They delivered one of their best albums yet with 2023’s stunning Inhale/Exhale, and have been on the road relentlessly. Frontman Shane Greenhall told us about his hectic year.
In the past twelve months, Those Damn Crows have gone from grassroots hopefuls to proper rock contenders, on the back of their game-raising album Inhale/Exhale. We caught up with frontman Shane Greenhall, backstage at London’s Forum a few hours before their headline show there. After that, he tells us, they head to Paris for a show with Ayron Jones, then back home for Christmas with their families, guitarist David’s wedding and laying down demos for their next album. “I never stop writing,” Greenhall enthuses. “I’ve probably done, like, three songs on this tour now.”
Busy, intense, gratifying. At the start of the year plans were pencilled in, and that’s always kind of, ‘okay, we’ll believe it when we see it’. And when they officially happened, in Europe with the Goo Goo Dolls, Hollywood Vampires… It’s helped the fan-base grow because a lot of people on these [headline] shows saw us for the first time there.
Back in February, Inhale/Exhale hit No.3 in the UK. Has that changed things for you?
It’s great to have the recognition for all the hard work. It’d be different if we were having that and not selling out tour dates. But we are, so they go hand in hand. It’s a way that the fans can show their love and loyalty, by putting you in that position. So it does matter to bands, but what’s more important is that people are coming to the shows. And it’s history as well. Once you do that you can look back and go: ‘Yeah, that was number three’. That’s really cool.
There’s been a renewed focus on rock bands doing well in the charts. Why is that?
I think the fans want to make a difference. I think the love for it [rock music] is growing every day. Fans are buying the material and they’re putting us there. They care about it as much as we do. Every show, there’s people on our fanpage saying: “I’m gonna to go on my own today.” And then there’s fifteen to twenty people saying: “We’ll meet you in a pub beforehand.”
What’s the most memorable thing a fan gave you in 2023?
There’s a lot of knickers these days. Someone, I think in Wolverhampton, I’m coming back to the bus after the show, and she said: “Did you get my knickers?” I go: “No, I missed that, sorry.” And she said: “Oh, they were my best ones!” When we released This Time I’m Ready [written about Greenhall’s late father], sadly, since then people have lost people in their family. I’ve had loads of messages after shows saying thank you for your music, and this song in particular. That's a huge gift.
This Time
