Hello Rockstars and happy fucking New years Eve! 😉
My Artist of the Week Article is on Indie Rock / Emo Band Crumbcatcher!
Here’s their story in their own words, Enjoy!
VMS:
“When did you start writing and performing your music.
What’s your backstory and current lineup.”
Crumbcatcher:
Our current lineup is:
Jack Wagner (Vocals, Guitar, Synth)
Corinne Elyse Dela Cruz (Bass, Vocals)
Gage Morgan (Guitar, Vocals)
Nick Ochoa (Guitar)
Lewie Overcast (Drums)
“Crumbcatcher began as my (Jack Wagner, guitar/vocals) solo project back in 2019. I wrote most of our first release “Adjustment Disorder” in late 2019/ early 2020 and got a handful of friends and my partner to help bring the songs to life in a live setting.
Right as we were gearing up to start playing shows, Covid hit and shut everything down. Since I was laid off from my job at the same time, I decided to put everything I had into learning how to record and finishing that first record.
In July of 2020, my friend Mike and I recorded a cover of “Pathetic” by Blink-182 for a charity compilation together under the “Crumbcatcher” name, and decided we wanted to make an album together.
Once “Adjustment Disorder” came out in September 2020, we went all in on making that album, which just came out on July 5th, 2024.”
VMS:
“What artist or bands inspire you and your sound.”
Crumbcatcher:
“Everything under the sun, but specifically:
Frank Ocean
Thursday
The Cure
At The Drive-In
The Beach Boys
Steely Dan
Foxing
Phoenix
Beach House
Death Cab For Cutie
The list goes on forever, but those are the big ones.”
VMS:
“What’s your writing process and inspiration for your lyrics.”
Crumbcatcher:
“We usually start with writing out the core of an entire song instrumentally in the guitar tab/ sheet music application Guitar Pro.
From there, we demo out the song, write vocals, keys, strings, and anything else we see fit, and then re-record everything based on that final demo track. It’s a grueling process, but it works for us.
That said, sometimes I (Jack) make a cool synth patch or something and build off of that. That’s how the song “Inflorescence” was made.”
VMS:
“I love your songs “Bitcrusher”, “Inflorescence ” and “Senescence”.
What is the inspiration or story behind these songs.”
Crumbcatcher:
Bitcrusher
“Bitcrusher was one of the first songs that was written for the record. I had written the intro, first verse, and chorus of that and “Soft Triangles” as sort of a “thesis statement” for what i wanted the album to sound like sonically. It’s about a falling out with a friend I dealt with a bunch of years ago. I hope they’re doing well. Fun fact: the outro for this song was originally written for our song “Fall Asleep.” Could you imagine that lol.”
Listen to “Bitcrusher” on Bandcamp
Inflorescence
“Inflorescence was the result of me frustratingly trying to finish writing the intro for the album. I decided to take a break and simply play with my Prophet 08 and try to make something that’d sound like it was on the Minecraft soundtrack. It all flowed out at once. Its demo name was “Norway” (instead of Sweden; haha get it). Inflorescence, Death Bloom, and Senescence kind of move as a unit together both sonically and thematically. Inflorescence sets the tone and theme for the first half, Death Bloom sets the tone and theme for the second half, and Senescence ties it all up into one neat package.”
Listen to “Inflorescence” on Bandcamp
Senescence
“Senescence originally began as two songs: one softer, indie track called “Dinosaur Sr.” and one louder, emo track called “Cane’s Golden Knights Cup” (demo names go crazy, I know).
We were really struggling to make either of those tracks work, and were on the verge of scrapping both of them. At some point, I read the story about how “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead was three separate songs smashed together, and I was like, “Oh shit, that’s what we should do.” I think we spent at least a couple hundred hours working on this song, between writing and re-writing instrument parts, recording all of the drums, strings, horns, etc., writing and rewriting the lyrics, etc.
The project file is 305 tracks total if I remember correctly. I’m really proud of that song. I want to make more songs with string arrangements in the future. That was easily my favorite part of the whole process. Also, my 9 year old son Troy is singing at the end. It made me really happy to work on something with him.”
Listen to “Senescence” on Bandcamp
VMS:
“Tell me about your EP: “Infinite Feedback“. What was the inspiration and process of writing it.”
