Interview with Storm of Crows: ‘Matt’s ‘Second Storm’, it’s the ultimate kick in the groin, it grabs you by the throat and sets the stage for what the album will be’

Storm of Crows, a three-piece rock band based in Sheffield and Stockport, will release their eclectic and guitar-driven debut album Twenty-Five Years tomorrow (2nd December).

The band comprises Paul Coates (guitars, vocals and synthesiser), Matt Kik (guitars, vocals, mandolin, and MIDI drums) and Jimmy Medway (bass guitar, vocals and cajón), who were originally in various bands in the 90’s. They reformed during COVID and have spent the past two years working on the album, often remotely, the title of which humorously references how long it has taken them to make it.

Twenty-Five Years is a diverse beast of an album, spanning songs that were written around 20 years ago up to today, showcasing just how broad their musical influences are: ‘We all had an idea as to how we wanted it to sound, in a similar vein to previous singles we’d put out but we’re a lot older and play a bit better (laughs),’ said Coates. ‘We pushed the boat out to see how professional we could sound and the answer is very. I said “Let’s have a theme” but Matt and Jimmy said “Don’t be stupid!”’

Theme or not, each of them wrote four tracks for the album that tell very distinct stories and Coates and Medway admit that they are very story-driven in their writing: ‘Paul and I tend to write songs that are story-based, Matt wants them to rhyme at the end,’ Medway said. ‘Second Storm’, with Kik on lead vocals, is a natural opener, erupting with a power riff that is both unadulterated 90’s rock but which also has a slight Genesis vibe. Coates’ blistering one minute guitar solo around two minutes in – he plays all of the guitar solos except for in ‘One Day’ – gives a good feel as to what to expect from the rest of the album, making it one of the strongest tracks.

Interestingly, ‘Second Storm’ almost became their band name: ‘The first band we were in years ago was called West Tangleyam, it references guitars – a Westfield, a Tanglewood, and a Yamaha,’ Kik explained. ‘The band was as successful as the name (laughs). ‘Second Storm’ came from my Dad’s old band which was called Stormcrow. They said they might call themselves Second Storm but never did, so we used it instead. Me and Jimmy bundled the name together and called ourselves ‘Second Storm’ after that, so when it came to 2020 and the three of us getting back together, I said it would be a good band name. In the end, we decided not to use it but it made a good song name.’

‘Over the rhythm of it, the lines in the chorus “Making no gain, just standing in the rain and waiting, waiting for the second storm” came to me’

Kik was inspired to write ‘Second Storm’ driving home one night listening to ‘Ball and Chain’ by The Who: ‘Over the rhythm of it, the lines in the chorus “Making no gain, just standing in the rain and waiting, waiting for the second storm” came to me,’ he said. ‘I came up with the riff, the intro is a 12-bar blues, I kept it simple in case we ever play it live. By the time I got home I had “Time’s just slipping by slowly, wish I could only stop everything and make it transform”. I used an online lyric generator (laughs) for about half of it. In the generator you could say what kind of song it was and I said “rock” and used the rhymes to pad around it. But the line: “I’ve got a handful of magic and nothing in my hand”, that’s mine, not the generator’s!’

As the track kicks off: “Life’s running slowly backwards. Or is it stuck in frame? Lying on my back like a heart attack. There’s no-one I can blame. I got the will to live. You’d better believe. I’m standing still but I’m moving on. So don’t bother to grieve.”

However, ‘Drifting Away’ would be more of a challenge to try and play live: ‘I play the guitar and the mandolin in it, it won’t be recreatable live,’ Kik said. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful, slightly melancholic song written by Coates and featuring him on vocals, with Kik’s delicate Spanish-style mandolin underpinning the whole track. ‘That song did not turn out the way it was planned,’ said Coates. ‘It was supposed to be acoustically intricate, a floaty little song but it turned out the opposite! I had a rough demo and Matt said: “If we change that verse and move the chorus there” and it was so much better, it made the song flow better. I’d watched a drama on Netflix about some person’s wife going missing and how it affected the family. I wrote the song as him trying to reach out to her. When I played it to my wife, she said: “It’s about your mum”. I lost her 11 years ago, I didn’t really get to grieve, I had two babies in the background. It’s a lump in the throat sort of thing. I like listening to it but it would take too much to play it live.’

As the song starts: “Are you listening? I’ve looked everywhere for you. I’ve been going out of my mind. Looking for signs of you. Can you hear me?. It’s been such a long, long time.I’m holding it all together. But I’m straying off the line.”

Typically, they each sing the songs they write, with the exception of ‘One Day’, which was written by Kik but sung by Coates: ‘I had a go at singing it but I didn’t like it,’ said Kik laughing. ‘I gave it to Jimmy, who had a go but I ended up giving it to Paul to sing.’

