Crobot vocalist Brandon Yeagley has never been the type to overthink things, and that, perhaps more than anything else, is what has kept the band vital through nearly a decade of lineup changes, label turbulence, and the kind of life experiences that tend to derail lesser outfits. With their new album Supermoon dropping May 1st, Yeagley sat down with Robert Cavuoto to talk about what makes this record different from everything that came before it. The short answer: intention.
“I really wanted to put that microscope on everything,” Yeagley explained. “I wanted to approach a record for the first time and make sure that every single word was where I wanted it to be. Every single theme, everything that every song was about was extremely intentional.”
That’s a shift from how Crobot has historically operated. Their previous record, Obsidian, came together under less-than-ideal circumstances. “We didn’t have a label, and we didn’t expect that,” Yeagley said. “So we had a bunch of stuff lying around, and we put something together.” Supermoon, by contrast, was built from the ground up — and a major reason for that was the arrival of a new rhythm section.
Drummer Nico and bassist Willie are new to the Crobot lineup, but they’re anything but strangers to the band. Yeagley traced the connection back 13 years, to a night when the pair were still teenagers playing their first gig. “We saw these kids playing, and we were like, these kids got it,” he recalled. The relationship deepened over the years — Crobot would crash at the brothers’ parents’ house while on tour, and the family would return the favor with home cooking and freshly folded laundry.
When the previous rhythm section moved on, there was never really a question of who was coming in next. “Who else could we have gotten that is as passionate about the project as we are?” Yeagley said. “Nobody, aside from these kids that grew up playing Crobot songs and really just grew up loving the band.”
The new lineup sort of reshaped the album entirely. Songs that had been sitting on the shelf for years, some written during the Mother Brain era, suddenly found their place. The process became collaborative in a way it hadn’t been before, with the new members voting on which tracks made the cut alongside Yeagley and guitarist Chris Bishop. “You’re asking big fans to pick what they like,” Yeagley laughed.
The DNA of Crobot‘s sound, Yeagley is quick to point out, hasn’t changed. “It’s Clutch mixed with Dio, mixed with Soundgarden, mixed with Rage Against the Machine and everything in between.” The band’s commitment to fun and authenticity remains the filter through which everything passes. “Can you bob your head? Can you shake your hips? Does it make you just feel good?” Those are the questions that still determine whether a track survives.
One of the standout songs on Supermoon is “Me and Your Mother,” a George Clinton-flavored deep cut that Yeagley describes as “me being my most George Clinton in our discography.” It’s also deeply personal. “The song came before,” he explained. “We worked on it when my wife was pregnant with our first, with Presley.” The track is, in the most Crobot way possible, a funk-laced creation myth dedicated to his daughter — and, as Yeagley put it, his preferred method for eventually having that conversation. “I’m just gonna put this on. I’ve already told it to you.”
Throughout the interview, the bond between Yeagley and Bishop comes up repeatedly, and it’s impossible to ignore. They’ve been building Crobot together for the better part of a decade, and the relationship has clearly outlasted the band’s various lineup configurations. “We truly love each other,” Yeagley said plainly. “Every time we get off the phone, we say I love you.” He also happens to have Bishop‘s face tattooed on his arm — which, he acknowledged with characteristic humor, may finally necessitate getting his wife’s name on the other one.
As for what comes next after Supermoon, Yeagley is characteristically unbothered. Crobot will tour, write, and trust the process. “It’s the easy scale,” he said of how they evaluate new material. “How easy was this one? Was it really easy? Then it’s probably better.” Given how Supermoon came together, that philosophy seems to be working just fine.
To preorder Supermoon and its various bundles, head over here.
