Craig Owens (Isles & Glaciers, ex-Chiodos, Cinematic Sunrise, The Sound of Animals Fighting) gives a glimpse into his untitled project with former Matchbook Romance & God Or Julie drummer, Aaron Stern. Also involved in the project is John Feldmann, the singer/guitarist of Goldfinger. I learned that John Feldmann has done A&R for Warner Bros signing The Used, Story of the Year, Foxy Shazam and Mest among others. He’s also done songwriting and production work for Good Charlotte, The Used, Mest, Story of the Year, Ashlee Simpson, Hilary Duff, Cute is What We Aim For, The Veronicas, Anthony Green, Escape The Fate, After Midnight Project, Saosin, Panic! At The Disco and Foxy Shazam. Nick Martin (Isles & Glaciers, ex- Underminded, Cinematic Sunrise) is one of two guitarists (the other hasn’t been revealed yet).
I really dug All’s Well That Ends Well and would even consider it a masterpiece, among my favorite albums of all time. The Sound of Animals Fighting album that Craig Owens is on is also an album I hold near and dear to my heart, Lover, The Lord Has Left Us… But the rest of Craig’s releases I couldn’t get into. I’ve read a tweet and article here and there telling the story of Craig Owens’ semi-public unraveling, but really I’ve been waiting for him to get back on his feet and do what he does best. Watching this video and reading the recent interview with Alternative Press makes me feel real empathetic. He’s doing the right thing. The best thing an artist can do when they fall is just “take some time off” and bury themselves in their heartwork, even if their efforts result in a fleeting project. Nothing can compare to the overwhelming beauty, power and happiness of truly realizing you love what you’re doing. Nothing can compare to the intense excitement of loving that you’re doing something new.
I like the way Craig is handling deadline questions. That stuff is pretty scary and can strip the organic nature and drive away. (i.e. “Pre-production will be from this time to this time. That will leave this time for production. We’ll be mixed by this date and mastered by this time. Artwork will be completed by blah-blah-blah, giving us a release of so-and-so month, so we can tour here-and-there to support it.) It’s pretty cool that Fueled By Ramen/WMG would pick up a project in this state. I do find it rather humorous though that premature news of a Pete Wentz/Craig Owens collaboration overshadowed the announcement of Josh Eppard joining Initials… since Initials has come such a long way and both Pete Wentz and Craig Owens are pursuing other projects. Initials has become Terrible Things, they have been touring non-stop since the completion of their record, and will see a release August 31st on Universal/Motown.
Matchbook Romance will always be among my favorite bands of all time. The Getaway and MBR have been there with me through what felt like the hardest times I’d ever go through (even if that was just normal teenage self-indulgence). Thankfully I still have West For Wishing, Stories and Alibis and Voices for bittersweet nostalgia.
All the best to these guys, and I look forward to hearing how some of my favorite music meshes together.
Alternative Press: Q&A: Craig Owens opens up about life after Chiodos > http://www.altpress.com/features/entry/qa_craig_owens_opens_up_about_life_after_chiodos/
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