Catholic Action


Chris McCrory

Where are you from?
Glasgow, Scotland.

What do you do?
I'm a record producer and I sing and play guitar in Catholic Action.

Describe your style in three words?
The Velvet Underground…

You can make a record with anyone from history?
I'd love to make a record with Brian Eno, circa 1974. After he left Roxy Music, but before he went ambient. The music was so off the cuff, inverted and energetic. The best thing though, is that no matter how weird it gets, you can always still sing along.

What’s the best show you’ve ever been to?
I saw Sonic Youth at the United Palace Theatre in New York City on one of their last ever tours. I was completely obsessed with them at the time, so to see them play a hometown show in a truly beautiful venue was pretty special.

What British music icons inspire your sound today?
This is really difficult, and it's near impossible to pick just one song by them… but I've always loved the songs of Ray Davies and The Kinks. A real master of his craft. Succinct yet ornate. Perfect, thoughtful, pop music. Something I definitely aspire to do with Catholic Action.
The Kinks - Shangri-La

You can spend an hour with anyone from history?
Kurt Vonnegut. Aside from the books - that you should definitely read while you are still a young man or woman - I think he had some very wise ideas about life itself. And specifically, how to lead yours happily. If you know his novels, read his graduation speeches.

Which British subculture means the most to you?
Punk. My dad was 19 when it all kicked off, he experienced it first hand so it really opened his mind to a lot of great music, and arguably even better ideas. He really hated the self-indulgence of the prog-rock hippies that came before him. A good song was always better than a wanky guitar solo.

I've never not been surrounded by this music and the ideals that came with it. We still play guitar solos and he still thinks my hair is too long, but for me the song itself is always number one.

I'd loved to have shared a bill with Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd. Those UFO Club gigs were probably wild.

What music did you listen to growing up?
Fortunately, my parents had enormous record collections and I was encouraged to listen to anything and everything. My earliest musical memory was Blur and Oasis scrapping it out in the tabloids. Being from an odd, rain-soaked suburb - renowned for its rather infamous suicide spot - naturally, I had a huge teenage Nirvana phase. Shortly afterwards however, I found Sonic Youth and disappeared down the musical rabbit hole. My taste just exploded at that point.
However, if Kurt Cobain said "Punk Rock Is Freedom", then there was no band more punk than The Clash. They went beyond the dullard safety-pin shit and did what they wanted. That attitude to music really shaped me from an early age.

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