In the Meet The Band spotlight this week is the UK metalcore/nu-metal band Creak, who just released their full-length debut album Depth Perception. Vocalist Jack Dunn introduces us to his band.
Chad Bowar: Give us a brief history of Creak.
Jack Dunn: Most of us met through college and ended up in a load of different projects together through similar tastes in music and being a part of the same local scene. We’d all grown up as fans of bands like Sworn In and Villains, and this led to us eventually splitting off from those initial projects and around 2019 starting what would be Creak as it is now.
Describe the songwriting process for Depth Perception.
It started out as another EP, but once we got into the writing sessions we realised we had a lot of ideas that would be hard to fully release within another project that size, so we ended up turning it into an album. We had the name Depth Perception quite early on in the album cycle, and that set the tone going into it. The first half of the album was done online, and then when lockdowns had eased we all met up at a studio in Essex that our guitar player Moose had at the time, and spent a lot of nights throwing ideas around, and sleeping in the studio.
What will be your strongest memory of the recording of the album?
There’s two that kind of stick out when I think of the album process. The first is hearing “Hare In The Woods” for the first time, and how excited we were about it. That song for most of us I think was the first one that summed up the next step of the band, and led to the project being turned into a full album. The other is the first time getting to hear the initial mix of the album as a whole. We’d been working on it for such a long time, and I don’t think any of us will forget getting to hear it all come together as a whole.
What was the biggest challenge in its recording?
Because of the pandemic, and all the lockdowns we had to write and record the first half of the album remotely. Usually we’d write together and kind of feed off each other’s excitement about sections or ideas, but with this it was harder to get that back and forth so when we were getting to give each other feedback it was usually over larger sections or parts of songs than we’d been used to. I think in some ways it pushed us all to try and work even harder individually, but it was something that we definitely did find difficult at first. Luckily, for the second half we were able to get back some of that feeling when we could meet up again and it felt a bit smoother.
How has your sound evolved from your 2020 EP?
I’d say that we just tried to take the sound we’d established and pull it in as many different directions as possible. We had a lot of different ideas build-up from doing that first EP a few years ago and for us it was important to push our own boundaries as well as the sound as a band while making sure that it still felt like us. If I had to sum it up I’d say it’s a more visceral and bleak sounding stage of the band.
What lyrical subjects do you cover?
My mother has unfortunately been fighting cancer for the past four years, and conceptually most of the album has been a way for me to get a lot of the emotions and difficult feelings I’ve had onto paper, and in some ways feel like I can get them off my chest and accept them. I felt like I’d changed in a lot of ways since we did the first EP too, so when talking about some of the same subject matter I could look at it in a different perspective, and see other points of view better than how I’d just seen my own as a teenager. That’s also where the album name Depth Perception came from as well.
How did you come to sign with Prosthetic?
We ended up chatting to Steve from Prosthetic and showing him the album, and after a few calls and getting to talk about the label we all felt like it was the right home for the band. We’d known about the label for a long time from being fans of bands like Villains, so it was also a privilege for us to get to join that lineup with so many other great bands.
What are your goals and expectations for the album?
We mostly just hope that as many people as possible can hear the album, and that some of them will like it. We put a lot of ourselves into this album, and we hope that people can hear that when they listen to it, but either way we just appreciate people giving us any of their time.
Out of the videos you did for this album, which was your favourite to shoot?
We’ve been lucky to have a lot of positive experiences with videos and a lot of fun doing them, but we did a video for “Hare In The Woods” with Murry Deaves, and that was probably the most fun we’ve had on a set. I think with the song being a personal favorite we were all excited going into it, and we all had a sick time.
What has been your most memorable Creak live show?
Getting to be a part of the final God Complex show. That band was a big deal and influenced all of us, and they were one of the first bands that gave us a proper chance when we started, so getting to be a part of their final show was bittersweet, but something we’ll never forget.
What are your upcoming show/tour plans?
There will definitely be a headline tour announced quite soon to support the album, and we have a load of other stuff in the works that we can’t quite talk about yet, but we think people will be excited about. Overall though expect to see us somewhere near you before the end of the year!
What are some of your non-musical hobbies and interests?
Most of us play games in the band. We’re big fans of Fromsoftware, and Warzone. We watch a lot of anime and horror movies together when we can, and a few of us are big into skating.
What’s the best thing you’ve binge watched lately?
Supernatural, and Demon Slayer are probably our best recent picks.
What’s currently in your heavy musical rotation?
The new Chamber album is a band favorite, and Converge, Dying Wish, Jesus Piece and Title Fight are currently at the top of the band playlist.
Anything else you’d like to mention or promote?
We just want to say thank you to anyone who does check out the album. It means the world to all of us and we hope you enjoy it.
(interview published August 19, 2023)
Listen To full Creak – Depth Perception Album
