Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with The No Good Crowd
Hello – this is Jim McGuinn, guitarist and one of the singer-songwriters in The No Good Crowd, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the US.
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
At some point the local TV station was showing all the Beatles movies on the afternoon program. So I saw A Hard Day’s Night, Help, Yellow Submarine, Let It Be. I was about 3. And then I heard Nowhere Man – those psychedelic harmonies – that was it.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
I was really lucky to have started playing in bands in high school – I was 15 and discovered the Ramones and U2 and The Clash and The Jam and learned that you didn’t have to have all these book skills, you could just… rock. And I’ve never really stopped!
What’s the story behind your current music project?
The No Good Crowd has been together since late 2023 – but the roots of the band go back to the early 2000s, when Jamie Olson (other guitarist / writer / singer) and I played in a band called Cordalene. It was a time when you had this return to rock with The White Stripes, The Strokes – and we loved bands like Spoon – we put out some records and toured a bit, opened for folks like My Morning Jacket and Weezer. That lasted until around 2006, and I moved to Minnesota, where I played in Saint Small and BNLX, with legendary producer Ed Ackerson. After moving back in 2022, Jamie and I reconnected. He’d had a band called The Midnight Singers, where Neil Simpkins (drums) and Brendan Skwire (bass) come into the picture. The Midnight Singers were a bit more Americana, but still guitar rock. Long story – but we all kind of go for a bit more of a scruffy sound – a bit garage, powerpop, Americana, psych, even some bluesy elements. When we got together we laughed about a phrase – “indie rock for people that should know better.” It seems that what’s hot right now is a lot slicker, more chilled out and synthetic, and we’re pretty real – so we’re probably doomed!
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
Rock and roll. And the same way that can mean just about anything to anyone, we likely have a song that fits however you define it. Recently someone told me we sounded like College Radio circa 1983. I said “thanks!”
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
I’ve played in bands forever, but hadn’t been one of the lead singers until Saint Small, around 2018. And then when I moved back to Philly, I started doing some open mic things, and it changed my perspective on playing. I saw that as the singer my fancy chord progressions didn’t matter as much as the connection I needed to make with the audience, primarily thru the vocals, words, emotional expression. Stepping up to the front of the stage reshaped how I saw the role of a musician – to enable someone watching to get lost in your song.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Our recordings are started in a proper studio with our friend John Anthony, who was part of the famous Sigma Studio (Bowie, Luther Vandross, Philly Soul) here in the ‘80s, working with legends like Patti LaBelle – he captures our drums and as much of the band as we can in a quick day or two. Then we go to my house and take more time to get vocals and percussion, add keyboards or extra guitars – I love being able to engineer a lot of the tracks, and the shapes of the songs can change in that process. John and I finish the mixes together, he steers while I’m a backseat driver, but the end result is still something a basic band like ours can play live.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Everyone is into Geese right now, aren’t they? I’m also loving a bunch of newer bands that I’d say are kind of like powerpop – I dig Sharp Pins, and also Eyelids, and I’m always a fan of cheeky Brits – Wet Leg, Sports Team, but my favorite discovery of the past year is a DC-based post-punk band called Des Demonas – check them out if you don’t know them yet.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Life goes on, and still we are driven to keep making new music. The dreams of stardom or career fade away, but still… we must create. I want to make music my entire life, to document, to remain here after I’m gone. Will many people hear it? I want that to happen, but know that even if it doesn’t, I’ve still created – and that’s very important to me.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
With The No Good Crowd there are really four lifers here making music, so we balance a lot of messages – we have some songs that are pretty joyous, others political, some a bit existential, I guess, and still others just a good chance to share and celebrate the power of rock and roll; of a night at a pub, with a beer and your friends, and a great band providing the soundtrack, I guess.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Music has taught me about sound as a means to communicate in it’s most primal ways – like a heartbeat, or a kickdrum, a whisper or a scream. It’s humbling – I don’t have anywhere near perfect pitch, so it takes effort to get there, but I love it when a song comes together – first by myself, then with the band, then with an audience – best feeling in the world.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
I’ve gotten to play some of the best clubs in America – First Avenue, The Trocadero, Cabaret Metro – nothing like being one with the audience at a sweaty 1000-seat venue. But just once, I’d love to walk onstage like Oasis did in 2025 – and just own a stadium crowd, having the time of their lives. I wouldn’t have to sing or play lead guitar – I’d be a great Bonehead, just sawing away at those chords with a big grin.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Wow. Could I get a band together with Steve Marriot on vocals, maybe McCartney on bass, Mitch Mitchell or Stewart Copeland on drums, and Tom Verlaine on guitar? I’d just watch at that point!
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
https://www.instagram.com/thenogoodcrowd/ – instagram
https://thenogoodcrowd.bandcamp.com/ – bandcamp
https://www.facebook.com/theNoGoodCrowd – facebook
https://thenogoodcrowd.mailchimpsites.com/ – lame website
https://www.youtube.com/@TheNoGoodCrowd – yt
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
We just put out another song last week called Headlong, and that makes 6 songs we’ve posted in 2+ years (plus two 45s) – so now with recording we’re finishing “side two” of an album, which we hope to release at some point in later 2026 – so that’s the goal – to keep playing fun shows, and get the album out on vinyl this year.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
The No Good Crowd is where you want to be. We’re not a bad crowd, but we’re a little mischievous, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
If you want here you can add a representative Youtube video to insert below the interview 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SH9x7H3U0k
– The No Good Crowd – Headlong – being a joyous duet with Emm Gryner about falling in love, this song is full of Radical Exuberance, and to match that vibe we re-purposed footage from an incredible 1967 French Mod Musical called The Young Girls of Rochefort. The result is pretty irresistible, even if I did edit it together myself 🙂
