On April 19th I had the pleasure of seeing Dutch Criminal Record live as they supported Augustine at his London gig at the garage. Often times, support acts can be hit or miss in comparison to the appreciation you hold for the main act you've mostly spent your money to come and see, but my friends and I were pleasantly surprised with DCR. Charismatic people and performers, this band is a must listen to if you like the names of the 1975, Greer, or Wallows, with the inspiration of Coldplay, Foals and more. I also was able to speak with Joe and Sam that night, who were lovely people, and we arranged this interview below. Ultimately, I'd like to say that this band is amazing live and truly have the feeling they will be going very very big places in the near future. Below is our interview:
ME: I found out about your band from seeing you support Augustine. How were you approached for that opportunity?
DUTCH CRIMINAL RECORD: We actually didn't know him before we'd been approached to do it, we shared the same booking agent and they said hey one of my artists is playing in the UK and we'd actually played at the garage before supporting another band so we said sure let's go for it!
M: How did that experience feel?
DCR: It was fun! He's a very different artist to us so it made it a good experience.
M: You’re playing a couple festivals this year; are you looking forward to them?
DCR: Yeah, we're really looking forward to it! We have a couple coming up, some unannounced too.
M: Earlier this year you had your first debut headline tour; what was that like for you all?
DCR: It was fantastic! Really life affirming. We'd been doing this for a while, it actually started when we were doing our GCSE's so for about nine years, in the last few years we've taken it more seriously. We sold out five of our shows, so it was so affirming and made it feel like everything was worth it.
M: I really love the poster for your tour; obviously the Inspo for it seems to be rick and morty, but how did you come up with the idea?
DCR: We loved the idea of being cartoons, rick and morty at the time of the tour some new episodes had come out so we felt like it was a great idea.
M: The editing and photography for 00’s nostalgia is my favourite; how do you come up with ideas for photoshoots or covers?
DCR: It was conducted by our friend Adam - we gave him an idea, the symmetry in Wes Anderson films was what we were going for, plus a sporty theme. We got out the tennis table in front of a symmetrical background and made it look as aesthetic as possible, we were super happy with the outcome so we're glad you like it!
M: As you guys performed, myself and my friends said how you were very alike to the 1975, Greer, and other popular indie bands. Who is it you draw the most musical inspiration from?
DCR: It's funny you say that, we haven't really listened to them or delved into their catalogs but at the moment we definitely take some inspiration from Coldplay and Radiohead although I don't think it's super obvious in the music; beach boys and circa waves too!
M: As a fairly new band, most people who don’t know will want to know how you all met?
DCR: We all met at school, Sam, Joe and I (second Joe). Mitchell and Chris, who we play with live, all lived in our town too. We didn't mean to pick people from there, but it just happened naturally.
M: Mitchell has been helping you guys on tour with your performances; how did you guys meet him?
DCR: He was at our school too! We'd been in the same education for seventeen years actually, all from primary to secondary to university, none of this planned but it just happened! I knew he played guitar so I reckoned it would translate to bass and he nailed it.
M: You guys performed prior to the pandemic; what are the differences between pre and post pandemic performing?
DCR: I suppose the differences for us is that people actually come to our shows, we had a lot less of a reach before and now we're selling out shows, which is great fun, it's been huge for us in general.
M: I like to end on a fun one; you obviously opened for Augustine, but if you could open for any musician or band, who would it be and why?
DCR: For our dream support slot, Sam said Coldplay, I'd say Vampire Weekend and Joe said Foals. Their influence shows on us in the early music mostly though, but it would be so cool, I'd think we'd be good support acts for them!
If you can, head out soon and see them live. It's worth it.
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