A Chat with Crooked Mouth

When I first listened to Crooked Mouth’s new album, “One Bright Midnight,” I was speechless. I just couldn’t understand what I was listening to, where it came from and how anyone could possibly write something so idiosyncratic and pure.

I have to admit, I am not a fan of progressive rock but this album is definitely an exception. From the hard hitting opening that is Rage to the deeply melodic Breathe in the Water to the satisfying merging of Vice Versa to Places to Hide, this album is one of few examples that prove the album is not dead.

The Edinburgh based band was formed in 2001 and have produced three albums in fourteen years, they clearly take their time to create approximately 55 minutes of music gold. The band consists of Tony Hodge (drums), Ali Mitchell (keyboards), Leen (bass), Kenny Haig (vocals) and Lynn Campbell and Eilidh Maclean (backing vocals). Although, some have called the band progressive rock, many have struggled to find similar bands which proves the band have managed to shape their own sound. Their albums have been highly recommended by many with Bob Muvley, DPRP saying that their music consists of “carefully crafted, intelligently written songs, with lyrics that are both attentive and observant.”

After listening to Crooked Mouth’s new album, I sat down with Ali Mitchell, Lynn Campbell and Kenny Haig to discuss the history and progression of the band.

1) When did you first form the group?

Kenny: About 2000-2001 because that’s when our eldest was born so we decided to make a studio band rather than a live one so it was easier to do, it wasn’t such a big commitment so it would be more straight forward. It was a different lineup when we started, it was Chris Stenhouse on bass and Simon Ellis on Keyboards and Ali played flute. The first album must’ve taken a couple years to put together and the second one took about four years and the last one was about seven years, so there’s a bit of a trend. We’ll probably finish the fourth one around 2025.

2) What’s your musical past? (E.g. former bands, education etc.)

Kenny: Well Lynn and I met in an Edinburgh based band called GODSMONKEY? Back in 90’s, which I just discovered it’s one of three bands that have had that name, there’s a stoner/rock outfit in Holland and there was an electro band in Canada but all three of the bands got the name from the same DAVID SILVIAN AND ROBERET FRIPP track.

Ali: I did a lot of theatre stuff and drama then I was sent off to join a friends band as a backing singer which is when I met Kenny and so I think that’s probably where a lot of my ideas for harmonies come from because there’s a lot in the theatre but having always sung in four part harmonies either in school or theatre so I think I have a natural ear for picking out a harmony. I wouldn’t say music I used to listen to was particularly interesting, I liked a bit of REM and Radiohead who aren’t hugely known for their vocal harmonies. The style that Kenny likes like Pink Floyd and Peter Gabriel which I think influences him with the big harmonies that come in. And now I’m here, but lets not forget Dad’s band (Lynn and Ali are sisters) which was a wedding band called The Blue Jam which started off with us performing in a John Lewis café. We were just like a funky wedding band, we used to rehearse in a scout hall.

Lynn: We had a lot of fun with that for a lot of years. Ali of keyboards and me on vocals and a bit of tambourine.

Ali: I think I’ve had more experience with composition, I’ve always done that through school, at uni as part for my degree and now with the band.

3) What’s the song writing process like? How does it start? Who writes what?

Ali: Well, Ken usually says he’s got an idea, can you come round? And then Ken and I have hand scribbled lyrics with some chords and then we take it from there and it just sort of evolves organically from there, and then bass and drums come in and get a feel for the song and take it in different directions which is the fun and interesting part of it.

Kenny: It’s great how you start off with an idea, and then it goes off in sorts of places.

Ali: I think for everybody who hears the song when suddenly it all comes together because usually we’re (Lynn & Ali) the last people to record the backing vocals, everybody else has done their part. So then it’s up to us to finish it off. But for someone like Kenny who’s in Prague, who comes over for a 3 day holiday and has to do all his vocals in a day, he can hear it all come together from that one riff that started in the bedroom on an acoustic guitar. I think sometimes Tony and Kenny get quite a shock at how it sounds but I think since we’re much closer, I think the sound develops more for us.

Kenny: Kenny’s usually practices his vocals and lyrics on the plane over.

Lynn: I think it is easier for us because when we’re in the house, I’ll hear Ken playing something upstairs. It’s strange that one of the big bits on the last album was done literally while I was cooking in the kitchen and Ken was playing in the living room then I was singing along and Ken was like wait a minute, that could work, quick put that down on the recorder, so we done a four layer harmony and we kept the actual song a cappella because that’s how we r3ecorded it.

Ken: That’s about as un-rock ‘n’ roll as you’re going to get it. But John and Yoko did exactly the same thing. It’s just real life. In the last CD, we mention in the sleeve notes that around that time we were all starting families, so the music just fits in with the rest of our lives.

4) Is there a common theme in your songs?

Ken: I try keep a theme for the album but for the albums, is there something that goes between them? I’m not sure, certainly for this one, there was a strong sort of set of ideas, rather than being a narrative, it was a theme of observations.

5) Who are your influences?

Ken: I grew up listening to a lot of 70’s rock and prog rock but there’s other stuff there as well. As a kid, the first film I went to see was Goldfinger, to be honest, I was too young to get it but I was really excited but then I felt sick so my mum or dad took me home but the music by John Barry I think was a fantastic, I loved that huge orchestral sound and the quick jabs that come at you.

