Shadow Crafter – Thanks for Asking!

Shadow Crafter – Thanks for Asking! – by Liam Sweeny.

RRX: Every artist’s first song is a milestone. But so is the latest song. Describe the first song/album you recorded, and the latest song/album you recorded; what are the differences?

Shadow Crafter: Our first utterance is known as “The Void.” Our latest is “Golden Demise.” Yet even now, two more creations stir within the shadows.

Our music draws its lifeblood from many veins… metal’s fury, hip-hop’s pulse, pop’s allure, electronic music… all consumed, all reborn. And soon, in the statement we call “Self-Destruct,” we shall recruit the otherworldly resonance of the sitar.

RRX: Part of learning to be a musician is to fall in love with a song, an album, and hammer away at your instrument until you can play that whole thing. What was that song for you? Was there a hardest part?

Shadow Crafter: We were graced by the presence of the local word-weaver, Mic Lanny, upon our statement “We Are Your Lingering Fears.” His verse breathed new energy into our creation.

As for myself… I wrestle with the art of “rapping.” It is a language I do not yet speak fluently, though I gnaw at its rhythm in rehearsal, ever striving to command its power.

RRX: Sex, drugs, and rock and roll. Or so they say. Whether you’re off the wagon, on it, or never been, there’s something you got a thirst for. What are some of your basically harmless vices?

Shadow Crafter: A cycle eternal… despair giving birth to hope, and hope collapsing back into despair… thus, we sing.

RRX: What instrument would you add to the band if you could? Is there anything you are trying to do musically that would be helped with one or more additional players?

Shadow Crafter: Long have we yearned for the presence of keyboards and synthesizers among our ensemble. Once, we had such conjurers of sound, but alas… the paths of artists often diverge into mist.

To awaken the electronic and pop elements upon the stage… to give them form, pulse, and shimmer… would be a most pleasing consequence of our toil.

Perhaps, too, the sweet resonance of a female voice may join our ensemble… though such a dream lingers patiently in the shadows, awaiting its time.

RRX: Love is a big part of music. We’re talking first loves here. Lots of cool stories about first loves and the things we do for those loves. Can you (or, in the case of a band, one member) talk about your first love, especially if you did something cool to express that love? (No names needed.)

Shadow Crafter: My first love… was that of my mother and father. From my father flows the eternal flame of music that burns within me still.

From my mother… everything traces their lineage to her.

RRX: I know when pitching it helps to tell someone it’s “this meets that.” So, let’s try that with you. If you had to give me two bands that meet each other in your sound, what are those bands? More than two bands?

Shadow Crafter: To confine our sound to the fusion of but two artists is no simple task — it is an art in restraint. Yet, if pressed, I would name the technical aggression of Gojira and the glitch-tinged Electropop act Purity Ring as our twin poles of inspiration.

Still… the haunted sounds of Ghost and the electronic rock act Depeche Mode, whisper in our ears as well.

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