Asides

The initial attraction to Crippled Black Phoenix – at least for me anyway – was seeing bassist Dominic Aitchison’s name listed as a band member. Not sure that I’d recognize him walking down the street or even be able to pick him out on stage (other than the fact that he’d be the only bass player), but for the last 14 years Aitchison’s name has consistently been listed in the liner notes of the CDs of the band he helped form with Stuart Braithwaite in Scotland … MOGWAI.

Reading through the Crippled Black Phoenix legendary tale, however, it seems as if Aitchison’s initial inclusion with the band came after he encourage Electric Wizard drummer Justin Greaves to record some of the music he had been brewing in his head for years. Greaves did just that in 2006 with A Love of Shared Disaster in which he called upon the talents of many of his friends, including Aitchison. Three years later and the band – helmed, of course, by Greaves, is just weeks away from officially releasing 2 albums worth of new material to U.S. audiences. To coincide with the releases, Greaves and compatriots have just landed in the U.S. and are embarking on a short, 2-week tour.

On the eve of his plane flight to the U.S., Greaves spit out some answers (via email) to the questions I sent him. “I did my best with your smart questions,” his email began. “But I am very tired and need my head fixing.”

Continue reading “Interview: Justin Greaves (Crippled Black Phoenix)”