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Each week ZIO asks a different musician the same 11 questions via email. Visit Zoom In Music every Wednesday for a new installment or subscribe to the RSS feed.

This week we're spending time with Wakefield's very own Ryan Jarman. Ryan, his twin brother Gary, and their younger brother Ross make up one of my favorite bands: The Cribs.

Since their inception, The Cribs have received critical acclaim and devoted fans. But despite being hailed as "your band's favorite band," they did not become an overnight success when their self-titled debut album was released in 2004. Thank god Witchita are smarter than your average record label.

They knew what they had: A band who write roughed up, catchy-as-hell songs that are impossible to get out of your head, sung in call and response style, with a ferocious drummer who sometimes plays while standing on his own drumkit. Their live show is pure messy energy, and the lyrics are insightful and unexpected, whether they're talking about relationships or their dislike of certain types of people they've come across. Hipsters. Scenesters. Mirror Kissers. You know who they're referring to.

On a personal note, The Cribs were the very first band I interviewed for my UK music documenatry. That was back in 2005, and the film is still in the edit process, so they've also been the most patient of all involved bands! If you were to check my diary from June of that year, you would find an entry where I noted how I had yet to witness a single house party in London where The Cribs' first album was not played at some point in the night. Those songs are deeply embedded in that time and place. From "Direction" to "Another Number" to "You Were Always the One," it is one of my all-time favorite albums.

Not only is that first album a personal classic of mine, but unlike so many other bands, their subsequent albums don't disappoint. The catchy songs are still there, the production is cleaned-up without sounding too polished, and there is a noticeable maturity in the lyrics. Songs like "Martell," "Our Bovine Public," "Men's Needs," and many more are great both on record and in performance.

The Cribs don't seem to have taken a wrong step, and these days they're enjoying the rewards of doing it the right way. During their last tour, legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr played with them. And with their 2007 release Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever entering the UK charts at #13, they are finally receiving the popular success they so richly deserve.

Yes, I'm indulging in my love for The Cribs in this blog. They're still largely unknown here in the States, so I want to encourage everyone out there to take a listen. You can find more info by following the Cribs-related links at the bottom of this page.

Now... on to the Q&A!

1.  What music was played in your home while you were growing up?

All sorts of stuff really, mainly the Beatles I think. My mum had transferred all her Beatles vinyls on to big ¼” reels so the albums would be played back-to-back, and she’d play us Beatles songs on the guitar. I guess that’s why those songs stick with you for so long, because you don’t differentiate them from the nursery rhymes that you learned as a kid, so they are your earliest memories of music. She also liked the Stones and the Beach Boys but I’ve never been that bothered by them.

2.  Who is the best artist we have probably never heard of?

We say this all the time but it has to be Comet Gain. They are undoubtedly mine and my brother’s favourite band. It’s rare I find something current I like so I’m very  precious about them. David Feck is a genius. They have a song “Fingernailed For You” that makes me think of the smell of wet asphalt on a summer’s day. I don’t know why. And other songs that are so evocative of significant points in my life, living in dusty rooms with no glass in the windows, not sleeping for 3 days at a time. Deliriously happy.

Oh and the Real Losers from Leeds. They are undoubtedly the last great punk band. Check out Time To Lose on Squirrel Records.

3.  What record did you used to love, but now can't stand? 

I don’t know, anything that I can’t stand I generally block out from my memory permanently otherwise I would be a crazy person by now.

4.  What song do you want played at your funeral?

The Twin Peaks theme tune by Angelo Badalamenti. I just love that piece of music. I was on tour in the US and I had it on repeat on my iPod for pretty much the entire duration. Plus, how dramatic would that be? Or is it pretentious? You decide!

5.  What is your favorite b-side?

I really love b-sides, I think recording them is generally more fun than recording an album. Every band should have great b-sides and not fob people off with a load of re-mixes and shite like that. All my favourite bands had great b-sides, when I was about 14 I really liked The Wildhearts, mainly because they had really strong b-sides and lots of them. 29 X The Pain, that’s a great song! I couldn’t say what my favourite b-side ever is though, it’s like asking yr favourite song, there’s no real answer.

6.  Which medium do you prefer: vinyl, cd, or download?

Vinyl. But then I was always going to say that. It’s bigger. It sounds better. You can make it different colours. The artwork looks neat on paper really big as opposed to a small digitized version on a screen. I grew up with CD’s so I don’t hate them either, at least they exist. When I was in high school I used to save up for ages for an album and then get obsessed by it and read all the liner notes etc. I think we are missing that these days with downloads.

7.  What artist would your fans be surprised that you like?

I don’t know, probably loads.

8.  What musician would you choose to cover one of your songs?

I don’t believe that I would.

9.  Who is the most overrated artist?

There’s so many, but I always avoid naming names. Smart people know who. Never understood Prince fans though.

10. What musician or band do you wish you’d seen play live in their prime?

I guess it has got to be Nirvana. I really loved them growing up and we were always supposed to go and see them live but then Kurt died and we never got the chance. I used to watch a lot of their live vides when I was a kid and the performances looked very intense but also very free, I think that’s what I want to see in a live concert.

11. What non-musical influences do you have?

Lots. To be honest I’m more influenced by things that I read than things that I hear. Everything that I’m exposed to that strengthens the politics I have influences me.

I read all the time too. I’m pretty much obsessed with reading. I pack hardly anything when I go on tour because I buy so many books and fill my suitcase with them. I’m enjoying books by Milan Kundera at the minute, he has many different interesting views on sexuality.

For more on the Cribs, visit MySpace, Wikipedia, and their website.

Their albums are all on iTunes: The Cribs, The New Fellas, Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever.

Watch the music videos for and Martell and Our Bovine Public.

Discover Comet Gain and The Real Losers.

Watch Nirvana's performance on Top of the Pops.

Check out more installments of THESE QUESTIONS GO TO ELEVEN:

Adam Green
Art Brut
Chin Chin
Darlings
Dead River Company
Fujiya & Miyagi
Golem
Talib Kweli
Ben Kweller
Jeffrey Lewis
The Low Miffs
Lights
M83
Man Like Me
Marina & The Diamonds
Meg & Dia
A.C. Newman
Cale Parks
Silvery
Tapes 'n Tapes
Tiny Animals
The Von Bondies
White Rabbits
Wild Light
Yo Majesty!

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