Music Interview: She Craves

Published: March 11, 2007 1:22 AM EST
By: Isaac Joseph Davis Junior
(Juniorscave.com)

Have you ever thought to yourself: “What ever happened to good rock music?” Well, the wait is over. Now enters She Craves. Critics have called them a “Super group” and I can tell you what folks—they aren’t lying. She Craves hails from Austin, Texas. The cool thing that makes She Craves stand out is that they are showing the world that the South can kick ass too and with another genre of music putting the South on the map-- why not the rock/alternative genre? The member of the group consists of:

Singer, Christine Ely
Guitarist, Matt Cole
Drummer, Ben Mills
Bassist, Tim Brown

Check out this recent online interview that several of the band members took time from their busy schedule to do with the magazine.

MUSIC NOW: When and how did you first become interested in music?

Matt - I blame MTV, before it became one long reality show.
Tim - I've been interested in music ever since I can remember. I will say that I discovered in college that playing in bands and drinking beer seemed a lot more fun than working out and playing sports.
Ben - When I was 17 and started sneaking into clubs like Trees in Dallas and Liberty Lunch in Austin and saw some amazing bands. Those bands made me want to become them so I started playing drums and working towards that goal.

MUSIC NOW: How long have you been playing music?

Matt - I got my first guitar when I was 12.
Tim - I've been in a band of one variety or another since I was 11.
Ben - Since I was 17.

MUSIC NOW: What are your musical influences?

Tim - Individually, we're all into a lot of different bands. It's always an adventure when we plug each other's IPods into the stereo in the van. We don't try to sound like any particular band when we write, but we're all into bands like Foo Fighters, Green Day and U2; bands that have huge sound that is instantly recognizable.
Ben - Anything I can turn up in the car and sing along too.

MUSIC NOW: Does anyone in your family play music?

Matt - My dad is a classically trained trumpet player.
Tim - My sister plays a little piano, but just as a hobby. My family all plays golf but I play music. I've always suspected that I'm the milk man's kid.

MUSIC NOW: When you are making music, describe how you are feeling?

Matt - Everything from utter frustration to pure joy, depending on how things are going on any given day.
Tim - From the rehearsal room where we write, to the recording studio and on to the stage, there are about a hundred different emotions that we go through. It all boils down to the simple fact that we love doing this.

MUSIC NOW: Why did you write or decide to play any of your songs?

Tim - It sounds cliché, but we really don't choose to write the songs that we write; we write what comes out of us. We're all influenced by everything we hear around us and we're subconsciously processing it all the time so when we sit down with a guitar or to write lyrics, ideas just start coming out of us. We all lock ourselves in the rehearsal studio and try to hammer out these vague, raw ideas into actual songs. Sometimes they come together easily in a matter of days and other times a song won't be ready to be played live for months.

MUSIC NOW: Why did you choose to play this kind of music?

Matt - I'm really drawn to music that conveys some sort of real emotion that people can relate to but doesn't alienate the listener. I think it's important to remember that rock and roll is supposed to be fun.
Tim - We're all products of our environments and were brought up listening to rock and roll. It's the music we relate to, connect with and that moves us. We write songs that we love and that we would listen to if we weren't playing them. What we're discovering is that kind of attachment to our songs is evident to fans when we play live.

MUSIC NOW: What do you feel is missing in the music industry today?

Matt - I hear a lot of people complain about the music that's played on the radio and shoved down the public's throats by traditional mass media. The reality of it is that musicians and audiences have greater access to one another than ever before. It's hard to complain when you can sit down at your computer and find any kind of music you want to listen to in a matter of seconds, or as a band, promote your music to people all over the planet without Clear Channel or Sony Records being the gatekeeper. That being said, I wouldn't put up much of a fight if Sony wanted to sign us and get us in heavy rotation on Clear Channel stations.
Tim - What he said.
Ben - More songs that rock but are still fun. Everyone got angry in the 90s.

MUSIC NOW: Do you feel like you are a role model to others?

Tim - I wouldn't say we're role models. Everybody has to live their own lives and be comfortable in their own skin. What I will say is that when we're on stage, whether there are ten people or a thousand people in the audience, whenever you see She Craves, we're going to give you 110% and do our best to connect with each person in the audience. Hopefully audiences pick up on that sincerity, connect with it and want to come to our show the next time we're in their town.

MUSIC NOW: What keeps you going even when times you feel like giving up?

Matt - There's nothing in the world like performing in front of people. Once you've gotten a taste for it, it's a very hard habit to kick. That and my long resume of musician-friendly jobs-waiting tables, tending bar, delivering pizzas-has left me ill prepared for a "real" career.
Tim - We keep going because we have to. It's as simple as that. We've all had a ton of different day jobs and have played in all kinds of different musical situations over the years and none of them have given us the satisfaction that playing rock and roll does.

MUSIC NOW: What are some of the big projects you are working on?

Tim - We're currently writing the material that will make up the balance of our first full-length album. We're fine tuning songs and road-testing them live in front of audiences. In May, we'll go back into the studio to record and we should have our record out in stores in June or July.

MUSIC NOW: What can we expect from you guys in the next several years?

Tim - World domination! She Craves is just getting going and so far we're being met with a lot of great, positive feedback from fans, friends, and critics alike. We're going to be expanding beyond our regional touring circuit over the next few months as we gear up for the release of our album this summer.

MUSIC NOW: Any new releases, updates, or anything else you would like to tell our audience?

Tim - Our main focus right now for She Craves is the album that we're working on. Like I said, it should be out this summer and we'll be hitting the road pretty relentlessly to support it.

MUSIC NOW: Thanks for this great Spotlight.

You can locate She Craves on these sites:
Sonicbids Account
Myspace Account
Main Website



Photos used in this story were provided by She Craves

Special Thanks to Becca Finley, She Craves' PR Manager, who set up this interview for the band.