Leader of the Pack.
(CULTURE)
An interview with Leader Cheetah’s Joel Crannitch.
- Interview & photographs, Thalea Hurren.
It’s been a busy time lately for Joel and Dan Crannitch, Mark Harding, and Dan Pash. As Adelaide’s Leader Cheetah, their country-inspired indie-folk has captured hearts nationwide. Recommended listening: the energetic “Fly, Golden Arrow Part 1”, lilting “Rosewater Smile”, and radio favourite “Bloodlines” (which boasts an impressive accompanying film clip by Dan McGuiness). We sat down with drummer Joel Crannitch and a bottle of red to suss out what’s on the cards for Leader Cheetah.
This past year, Leader Cheetah have scored supports for the likes of Elbow and the Doves, and ‘The Sunspot Letters’ [Leader Cheetah’s debut] has been featured heavily by Triple J… has it all stayed exciting for you?
I don’t think anything’s really changed over the last few months…I guess playing with bands [as a support act] isn’t what excites me so much - it’s not what I really love doing. The best things we’ve done have been shows where the people are there more to see us. Some bands we’ve supported it’s felt like, ‘We really fit in here,’ and they’ve been the more exciting ones for me – Dinosaur Jr., and bands like that. And obviously Splendour [in the Grass], when people did come over to see us, and the Middle East tour… that’s stuff I enjoy doing.
How do you feel about the widespread acclaim your album received?
I don’t look into it that much, but we’ve been very fortunate – a lot of people have liked our album. The reviews we’ve had have been great.
What about the negative criticism, I did hear one mag gave you zero stars…
Negative criticism is only negative to the degree that we want to take it negatively. Most stuff I’ve read has been pretty good… I think! Anyway, if we get a bad review from someone and you look at other bands they’ve reviewed and liked… perhaps we don’t want to be compared to them.
You played Splendour just a few weeks ago – how did that go?
Yeah, that was fun. It was good to be there on a stage with our friends Middle East, who played the next day. The crowd was a decent size – it felt pretty good that a fair percent of the eighteen thousand people that were there made the effort to come watch us.
How is it being in a band with your brother – is it the ideal situation where you’ve always got a shoulder to lean on or are there family squabbles?
Yeah, it’s perfectly fine. I think because there’s such a big age gap we don’t get into punch ups and shit like that like some other brothers ‘round the same age maybe do… we haven’t ever really raised our voices at each other.
So you’re also in another band, Thunderclaw, and the sound is pretty far removed from Leader Cheetah – as a drummer do you prefer playing the heavier beats as opposed to the more mellow vibe?
They’re completely different styles of music but I approach them in exactly the same way – I’d say I have a similar drumming style in both bands. I don’t really prefer either [heavy or mellow], because they’re so different. People often say Leader Cheetah is simple and not as out there as Pharaohs, or Thunderclaw, but it’s just as interesting to drum to because I put my own spin on it and I still go as nuts as I ever did. I try to go a bit heavy and have a bit of fun with it – don’t stay too safe.
What’s the future of Leader Cheetah?
We’re working on new music, a new album, got lots of touring come up over the rest of the year…
Do you see yourselves heading stateside again for the next album, or going for more an Australian base?
Yeah, I guess you could say ‘The Sunspot Letters’ was more or less produced in the US. I think we’ll either do the next record in the States, or it’ll probably an American producer that will do it for sure.
It’s good how you have that Americana vibe but with an Australian spin…do you look for that or does it more happen naturally?
The only reason there would be an Australian spin is because we’re from Australia! We don’t try to be American or Australian – we just do what we like, play what we like the sound of.
