Cranks is a coverband formed by 5 employees at POKE; Igor Clark, Mattias Gunneras, Dom Baker, David Kelly and I. Two weeks ago we had our first official gig.
The name of the band comes from the term used to describe crying and wanking simultaneously – Crank. Someone suggested it as the band name, we accepted it and then Simon Cook, aka made-in-england.org got to work and did us an ingenius logotype and other graphical assets.
I have been in various band formations playing various genres and styles, but this one is my first coverband and the first band where what we have in common is not a similar taste in music, but our professions. So, naturally, we’ve had very heated discussions about what to play and what not to play. What’s good and what’s not good. But after a few weeks we were finding a common ground and we managed to get together a set list of 16 songs we all liked and enjoyed playing.
Our first appearance went down well. We managed to get a slot on the last ever Club Pub that was held at On The Rocks. The theme was, appropriately — ROCK!
Photograph captured by Jaypeg
Many of our co-workers weren’t sure what to expect from Cranks, which I think worked in our favour, since we basically took them by surprise and rocked their socks off. And they liked it (without socks), which was brilliant.
Photograph captured by Greg Reed
I’ve done a fair amount of concerts in my days, most of them I can’t really remember. This one will definitely be one that I do remember. Mainly because of the ROCKING audience!
People who have seen me play live knows that i’m a bit of a different person when i’m on stage… or, it’s more like most people don’t expect me to behave the way I do on stage based on my personality off stage.
Nothing I do on stage is done intentionally. So it’s always fun to see all the photos afterwards. Apparently, judging by the photos, this time around I screamed a lot.
Photograph captured by Marc Davies
Below are some links to blog posts and flickr sets and tags documenting the last ever club pub and the first ever public appearance by Cranks.