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Marr is thrilled to be a Crib. But a Smith? Well... (© John Davisson/Corbis)

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Ryan Jarman: "Johnny was. And my brother Gary, who plays bass, he was living there. Me and Ross still live in England. But because Gary was in Portland and Johnny was in Portland, that's where they ended up meeting. Which is weird: All our lives we've lived, like, 45 minutes from where Johnny lives in Manchester, and we've never bumped into each other at all. To travel 5000 miles and to have met up in Portland…[to Johnny] You guys got to talking, I guess."

Johnny Marr: "I was already a fan of The Cribs. In the early part of 2005 when The New Fellas came out, I got really into that. Gary and I bumped into each other and struck up a friendship - just two musicians in a new city. Very soon after that, Ryan and Ross and I met at the Glastonbury Festival, and soon after that, Ryan and I bumped into each other again and we decided to get together to play, just to see what would happen, really.

"There wasn't any grand scheme or career plans. Far from it. We just got together in a funky little room in the cold in the north of England and started playing some riffs, and we immediately started writing songs.

"All of us have been in groups from our early teens, which is a very important part of how we get along. We all know that when it sounds good, you follow that. Chemistry is very important. It felt natural - for me and the other boys as well."

Now, Johnny, of course you were in The Smiths, and since then you've played with a lot of people. You did a little stint in the band Modest Mouse -

Marr: "Yes."

But a lot of people might be wondering, are you a permanent member of The Cribs, or is this something you're doing temporarily?

"I'm a permanent member of The Cribs, and very happy to be so" Johnny Marr

Marr: "I can see why people might think that, but I'm a permanent member of The Cribs, and very happy to be so.

"I understand that question, because I've followed my own map, so to speak, but with a lot of great people. It comes back to the answer to the first question: When the chemistry is really good, that's really important. When you find yourself in the right group, unless you have some sort of personal issues, which we don't, it kind of dictates your life, really.

"We're thinking of making the next record. Like I say, I understand that question, but it's not as big a deal as it might be."

Ryan, how long was the process where you went from, 'Holy shit, we've got Johnny Marr in the band!' to 'He's just another member'?

Jarman: "Pretty swiftly, really. From the moment we started playing together and started writing…you don't think of the personality involved, you know what I mean? I just think of the songs. I don't think any of us really thought about it; we didn't realize the significance of it."