Exclusive Interview: Crostpaths talk “Mutated”!

When it comes to hybrids, Kent quartet Crostpaths have got it down to a fine art and with their sophomore EP “Mutated” set to open not only doors but windows of opportunity as well when it drops on 27th November 2020. You might call them Nu-Metal, Rap-Rock or even Alternative Metal but does it really matter if it sounds good? The EP itself was originally intended to be released in Spring having been committed to tape in late 2019 to be accompanied by touring activities but… We had the pleasure of speaking to vocalist Ritchie Murray Jack about the project he’s been ploughing his energy into since 2018 alongside Owain Lewis (Bass, Vox), Michael Edwards (Lead Guitars), and James Mason (Drums, Percussion).

How have you found the reaction to “Mutated” so far? “Surprisingly positive! Seriously. We set zero expectations for how our music is received, so the reviews have been really encouraging, which is all the more important without live music at the moment. Feedback from a crowd of people is irreplaceable but this has been a decent consolation.”

How tough was the decision to release your sophomore EP knowing that you couldn’t play any shows around it immediately? Do you have anything lined up to promote the record in the future? “It was certainly a dilemma. We only launched a year ago, with the intent to keep releasing material as consistently as possible. The thought of radio silence this early on as a band felt like it would kill the momentum we’d worked so hard to achieve. With that said, with all the uncertainty nothing is a foregone conclusion. We did discuss maybe holding off the record until next year, but ultimately we’re glad we didn’t. The show must go on as they say.”

We think that the sing-a-long ability of your choruses is well suited to a festival crowd. So if you could pick one to make your festival debut at, which one and why? Do you have any fond festival memories as music fans? “Firstly, thank you. It’s reassuring to hear that we’vr achieved exactly what we were aiming for with these songs! Hooks are everything, even in “heavy” music. For us it’s a fairly predictable answer. It would have to be Download Festival. The heritage of Donington dating back to Monsters of Rock is not lost on us, but also as fans we’ve been attending since around 2007. 2009 was a particular highlight, as much for the debauchery in the campsites as the incredible lineup (Slipknot and the Prodigy’s sets completely clashed on the Saturday night, still not forgiven Andy Copping for that!).”

What was it like working with Dohny Jep, WeatherView and apatternimperfect to produce remixes of your self-titled EP? Where did the inspiration to get people to do remixes come from? Having shared stages with Seething Akira who have done a remix of “House Of Worms” by Zebadiah Crowe for their upcoming EP, was working with them ever in your minds? “We’re good friends with each of those artists and they’re all Kent based dudes who make very different sounds, we’re still truly humbled that they wanted to be involved let alone taking the time to work on them. The inspiration from a practical standpoint was that we’d had to put the Mutated EP on pause and didn’t wanna fall silent online for too long, even with the world seemingly falling apart! Musically though, we know we fall firmly under the umbrella of rock & metal but we never want to be pigeon holed and will always seek new ways of pushing the boundaries. Collaborations are a perfect way to do that. Seething Akira are on our hitlist, if they’re up for it then we certainly are!”

You’ve mentioned Linkin Park, Fever 333 and Papa Roach as being influences on your sound. If Kerrang! Magazine called you and asked you to lay down a cut for a Nu-Metal covers compilation, what would you choose and why? “Good gawd damn, now you’ve put us on the spot! It’d have to be a club banger, so most likely a Limp Bizkit hit. If not, Bodies by Drowning Pool would be a lot of fun”

We love the cover art work for “Mutated”; how did it come about? “It was designed by Laurence Crow, we’ve been a fan of his for a while, he’s got an eye-catching punk style to what he does (similar to his own music in fact). We kept the logo front and centre so it related to the self-titled EP whilst showing a progression. The self-titled cover was very contemporary and more restrained, we wanted this one to come to life with colours and literally illustrate the title “Mutated”.”

“Mutated” by Crostpaths is out 27th November 2020