It’s been two years…” begins Crowbar vocalist / guitarist Kirk Windstein, as he reflects on the unfortunate pandemic-related delay of the release of his band’s 12th studio album, Zero And Below, which will finally see the light of day on March 4 via MNRK Heavy. “It’s the first time in my life that I’ve done a record, but it hasn’t come out. So, I’ve had two years to listen to it… and two years later, I’m still really, really happy with it. To me, that’s a great sign that it’s a strong record. I’m so proud of this record! I think it’s the next step for us, I truly do.”
Throughout the 30 years of Crowbar, numerous different members have come in and out of the band. Zero And Below marks the recorded debut of bassist Shane Wesley. “It’s a weird thing, but it’s a wonderful thing,” explains the sludge metal ambassador of New Orleans. “When I parted ways with Down in 2013, which thankfully I’m back in and loving it, everything’s great! I grew up with those guys. When we first put it out there – Kirk’s doing Crowbar and that’s it – believe it or not, Shane was actually the first dude to show up, to try out. He’s a nice dude and he’s great, but at the time he was 25 years old. It was a little odd for me that he was so much… of course he’s still that much younger than me. At first, I was like, the kid kills it, but…”
“Anyway, we stayed in touch with one another, stayed friends. When (bassist) Big Todd was leaving the band, we were in Europe (in 2018), and he literally said, ‘I’ve got to go home.’ We’re like, ‘Oh God!’. So, Robin (Kirk’s wife), actually texted Shane – ‘Can you learn 15 songs? We’ll fly you out.’ He was like, ‘Yes, yes, and yes!’ He was all excited about it. The fact that we loved him from the get-go, and we really did. He’s a great dude. Todd had run his course – which I absolutely appreciate. I love Big T for coming back and giving it a shot; it’s just not for everybody. It’s a hard f*cking life. But he did his thing, got married; I’m so happy for him. He lives in Dallas, Texas now. But Shane’s great! He’s an amazing musician. He has a jazz degree in music from the University of Southern Mississippi. This kid – I call him kid, he’s 33 now; everybody’s a kid to me. He rips! I don’t think I showed up one time when he was doing his bass tracks. I said, ‘Shane, you do your thing, and I’ll hear it tomorrow.’ And I never asked him to change one single thing. He’s a beast! And writing-wise as well, he had a good bit of riffs to contribute as well. Shane is officially a full-fledged member of the band. He’s not a hired gun. He’s a member and a great friend. Extremely intelligent, extremely talented dude. And he couldn’t have a better attitude.”
Zero And Below” is the only track written solely by Kirk, the others are all collaborative efforts. “The outro, that is actually the first time we’ve ever had an acoustic guitar on a Crowbar record,” beams Kirk. “I said, ‘Duane, do you want to grab a 12-string?’ He said, ‘No. I want you to single note an octave lower, and single note an octave higher.’ And that’s what you got. It sounds like a 12-string guitar, but it’s actually a six-string twice.”
Lyrically, “Zero And Below” appears to be an anti-suicide song, as evidenced by the words: “Please don’t end it all… There’s no coming back, never fade to black.” “Yeah… once again, it may also touch upon drug stuff. I hate to constantly touch upon the drug subject, but it’s just something that I’ve always written about. Like I said, I’ve had my share of struggles, God knows. And I’ve had so many – I can’t count them on two hands and two feet – friends that have OD’d and died. But it’s also anti-suicidal. Like, please don’t end it all. Honestly, I tend to just write what I’m feeling at the moment. And a lot of songs, people are like, ‘What’s it about?’ I don’t even know. And it’s true! I just wrote something down. Sometimes my hand cannot write as fast as my brain works. I’ll just scribble down stuff, not that it’s not important or anything. Not that I don’t love it 100%. If you go back to a song like ‘High Rate Extinction’, it’s metaphors. That song’s actually about alcohol talking to me.”
“At the end of the day, as long as it is something that when I listen back to it, I enjoy it, and I think I’ve accomplished something. I’m proud of myself; us guys, the whole band. I don’t want to act like I’m a one-man band. People don’t realize, (drummer) Tommy Buckley has been in this f*cking band since 2004. And (guitarist) Matt Brunson has been in this band since 2006. Shane’s only been in it for a few years, yeah. But people are like, ‘You’re always changing members.’ Not really. Two of the dudes have been around damn near f*cking 20 years. These guys have all given… like I tell ‘em, it ain’t like I’m flying first class. It ain’t like while we’re doing an overnight drive in a f*cking van cause we’re going to play a festival, it ain’t like I’m laying in a bunk; I’m in a f*cking van. We’re all in this together. So, you either love it, or you don’t belong here. Guess what? Thankfully, they love it! And that’s what makes for the strong band that I truly believe Crowba
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