Cross Wires

Cross Wires are an exciting post-punk band from East London/Essex I just discovered, consisting of Jonathan Chapman – vocals, Peter Muller – guitar, Pete Letch – bass and Ian Clarke on drums. The four guys played their first gig at The Others in Stoke Newington in late 2010 and since then jammed in various venues all over London and released three EPs – “Forward Repeat” and “Animal Heat” in 2011 and “Dark Water” in 2012. Their latest EP “Thrills” – which is something like “Best of” their previous three EPs – is available for free download via Bandcamp and definitely worth your attention. The name “Thrills” really fits the music – loud, short tracks that resemble early Buzzcocks with a generous amount of noise. I really dig the punky, minimalistic guitar riff in “From the Bowery to the Bethal Green”.

While the opening track “Don’t go surfing”, only minute and 19 seconds long captures pure raw energy.

Cross Wires are currently working on their new EP “Assembly” which will be out in February. One track from it is already available and this is “I wanna be your man again”, currently teasing us from Cross Wires’ Soundcloud page.

Here’s what else Cross Wires’ frontman Jonathan Chapman revealed in an exclusive interview for Flowers In A Gun.

Live @ Heroes Club, photo by © Mikulucky Images

How did you start the band?

The band started because we hated all the music that was coming out of Romford, Essex at the time. It was mostly bad Emo/Metal or singer songwriters with no songs. We wanted to bring back songs with hooks but with punk energy.

All your songs seem to be short and loud, why did you choose this form to express yourself?

Well we have tried slow songs but they never quite work and we always just end up speeding them up. I still think we have a classic slow song in us, we just haven’t found it yet.

What are the punk bands that influenced you?

The Clash are the main one really, especially in Ian’s drumming style but also Sex Pistols for their energy, Buzzcocks and Ramones for the hooks.

The Clash are among Cross Wires’ main influences

What about post-punk/new wave?

I love Wire because they could go from 30 second blasts of noise to these amazing pop songs like Outdoor Miner. Gang Of Four and Joy Division are also bands that we have taken elements of but  we would never want to be direct rip offs. XTC are another band we are in to. We even took our name from one of their songs.

photo: Facebook

If you can bring one dead singer from the grave, who would it be?

Joe Strummer without a doubt.

What’s coming next for your band? Are you working on new material?

Well our new EP ASSEMBLY is coming out in February and we will be playing live to support that. The songs are the best we have ever put out and we can’t wait for everyone to hear them. We recorded the EP at a studio called Soundsavers in East London and they did such an amazing job with the tracks. We are always working on new songs. Maybe we will finally find that perfect slow one we are looking for.

Upcoming gigs?

There will be a EP launch somewhere in East London but not sure where yet. Keep your eye on our twitter @crosswiresband

Except on Twitter, you can find Cross Wires on Facebook, Bandcamp and Soundcloud.