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Grimsby quartet The Brookes are a band looking set to achieve big things. A very Libertines-esque band, headlining gigs around their local town and releasing fantastic britpop/rock EP's such as their latest release 'Taking Over'. We spoke to Jamie Craw, guitarist in The Brookes and this is what he had to say.

1) Who are The Brookes?

The Brookes are a four piece garage rock band based in Grimsby. We formed with the members we have now around January time. We got straight on it writing our own tunes, conveniently enough I (Jamie Craw) already had loads written from the past, so we just jammed out to them really to make them like what you hear on our EP we've just released.

2) You've recently released a new EP titled 'Taking Over', tell us a little about that?

We've just released our EP 'Taking Over' yeah. The tracks on it were a last minute decision really. We always knew Taking Over was gonna be on it, 'cause it's just that one tune that gets stuck in your head, it's that one everybody knows haha.

Taking Over I think was the first song we put together as a band, had loads of different choruses that were utter shite, then sang this one as a sort of joke, especially the four leaf clover bit, and it just stuck. There's not much of a story behind it, it's just really about falling into that stage with a lass where she won't get out of your head haha.

Can't Stand Me Now is the short and sweet one. We like to think it's consistently fast and upbeat. I had Wreckin' Bar by The Vaccines in my head writing this one. The verse and chorus combination just came out really, simple as. I thought it'd sound cool to repeat it, and that was the song finished. Unfortunately we didn't have the solo we play live with this tune written when we recorded the studio version.

Break It Off is a bit slower than the first two, it's just your cliché tune about breaking up with a lass really. It's about getting to that stage where you're starting to get over them, but you're still not quite there. I don't know really haha, it's a strange one.

Alone Together, the track that closes the EP. This is one of my favourite tunes I've written haha. It's just a simple song, again about a lass (common occurrence in our tunes). Despite the lyrics being a bit sentimental, I think this is one of my favourites to play live. I just really like what we did with the solo at the end, it's just melodic and in the background, it's nice haha.

3) Which gig of the many you've played has been your personal favourite?

There's two gigs that come to mind in particular. The one we did at O'Neill's on 2nd of May was good, there was just fuck loads of people there really, it was a quality night despite all our lot getting chucked out when we'd finished playing, yeah that was a good one. Then there's the one we did at Spider's Web on the 31st May. Was a smaller crowd but it was a mad night again, had a stage invasion at the end it was just fucking quality. We're looking to book some more gigs like those two.

4) What can we expect from The Brookes in the future?

Well obviously we wanna bring in massive crowds to all our gigs, and want them going mad really. We're hopefully back in the studio July / August time to do another EP. For the rest of 2014 and 2015 all we really want to do is get out there more. We want to get onto bigger things, support some big acts, and play further out in the UK, make a name for ourselves.

5) Who's on your usual playlist?

I tend to listen to a lot of The Libertines, and The Courteeners. I'm also a massive Orphan Boy fan. Ben's more into his Who and Kinks and stuff like that. Rob likes the same stuff I like really, and all that's on Elliott's playlist recently is The Stone Roses and Twisted Wheel haha. We're also obviously massive Oasis fans too, can't beat Oasis can you?

The Brookes are playing a hometown gig in Grimsby on the 14th of June at The Warehouse with support coming from fellow locals Kismet Ryding and Albion also, tickets are only £3.00 so snap them up whilst you can. These hometown gigs will certainly begin to become a rarity in the near future as The Brookes are set for a huge future. Also, if you're lucky, purchase a copy of the EP via the band. We aren't sure whether there are any left, but if there is, snap them up. 

Big thanks to Jamie for the interview. 

Follow The Brookes on Twitter : @TheBrookesUK

'Like' The Brookes on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/TheBrookesUK

Listen to The Brookes on Youtube : http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH09eVWKlZOZG13J0YdoveQ

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