CR And The Nones

Photo provided by, CASTLEBEAT

Meet CR And The Nones

They are the latest addition to the terrific new label Favorite Friend Records. Cr And The Nones is the project of Chris Gennone. Chris spins yarns like nobody else. His stories are poignant and relatable. Backing up those lyrics are waves of sonic bliss meticulously crafted. If electronic folky rock tunes are your jam this is someone you need to check out. Get to know Chris as we talk about their upcoming album, books, and bodega cats.

A self-portriat by, CR And The Nones

Would You Rather

your sense of smell or sense of hearing be a hundred times stronger? Why?

Definitely sense of hearing. Smells are cool, but not that important to me. And my hearing isn't too great anymore with having tinnitus and all that.

Some questions with CR And The Nones

What smell do you think best represents your album "Living In Fear” Why?

Old leaves in the fall. Gonna get a little deep here, but I think the album sort of represents the death of something, like the leaves, and the realization that something new will grow soon.

If you could be on any reality TV show, what would it be and why?

Oh man, probably Road Rules. I love RVs and road trips, and I've never had a lot of money, so I feel like it'd be sort of easy to find odd jobs and complete the challenges.

What is the best book you’ve most recently read?

Right now I'm re-reading Jimmy McDonough's Shakey: Neil Young's Biography. Fuck it's amazing. It's probably juicier than any other music biography and has all the dirt. And it's just really well written. No wonder why Neil tried to sue him and stop it from being published.

Is this your first musical venture? If not how have past projects shaped the music you are making under CR And The Nones?

Nah. I had a psych-rock band with my friend Andrew Merclean called Tribal Days for a while, which was more of a collaborative project. We put out two full lengths and played a bunch in Jersey and Brooklyn but we put it to bed in 2016. Then I started CR and The Degenerates, which was more of what I wanted to do at the time, which was personal, alt-country leaning songs. We put out five full lengths on Sniffling Indie Kids, played a bunch of shows, and did a few tours. I've been playing some solo gigs and recording this album for the past couple years and decided to change to CR and The Nones. It's still me and under the same tree, just a different lineup and refined sound. So I think CR and The Nones is actually a pretty even combination of those two bands, combining the psychedelic elements with the alt-country, singer-songwriter vibes.

How do you feel about bodega cats?

Love em. I'm definitely more of a cat person anyway though, so I love most of them.

What was the spark that brought this project together?

Well, following a summer tour in 2018 with Rosey Bengal, the band sort of fell apart. And pretty soon after that, I did too. I went through a breakup, gained a lot of weight, and was drinking pretty heavily at the time, leading to some health and anxiety issues. It was definitely one of the darkest periods of my life, and I started writing these songs during that time. When I eventually got back up on my feet and started recording "Living In Fear", I wanted the album to be a listening experience. I know the songs are mostly downers, but I wanted it to have this deep, ethereal space that reflected not just what I was feeling at the time, but also have an openness and sense of hope.

How does “The Nones” like their name?

I dig it. I was looking to make a name and lineup change from CR and The Degenerates for a while. I was jamming on some of the new songs this past winter with my buddy Dash from Secretary Legs and he came up with CR and The Nones. It's a play on my last name, Gennone.

Do you have a pedal or other piece of gear that you have found yourself coming back to often?

Yea, I bought the Procession Reverb pedal by Old Blood Noise Endeavors from Andrew and I absolutely love it. It's got flange, filter, and tremelo settings with a huge wet/dry reverb. And it has a hold button so I can just hold this endless sustain and play on top of it. It's funny because I'm not much of an effects guy, I usually just play with an overdrive pedal, a tuner, and the Procession. But I'm open to including some more shit to my setup.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Nah, just want to say thanks to everyone who helped to make this album with me, my label Favorite Friend, and for fuck's sake, let's vote this piece of shit out in November!