Crumbcatcher:
“We started writing the record in 2020, but we didn’t really figure out what we wanted it to sound like until early 2022. At that point, we had rough drafts of 4 songs done, decided we wanted to do the indie rock side A and emo/post-hardcore side B, and we needed some sort of song in the middle that would bridge the two sides together.
We built the theme of the album out from there, and decided on the whole “my older self reflecting on the actions of my younger self, my younger self responding, and both of them coming together in the end to grow into something new” thing. I started getting into horticulture a bit during the creation of the record, and whenever I was reading about the stages of an agave plant’s death, I felt it perfectly resembled the theme of the record.
That’s where the Inflorescence/Death Bloom/Senescence titles came from. The cycle of your older self hating your younger self will continue forever, hence the “Infinite Feedback” title. There’s more to it than that too, but I don’t want to clog up the article lol.”
Listen to “Infinite Feedback” on Bandcamp
VMS:
“Which local artist would you like to work with and why.”
Crumbcatcher:
“There’s this newer nu-metal/ alt metal band called Deathtape that I think have a really bright future ahead of them. 3/5ths of Crumbcatcher recently judged a high school battle of the bands they played and they absolutely blew us away. I wish I was writing songs that well at their age. Their new single “Back It Up” is sick. Check it out.”
VMS:
“What’s your overall theme or message of your music.”
Crumbcatcher:
“Growth is important. Cringing at mistakes you made when you were younger is a good thing, actually. Touch grass. Go for a run. Take care of yourself. Indulge in nature as much as you possibly can because all of this shit is going to be gone one day.”
VMS:
“Do you have a favorite song that you like to perform.”
Crumbcatcher:
“This changes with every show/ practice, but right now, it’s either Fire, Walk With Me or Bitcrusher. Lytta Magister is going to make its way into the set soon too, and that one is absolutely going to be a show-stealer when it does.”
VMS:
“Do you have any crazy or interesting stories from working in the music scene.”
Crumbcatcher:
“Most of the shows I’ve played over the last 13 years have been surprisingly tame. I remember playing a house show in my old folk band where someone threw up on the floor and covered it up with a rug. That’s nasty.
We played with Awakebutstillinbed on that same show and they came in and danced to our cover of Dylan Thomas by Better Oblivion Community Center which was cool. Very, very nice people.”
VMS:
“What does the future hold for Crumbcatcher.”
Crumbcatcher:
“We wanna make more music and play more shows. We have a couple new songs in the works that, in my opinion, blow everything off Infinite Feedback out of the water.
I want to fuse the indie rock and emo sounds together more, too. Past that, I think we’re hopefully going to play some shows out of town this fall. That’s a really exciting thought.”
VMS:
“What do you want your audience to feel and experience at one of your live shows.”
Crumbcatcher:
“We want everyone to feel safe and connected, no matter what your race, gender identity, or sexuality is. We want you to leave with 20 new friends and a new favorite band. I hate to quote a meme here, but it’s honestly the best way for me to answer this question, so:
“I live in constant fear of the western descent towards fascism, but I digress. The club is bumping, the ladies look good, the alcohol is flowing… There is so much hate in this world but not in this room.”
Vegas Music Scene Thoughts:
The interesting thing that I appreciate about Crumbcatcher’s music, is how it’s hard to pigeonhole them into one genre. Every time I hear their music it feels like they’re taking me on an ethereal soul searching landscape rock adventure. One song has a beautiful delicate sadness about it such as “Death Bloom“, and then the next song will build into a guttural song of pure emotion like “Bitcrusher“.
Maybe that’s why I gravitate towards them so heavily as a band, they always keep pushing the envelope musically and always keep me as the listener guessing. With lyrics about love, loss, anger and also self reflection, and music that gets to the core of who they are as a band, I feel their musicianship and lyrics are very underrated.
They all have their beautiful strengths that they bring into the equation, and somehow have found a cohesive blend that is a treat for the audience every time. I feel “Infinite Feedback” is a wonderful step in the right direction for this band, which I have talked about more in detail in my previous article, and I’m so incredibly excited to The evolution for Crumbcatcher. I just know that no matter where they decide to take us, it’s going to be a one of a kind beautifully tragic experience that definitely should not be missed.
For more information on Crumbcatcher, please visit their sites:
—–VMS