Ali: I remember listening to a lot of rock and grunge music, one song I loved was Candle by Ugly Kid Joe, it was a beautiful piano piece and I remember thinking that’s not what I expected from them, and I just loved that, it was so off the wall from the usual thrashing. I like that we rock out in some songs and then in others it’s just the polar opposite. I like to think in terms of influences we don’t really fit in to one genre, were not quite prog rock, were not quite rock and were not quite incidental film music.

Lynn: I like bands like Evanescence, the powerful vocals that hit you in the face then it calms down. I quite like the sort of minor moody stuff. I have to say I don’t listen to a lot of music now. I used to really like Madonna although I’m not so keen on what she’s doing now but Madonna in the 80’s. You can’t beat it.

6) Do you play live often?

Ali: We never play live. But Ken did with Godsmonkey

Ken: yes we played live with some covers and played some places. I think we were too loud. That was good fun, that was the old band though. I remember playing a festival at 1am and it was freezing, and there was camp fires in the distance. We were thinking we better not bother going on but then someone informed us that there was another band going on after us, and they had traveled from London. So then we went on and played that set and it was freezing, Ali couldn’t keep the flute in tune.

Ali: and there was two people in the field and a dog.

Ken: but the bizarre thing is folk began to come across out their faces. That was good fun though.

Ali: although, realistically, with the amount of layers in each song in Crooked Mouth, to try recreate the sound we have, we’d have to change the sound of the band.

Ken: We could do some unplugged stuff but it wouldn’t have the same impact.

Ali: wed definitely have to go out with a whole different sound.

Lynn: wed probably have to recompose some of it or write a set specifically for a live set but we’ve never all played together. We have one photo all together, that is the only time we’ve all been together in the same room.

7) Is rock ‘n’ roll dead?

Lynn: I don’t think it’s dead, I just think it’s just not out there as much, if you want to listen to it, you can find it whereas I suppose 25 years ago it’s all you would’ve heard, but I don’t think it’s dead. I think in the clichéd world that we live in, all we hear is girl and boy bands.

Ali: I don’t think its dead, the majority of the students I teach are discovering what music is, it happens throughout adolescence. In terms of music education, rock ‘n’ roll should be kept alive. I don’t think its dead, I think it continues to bubble away and new phases come and go.

Lynn: I think the majority of people are too easily pleased. They just accept what’s out there. I have a lot of friends who think the new Olly Murs song is great music but I think if you have a musical background then you’re not going to be satisfied with that.

Ken: I think it has changed, it used to be something that was outside the mainstream, but it is part of that now. I think it’s changing gain though, because it’s the whole technology that changes the idea of a record deal, maybe that parts over because there’s a million other ways of going about it like uploading it to the internet in a night.

Ali: I think today’s rock is too manufactured and is too influenced by classic rock and the bands that created that path. If you look at Queen, they were one of the first bands that you couldn’t classify as classic rock as they could fall into other categories. But I think rock music today is just crap.

Lynn: I think there’s a formula now where you have the intro then the verse and chorus then another verse and chorus and then you have the outro potentially with a key change in there. True rock should have something different to that formula.

Ali: I don’t think anyone can emulate classic rock, it was a one off, but every now and again you get a band that come out and you think they’re great but they struggle beyond that first album whereas with classic rock bands you can look through 15 of their albums and have several tracks on each that you still adore. Life now doesn’t allow for classic rock because songs were longer and people don’t have time for that now and don’t appreciate an album anymore, so they want songs which are 2 minutes for dancing in the car to. I think people are just too easily bored nowadays, we live in such an instant world, we have a very disposable world with everything at our fingertips the minute we want it, so I don’t think people take as much time as they used to, to actually listen to an album. Albums are almost meaningless now.

Ken: There probably is some good, interesting stuff out there. Even the resurgence of prog rock, but I find a lot of it like mimickery, you listen to some bands material but they sound like the bands they want to sound like. And with something like progressive rock, the point is to sound like something that hasn’t been done before, so why do prog rock bands sound the same? It’s difficult to see where rock will go.

8) Are you working on anything new at the moment?

Ken: Right now, were trying to get the current recording out there. The review take a long time to come out and you never know what people are going to write. The last album picked up some nice stuff from Classic Rock Magazine and Rock Society.

Lynn: We even had to sign photos at one point.

Ken: there seemed to be a lot of fans from Canada asking for requests. That’s the great thing about the internet, the miles don’t really matter, if someone picks up on the music you get that response. Someone can get in touch with you and say they really liked that song and that makes it all worthwhile. The fact that there’s somebody halfway around the world connects with the music is great.

Quick Fire

(Inspired by James Lipton’s wonderful interviews)

1. Favourite artist?

Ali: Pearl Jam

Lynn: Evanescence

Ken: Roger Waters

2. Favourite album?

Ali: 10 or Nevermind

Lynn: Nine lives

Ken: Amuse to death

3. Favourite song?

Ali: While my guitar gently weeps

Lynn: My immortal

Ken: Arriving somewhere but not here

4. Favourite word?

Ali: Forlorn

Lynn: Indecisive

Ken: Pooface

5. Least Favourite Word?

Ali: Smelly

Lynn: Evaluate

Ken: Going forward (didn’t have one)

6. What profession, other than musician would you like to do?

Ali: I’m already doing the job I was made to do

Lynn: Looking after my kids

Ken: Photographer or Hillwalker

7. What profession, would you least like to do?

Ali: Childminder

Lynn: Dentist

Ken: Optician

8. If heaven exists what do you want god to say at the pearly gates?

Ali: Well done! You gave it your best shot.

Lynn: Oh I see you brought your whole family (without sounding too sinister)

Ken: Hey Pooface!