Droid/Monster In The Machine
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Droid will continue building its fan base on the Family Values tour. And with the boldness behind its recognizable band name already shining, good things are coming to these guys.
“We still have people who we sold those CDs to years ago that love it. We’re playing super heavy music, but we also have people who don’t listen to that," Eason says. "We know we’re doing something right, because we have that groove in the metal, which makes the average person move to it. They may not love it but are able to listen to our music.”
Monster In The Machine
Emotional Syphon’s second signing is Monster In The Machine. It's the newest creation of Shannon Crawford, and a breath of fresh air to the music scene today. ITs debut CD "Butterfly Pinned" is filled with songs that capture a wide range of emotions. The name alone sets the concept behind the lyrics and what the band is about.
“I think of it as an anti-establishment title," Crawford says. "Machine being everything that we’ve created, whether it is the cars we drive and the businesses — the machines of the world. The bank systems and the government — that’s the machine. We’re actually the monster that keeps the machine going. We buy into the fancy new car and going into debt and all of the things we think we need, but we really don’t. It’s that false sense of need that gets the machine going.”
Crawford wrote many of the songs, while he had help from bassist Douglas Ardito (Puddle Of Mudd) and violinist Imani Coppola (Peeping Tom) on “Shut The Door.” Taking sounds ranging from the Beatles to Blondie, as well as other new-wave influences, he has created sounds that take listeners on a musical journey.
“I definitely could tell you that I love the Beatles,” he says. “It’s probably a result as why it’s a major influence [on the album]. When you listen to a lot of one thing, you’re naturally going to gravitate towards certain styles. I like sticking with the Bs: Beatles, Beach Boys, Bauhaus . . . there’s a lot of 'B' bands. There’s a Blondie influence in ‘Burns Inside Me’ for sure. I wanted it to have a late-Beatles, early-Bowie [feel] with late-'70s and -'80s overtones and a new-wave overtone as well. That’s the music I like.”
Crawford first broke onto the scene with his prior band Cellophane. A much talked-about act in the mid-'90s, it landed a recording contract with Virgin Records and released a self-titled CD, but its moment in the spotlight was brief.
“The dots weren’t connected,” he explains. “The label, management . . . the machine wasn’t in sync. People that have the record did love it. We had great radio play in the Midwest and the East Coast. Towards the Southwest, in L.A., there’s no radio. And once people heard the song on the radio, they had nowhere to buy it. I’d go to stores on tour, and it wouldn’t be there. That’s a major dot that wasn’t connected.”
He stepped away from music full time and he ventured into his other love: painting. He's been painting since he was a child, and it became another passion for him. He attended Art Center in Pasadena, Calif., but dropped out when he got his first record deal. Writer Jerry Stah, actress Lindsay Lohan and producer Ross Robinson (who has worked with Korn) are some of the people who have bought his pieces. One was used for the cover of Norma Jean’s "Redeemer" album.
Crawford’s relationship with the Korn camp spans back before the band’s formation. He's known Munky since 1986 and Korn drummer David Silveria since fourth grade. "I knew David and he joined this band, and I met [Munky] in early high school. Then they all dropped out and moved to L.A. and started a band called LAPD. I’d drive down to L.A. on weekends. It was an hour-and-a-half drive from Bakersfield and go hang out with them. He and I developed a friendship.
"He’s a dear friend of mine. It’s great that a friend of mine started a record label, but he loved the music. He has a lot of friends that do music, and he’s not signing all of them,” he says with a chuckle.
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monsterinthemachine.com
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