Medway grew up in a household that loves music and movies, listening to The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel and Motown as a child. Kik, for his part, got into music via his dad, who played in a folk band called Gentleman Soldier. He started playing the guitar in his teens and because he’s left handed, his dad lent him an electric guitar and strung it upside-down for him. Coates also comes from a musical family where his dad and uncles would often get together at weekends to jam on their guitars. The first song he learned to play was ‘Space Oddity’ by David Bowie, and he still enjoys jamming with his dad.

‘We all want to leave something behind’

Some tracks, such as ‘Will You Remember Me?’, are more philosophical. Written by Coates, it is also one of the rockiest on the album, kicking off with a belting guitar line that pulls the track along: ‘I’ve wanted to do this since being a small child, since I was 6 or 7 years old,’ he said. ‘There’s a bit of that in there. The idea of it was based on if you’re a musician and things are starting to wind down, that question is asked “Will you remember me?” We all want to leave something behind. Lyrically, that’s where it came from – how am I going to be remembered when it finishes? I started off with the melody. The title came from Paul McCartney when he was interviewed by Idris Elba. McCartney being McCartney gave it all this bravado and said “Will you remember me?” We went on holiday to Northumberland afterwards and I was watching the clouds go by. That idea wouldn’t go away and those lines came to me. I thought, there has to be something there.’

I tell them that it has been my earworm for the last couple of days and Medway grins: ‘I’m with you, it IS an earworm,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘Occasionally, one of us will write a song and the others will grind their teeth, it’s an evolutionary push (laughs), it makes you want to write something better when it’s that good. You might have a song and then think “No, I’m taking it back to the drawing board”. I think ‘Will You Remember Me?’ is the best all-rounder on the album and the last one in, the thing was more or less locked. It was late to the party but it felt modern, something you could hear on the radio today.’

Medway has found inspiration in a fascinating place: ‘Sometimes when I write lyrics, I call on my brother, Richard,’ he said. ‘He writes poems but he hates so many of them (laughs). My dad moved house and found a big book of Richard’s poems and I asked them if I could have it. ‘Summer Streets’ was one of them, I expanded it into a song. If there was a random bit, I’d turn it into a chorus (laughs). There’s a lot of my brother’s poetry woven into it.’ I ask if his brother has heard the song. ‘He has, there was pride on his face but he doesn’t want to show it!’ The track itself is as summery as the title, with a gentle, floating melody carried along by the strings, flute and harp that Coates plays on his synth, which Kik dubs ‘his least guitary track’.

As the chorus goes: “Here we walk down the hot summer streets. Hearing all those sweet, soft beats. Like the beat of your heart running along. Running along those hot summer streets.”

Kik was kind enough to share his dad’s folk music with me earlier this year and it’s clear that he has been very influenced by his dad’s musicianship. I say that I am sure his dad would be really proud of their debut album: ‘Him dying at such a young age really hurt me and I still miss him very much, but I’m so blessed in that I can put on his music and hear his voice whenever I want,’ he said. ‘The most important thing to me about making this album is that I can do the same for my children. I’m sure my Dad would have been proud of the album too, and I’m pretty sure he’d have gotten a good laugh out of it. I got my sense of humour from him, though he was far cleverer than I am. He could have written “Bastard” though. He liked writing silly songs.’

I feel responsible for the track he’s referring to, ‘Oi, Look At Us, You Bastard’ as I essentially egged him on to write it around a year ago when he was toying with the idea and I am delighted that he went ahead with it. It kicks off with Medway whispering “I smell a bastard” before the guitars come crashing in. It has a great punk rock feel, with a dash of Middle Eastern spirit coming from the way Coates plays the solo. I love the lyrics, which are funny and biting in equal measure and it sounds as if they had a lot of fun recording it. I ask him if he’s forgiven me yet for begging him to write it: ‘As terrible as I am with lyrics, this one actually came really easily to me,’ he said. ‘I think I wrote it in a day or two. Originally the riff was slightly different and sounded too much like another song – Paul had to tell me, I’d not heard it before but then I’d already almost finished it, so I tweaked the riff slightly so it sounded different enough. Have I forgiven you? Well sure, you gave me an album track!’

Essentially, the ‘bastard’ in question can be whoever you want it to be, from someone in the music industry to that annoying colleague at work, it’s a kind of anthem to whoever has irked you on the day you hear it: ‘To me, the bastard is literally the idiot who goes to a show and talks through it,’ Kik said. ‘One time I was out with Dad and his friends at a gig and there were two women sat opposite talking loudly to each other all night, on the table closest to the band. One of my Dad’s friends, Rob, said: “Look at that. Two women but three pairs of tits”.’

