Returning with brooding new single AFRAID TO DIE, Merseyside misfits Crawlers have stormed out of hibernation with an EP titled TURN OFF THE TV. “It’s not a rebrand, it’s a new band,” declares vocalist Holly Minto, unpacking its themes of endurance, fear and togetherness
Not Download, not Slam Dunk, but Liverpool Coffee Festival is an annual staple in Holly Minto’s summer. The Crawlers vocalist is a self-proclaimed caffeine “fiend”, savouring a double espresso opposite Kerrang! on a miserable grey day in the capital.
“I always get excited for June, because it's coffee fest season!” they beam. “My biggest artistic inspiration over the past two years was regaining other hobbies. I used to do judo for 20 years, I've now started jiu jitsu. They don't know I'm in a band. I go in, beat up men, leave, and they just know me as a menace – it's great! It's really helped separate Crawlers from everyday life.”
Barring last September’s arena stint with Pierce The Veil, Holly, Liv May (bass) and Amy Woodall (guitar) have stayed tight-lipped on what would follow 2024 debut The Mess We Seem To Make, a culmination of the endless momentum the Scouse alt.rockers were whipping up. Hitting refresh as a trio and parting ways with drummer Harry Breen, they’ve finally broken the deadlock and announced a new EP today, TURN OFF THE TV. In an exclusive interview, Holly strips back the layers on this nuanced four-track collection…
For a while, Crawlers were absolutely everywhere. What has downtime looked like?
“This has been a lot more [about] rebuilding the foundations of a project, reconnecting with what inspired us to get into music in the first place. We didn't really have a minute to discuss with the girls, ‘Why did we do this? What are our intentions?’, or think about nurturing our baby, because you feel like you can't say no. I've been trying to give myself some grace.”
But you can’t turn down an arena tour with Pierce The Veil…
“You can't say no! Pierce The Veil was the prologue to this project, and a great tester to see what people thought of the music. It made us remember people still cared. There's a fear nowadays, because of the instant gratification and short-form media, if you go away and put your art first, people will forget. This proves that’s not true.”
You recently shared a voice note of AFRAID TO DIE dated April 17, 2024. What were you going through when that song idea came about?
“We went to Trearrdur Bay in Wales for two weeks. AFRAID TO DIE is a big journey on mental health, [because] I never really got to sit and focus on healing. I had the worst mental health crisis and it got shelved, because we had so much to do. As soon as we stopped, it came back and this was my first time having to sit with those feelings.
“The lyrics are ugly. It's about the normalisation of functioning depression, but the bridge has this amazing spin. I reconnected with music and my friends, realising that I'm afraid of death again, which I hadn't been for a long time. In the melancholic grey London that we're in right now, it's really nice to see some hope in the darkness. My lyrics get compared to fucking Morrissey all the time, but I can see potential, and I think he didn’t! I'm an optimist in a very depressive world.”
Where do you personally get that optimism from in such dark times?
“The EP is all about the melancholy and horrendousness we're having to trudge through, but the little bit of hope that you see all the time. The other day I was on the tube, there was a baby smiling at me and I went, ‘That's my hope today.’ I'm definitely not in a darker place now. I've got the time for therapy, the best people around me.
“My mum would always say I'd be laughing and giggling, and I'm so fortunate that’s in my genetic infrastructure. I've always seen the best in everyone – to my detriment, at times – and it wasn't until my 20s when I became a little bit of a nihilistic realist. It's a genetic thing, but also, I think everyone's [struggling] because we live in a very aching, capitalistic society. You can't turn off the news without feeling worried. However, even at my lowest, I love to live. I love being alive, and that's why being not afraid to die was such a scary feeling.”
STAY ALIVE feels appropriately titled after the message of AFRAID TO DIE. Where does COOL take the narrative from there?
“This is basically the surviving EP. COOL is all about the person I feel I need to be to survive, instead of being extremely anxious and scared. It's a character that I've built [who is] jealous of these people who seem so nonchalant while the world is burning. I don’t think survival is as simple as it used to be in the first stages of humanity. You'd still have to fit in to survive. Fucking hell, women were murdered for having mental health issues and called witches. We've always had this ‘fit in’ culture, because those who stand out are harmed.
“I remember struggling with my anxiety, not drinking, and I'd see these people [dancing] in the club, and I'm like, ‘Oh my God, AI is taking my job.’ I got jealous of people who could look so nonchalant and effortless and survive… I really have tried to play it cool and be normal, but I struggle, because I care so much. But if you want to be happy, you have to apply your ignorance. What a place of privilege I'm in, to be able to turn off the TV, but that is sometimes the only way I can cope with the ongoing anxieties of being alive.”
You challenge that notion and remind people ‘If all we have is us / What you playing it cool for’ on closer ALL WE HAVE IS US.
“In every dark moment we've ever been in, the one thing that we have in common is being alive at the same time. That's the thing that gets us through and brings happiness, abandoning all that fear, the projection I'm having to put on to cope. In a time where life is the most isolating it's been, kids are chatting to ChatGPT all night. We are at a detriment where all it's doing is pushing humans away from each other. The only thing we need to do is talk to each other, align ourselves and realise we are all we have.”
And the first step to reaching all these realisations is to turn off the TV?
“I guess what's funny now is even watching TV with people seems romantic. Back in the day, they were like, ‘The TV is like separating families,’ but now, you're lucky to do that, aren't you? Turning off the TV is step one. Listening and getting through it together is step two.”
Does that conclusion mirror how the three of you felt together in Wales?
“The girls made me really believe in myself as a writer… we'll laugh, have fun, create good music and I trust them so much. Look, there's gonna be a second album, but we've had to re-establish who we are first, and an EP is a perfect way of crafting that foundation. It's not a rebrand, it's a new band.”
TURN OFF THE TV is released on August 14 via Nettwerk. AFRAID TO DIE is out now.
