BOSTON — New York-based band Crumb blends styles to create an infectious sound that is at once unique and familiar. The four-piece consists of Lila Ramani, Jesse Brotter, Jonathan Gilad, and Brian Aronow, all of whom met while attending Tufts, and they released their self-titled EP in September. The Beat’s Kailen Santos met up with the band after their performance at Paige Hall on Tufts’ campus a few weeks ago and got the scoop about what’s new and what’s in store for Crumb fans in the future.


Kailen: What is it like to be back playing at Tufts? Is this the first show you’ve performed here as Crumb?

Lila Ramani: It’s kind of weird to be completely honest [laughs]. But it was pretty cool, it’s just interesting because we were all in another band called Bad and Blue, which was like, a Tufts band. So we’ve played in this place a bunch of times and a lot of people knew us, but this was definitely different, and it is the first as Crumb.

Jesse Brotter: The space is interesting because it’s super warm and boomy, which is usually a bad thing for sound, but I think [Lila’s] delay was doing really cool things off the walls.

Brian Aronow: I still go here so it’s pretty weird; I feel like I’m coming back but I’m not, I’ve got class on Mondays and Wednesdays [laughs].

KS: You have a few gigs coming up, a couple in New York and some around the Boston area; Is it difficult managing the time between both cities?

BA: We’re pretty much in constant communication over text, but we’ll miss some subtle things; like, we didn’t know [Jesse and Lila] were coming last night, but they called us at 12:30 a.m. to come let them in. And it’s tough because every time we get together, we have to work off some rust because it’s usually been a couple weeks since we last played, so we’re really excited—I graduate in May and we’ll be planning a little summer tour. Hopefully [Jon & I will] move to New York by the end so we’re all in the same spot.

LR: It’s on record!

KS: You’ve played shows in both Boston and NY; are there any noticeable differences between the two cities?

Jonathan Gilad: I don’t think we’ve really played enough shows around Boston to say there’s a scene here or there, but New York is just way bigger.

LR: I really did like that show at the ER though – I think that was one of my favorite shows.

KS: We’d definitely love to have you more in Boston. There are a ton of Crumb fans here!

JG: It’s really bizarre, because we’re split up so we don’t get together that much. And there’s this storm on the internet that makes it seem like we do; it’s just like two different worlds and it’s hard to make sense of.

BA: When we started the project, we didn’t really expect anything. Last year, we would meet up at this practice space in Central Square, and our goal was just to finish the 3 songs that are on the EP and record in April. Everyone was about to graduate and move to New York.

JB: It looked like a real dead end.

BA: And then we put it out and we’ve kind of just been riding the course right now.

KS: How did you connect with Citrus City Records about the Crumb EP tape reissue?

JB: Yo, they just contacted us.

LR: All our shit has basically been people contacting us, like at gmail. For the music video we just put out, the guy was originally in contact with us via Soundcloud. I don’t know how typical that is.

KS: That music video for “Bones” is sweet by the way, was that a local director?

JB: New York actually, that was Haoyan of America. He’s got like the most amazing little vision and he uses you as the film crew and he uses anyone around who can help out. We were also subjected to some crazy shit. Some unseen footage involves dinosaur suits and–

JB&BA: Tootsie rolls.

JG: He’s such a mystery.

BA: Yeah, he sees the world in a different way.

KS: You mentioned that there would be some new songs on the EP reissue. Did you record those since the EP released?

JB: Well actually, we’re doing another EP separate from our first EP reissue that Citrus City is making tapes of. So we just recorded our second EP and we’re working on it now.

BA: Yeah, it’s some of the stuff you heard tonight.

KS: Are there any other local names from Boston or New York you’d like to shout-out in the Beat?

JB: Ian Sweet is really sick.

LR: Yeah, we’re gonna do a show with them soon hopefully. I really like that band Blau Blau that played with us at the ER too.

BA: Yeah, they just put out their EP also.

LR: There’s this rap crew in New York called Slums that Jesse plays with – they’re dope.

KS: Any last things you want to share with the fans?

JB: Super corny, but I think it’s hard to see your own musical creation as outside of yourself; so it’s amazing to see people genuinely connecting to it in the same way you connect to other music. And people are so vocal to us, like on a daily basis there’s just the sweetest wordings in our inbox. You could literally be fucking up your day and then someone would be making a cartoon with your lyrics on it (pointing to Lila), it’s just awesome.

LR: This girl said she was going to do a cover of “Bones” and record it, so that’s crazy.

You can order the limited pink brick cassette reissue of the Crumb EP on Bandcamp now, or you can find the album on Spotify and Soundcloud. Stay tuned for Crumb’s next EP, coming out soon.