still seem to enjoy it, and retain
the same message; despite a complete deconstruction of the original piece.
5. The
acoustic version changes the song’s musical form while preserving its original
conclusion. How did you approach arranging “Bound to the Negative [Requiem]” to
create a different emotional experience without losing the essence of the
original composition?
It took a
while!
I'm not a
particularly great guitar player, and I have very little formal musical
knowledge, so translating the track to acoustic was actually quite difficult.
I knew the
verses would work because they're essentially open chords, so I moved on to the
chorus to see if that would translate. The real challenge was connecting the
different sections, as the original relies heavily on distorted guitars.
I wanted to
create even more emotion, so I stripped each verse and chorus right back, then
gradually rebuilt them as the song progressed. I added vocal harmonies, piano
and some strings, building towards an emotional collapse at the end. The
message is embedded deeply in the lyrics, and I think that helped maintain the
essence of the original song.
6. The
Crawling have developed a distinctive death/doom sound built around crushing
heaviness, guttural vocals, melancholy, and themes of loss. How has your
approach to balancing musical brutality with emotional vulnerability evolved
across your three studio albums and into this latest release?
The more I
write, the more I concentrate on simply writing good songs.
There's no
particular formula, but you do have to pay attention to structures that create
tension, emotion, release and an overall tone. I've recognized that writing
something with a simple structure is incredibly difficult without becoming
blatantly repetitive and boring the listener.
I'm always
moving towards that goal of keeping things simple while maintaining interest.
It's really tricky. I'll always have my core approach to writing. The riffs are
generally in the same ballpark, let's face it. That's what a genre is!
But I've
tried to create more interest in the tracks over the years and find better ways
to instill emotion into the music. I've also started paying more attention to
how I actually feel when writing.
A good riff
can easily be overlooked, while a crap one might survive simply because it took
ages to write!
I've become
much better at abandoning songs, even completed ones, if they don't serve the
purpose.
7. With
only two tracks, What We Leave Behind feels like a deliberately focused
statement rather than a conventional EP. Did the shorter format allow you to
explore these themes more directly, and how did you decide that these two songs
formed a complete artistic journey?
It was
deliberate in that we had no choice. Our drummer lives in a different country,
so we had to work out what the recording process looked like. So, the plan was
record 1 or 2 tracks and see how we go. Ant hit the studio and did one track,
sent me the stems, I tracked, mixed, and mastered the remainder. It came out
great, so we had to release it. I did think about a standalone single / video
only release, but then I had BTTN already sitting - so I put them together to
see what that would look like. It worked, so it became the EP. We could have
recored more songs I guess, but it didn’t need it. It was complete.
Interestingly,
the more I looked at the lyrics and concepts behind both tracks, the more I realized
the nostalgia theme fitted them together perfectly.
8. Andy
Clarke handled the mixing and mastering of the EP, while Redamaut created the
cover artwork. How did you approach the production and visual presentation to
ensure they reflected the release’s atmosphere of nostalgia, regret, and
emotional decay?
I've been
recording my own music all my life, so it made sense to continue doing that. I
approached the production as I always do, trying to maintain clarity, weight
and keep up with modern production values.
Ultimately,
my abilities are limited, so there's a point where I get the recording sounding
as good as I can make it, and then I stop!
The visual
side was largely in the hands of the artist. I gave Redamaut a fairly concise
brief, but they also wanted the demo track, lyrics and any other thoughts I
had.
It was a
great process, and they nailed it almost immediately.
Interestingly,
Redamaut introduced the hourglass into the artwork. That subsequently inspired
its inclusion in both music videos, tying everything together through the
concept of time passing.
It was
great seeing the whole thing come together.
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9. Over
the years, The Crawling have performed at festivals such as Bloodstock Open
Air, Inferno Metal Festival, Incineration Festival, and MetalDays, reaching
audiences across different countries and scenes. How have these live
experiences influenced your development as a band, and how do you translate the
emotional intensity of your music to the stage?
Playing
some of those shows was simply amazing. It’s such a unique and fantastic
opportunity when a festival takes a risk and adds an underground band to the
bill; we’ve been very fortunate. Playing those shows simply gives you a hunger
for more of it, creates more drive, and also made us look a the live show and
everything involved.
Translating
it to the stage works well, if anything we’ve more problems translating the
music to recording, rather than live. First part is sound. We have to ensure we
use the best quality of gear at our disposal to get the sound engineer what
they need to make us sound the way we should. It doesn’t have to be the most
expensive things out there, but great sounding amps, pedals and instruments are
often just that! Haha!
But,
ultimately, the playing is in the fingers. Rehearsal is important, practicing
to clicks to ensure timing, but not used live to ensure the human element is
strong when performing.
We also
ensure a visual with what we can do within our zero budget. We keep the stage
dark, minimal lighting, smoke, strobe lighting, backdrops and banners when we
can. It ensures when you see a The Crawling show you know it’s different to the
rest of the bands on the bill - it’s about creating that emotional response.
The music isn’t for everyone, so it doesn’t always work!
10. With
What We Leave Behind encouraging listeners to stop mourning the past and become
more mindful of the present, what do you hope people take away from this
release? Looking ahead, what can fans expect from The Crawling as you continue
developing your sound and exploring the darker aspects of the human experience?
I just hope
people listen and get some kind of response from the music.
If it
encourages someone to consider focusing a little more on the present and
appreciating what they have, that's a good thing. Lamenting the past steals
time when it becomes your primary focus.
Looking
ahead, we just plan to keep doing what we're doing: exploring the human
condition, observing the darker sides of life and translating those
observations into music.
Musically,
we've hinted at introducing more clean vocals, which is something I'd like to
explore further. I also have two very talented musicians in the band who excel
at multiple instruments and are songwriters themselves. I'd really like to find
a way to incorporate more of their ideas into the writing process. The
geographical situation makes that challenging, though, so I'm not entirely sure
how it'll work.
At the end
of the day, we're just going to keep doing what we do.
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