‘I wanted it to be more like ‘Stairway to Heaven’, the way it builds’

I ask them what their favourite songs are on the album: ‘I can’t pick one of mine,’ Kik said. ‘I’m torn between ‘Drifting Away’ and ‘Bumbling Man’. I had ‘Drifting Away’ on in the car and my wife said: “Wouldn’t it be better like this?” She was right. I wanted it to be more like ‘Stairway to Heaven’, the way it builds, not that I’m comparing us to Led Zeppelin (laughs). I love that one of Paul’s, and Jimmy’s ‘Bumbling Man’ and ‘Possessed’. When we’re sending out or ideas for songs, Paul will do every part of the song in almost finished quality to show us. For lyrics, Jimmy is the opposite of me. I’ll drive myself crazy for a month thinking of a lyric and then I’ll run it past Jimmy and he’s written the whole song in 10 minutes (laughs).’

They’re clearly delighted to get the album out but I have a feeling that Kik’s proudest musical moment won’t be surpassed even when it’s out there. He has told me the story before of listening to one of their tracks and getting a particularly lovely compliment from his wife: ‘I was listening to ‘Your World’, it’s on the album, but I wrote it about 20 years ago,’ he said. ‘She was in the hall outside and asked me what Beatles song I was listening to as she didn’t know it, and I told her it was one of ours!’ I can see where’s she’s coming from. The intro is reminiscent of ‘Michelle’ and the harmonies and chord progression definitely have a Beatlesey vibe, especially in the “biding my time” chorus. It’s one of my favourite songs on the album and I have been known to play it on a loop. The outro is glorious, as Kik says: “Come on, Paul, one time for Matt!” ‘Once I realised it was a Beatles sounding song, I copied Ringo’s shout of “Come on George, one time for Ringo!”,’ Kik laughed. The song erupts into a frenzy of guitars that builds and builds as if they are having one massive riff-off, making it infectiously good.

Coates is trying to pick a favourite song on the album: ‘I have a few,’ he said. ‘Matt’s ‘Second Storm’, it’s the ultimate kick in the groin (laughs) (Kik interjects: ‘Is that a good thing? I don’t think that sounds like a good thing!’), it grabs you by the throat and sets the stage for what the album will be. ‘Possessed’ by Jimmy, I like how wild and raucous it is, it’s in your face. It has a real power to it, it’s a bit punky.’

‘The eclectic style of Queen – no two songs on an album sound the same’

While they have all been influenced by band such as The Beatles, they also bring different influences to the band: ‘I quite like a lot of 70’s rock like Zeppelin and Sabbath,’ Coates said. ‘Richie Blackmore, Purple’s guitarist, was a big influence. I like how flashy he was, I try to rip him off!’ Medway cites other influences: ‘The Eagles, The Stones, The Moody Blues, the eclectic style of Queen – no two songs on an album sound the same. I like Chris de Burgh’s storytelling and some of ABBA’s lyrics. There’s an ABBA song ‘The Day Before You Came’, her life is about to change. She’s lamenting that her life was calm and boring but the new person will take her to dizzying heights and lows. It really got me.’ Kik cites his dad: ‘I can’t play anything like him, though. And The Who, Fleetwood Mac, and Queen – I like playing ‘Tie Your Mother Down’.

Entertainingly, they can’t get through some covers without much hilarity: ‘If you saw our impromptu live video of ‘Two of Us’ (a Beatles’ cover) and the ensuing outtakes, you will know how difficult we find it to get through the song without getting the words wrong,’ Kik said. ‘In fact, that was the first time and we still barely made it. Back in the 90’s when we used to practise it, me and Paul would start singing and the keyboard player would dramatically act out the lyrics as an aid to memory, though that just made us break down in fits of laughter sooner. We never did play that song live!’

If they could have a pint with anyone, Coates is quick to pick Scottish singer Gerry Rafferty, a founding member of Stealers Wheel: ‘From being a little kid, Gerry Rafferty. A lot of his stuff is quite melodic. It would be good to sit and have a beer with him and ask where his ideas came from. I love finding out all that sort of stuff.’ Kik looks deep in thought: ‘There’s a few!,’ he said, ‘I’m torn between The Beatles and Queen but it’s tricky! George is my favourite Beatle but I’d rather talk to Lennon. But would he be a bit of a dick (laughs)?’ Medway is nodding: ‘Freddie Mercury, hands down, because he’d be up for a drink (laughs) and I’d ask if he ever got stage fright when he went on stage and how he got past it if he did,’ he said. ‘I’d love to know how he did that. In the early Queen videos, that character of his isn’t there yet, so I’d like to know how he brought the alter ego out, his suit of armour – even though he didn’t actually wear very much (laughs). I would ply him with drink to find out how it all happened!’

(Top photo from left to right: Matt, Jimmy and Paul. Photo credit: Rob Knight www.rkphotographic.com

Second photo credit: Michael Barnes Photography)