Meet Crash Bandiicoot: Independent Houston Producer & Musician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Crash Bandiicoot and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Crash, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I think that most risk are to be looked at as opportunity. As we mature, our ability to assess risk and consequence usually mature with us. I’ve always heard high risk, high reward. To me, if you can assess the probability of a high payout, the risk is worth the gamble. Taking risk is also what keeps you from falling into a pattern of complacency. If you’re always taking on a new opportunity, it allows you to grow and learn, either through success or failure. From early on I was always the one to choose fight over flight. That’s how I got started dancing, and how I ended up in music. Even there, taking risk is a big thing for me. Sometimes I record one take over something I’ve never heard 40 times in a night, while other times I spend months working on the lyrics and vocals for one song. All while making Dance music in between. Staying in my comfort zone would have also kept me from starting, and finishing my first novel. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I always have trouble expressing myself as a creative because I never know where to start. Whenever someone ask me what I do, I become a jumbled mess of titles and labels. I’m a musician at heart. I use to want to be “the greatest rapper alive”, but I’ve realized I’m not a rapper and I don’t care to be categorized as one. I want to be known as one of the greatest musicians of our generation. When it comes to making vocal music, my goal has always been to create something you lose yourself within rather than something catchy, although a lot of my songs end up with catch choruses. When it comes to my instrumental music, I want it to be impossible for you not to dance when it’s high energy, and able to fall into a meditative state when it’s zen tempo. I think my production sets me apart from everyone else I could be compared to, especially with the upcoming projects I have planned for spring break and Halloween, and I’m especially excited for everyone to hear something that I produced, recorded, and engineered myself this time around. Getting to my position professionally was not easy, and I’m still nowhere close to where I would like to be. Most of the opportunities I’ve been able to get when it comes to music and dance have been from working hard to get the connections. Even as of now, any performance I do (which is scarce) is from working myself to secure it, and most of my collaborations have come from reaching out. I have Ramxes to thank for some of my upcoming collabs. I also deal with the challenge of social media, and online marketing, being a person who would rather have in person connections. This challenge was easier to overcome when we all had the ability to show up to bars and clubs, especially those with karaoke. Karaoke bars allowed me to both build a new fanbase, and meet new people to build connections & collaborations. With everything shut down, I have to focus on learning how to better market online. I have learned that authenticity, hard work, and vaulnerability are necessary to make a lasting impressing, especially so I’m music. My hope is to stay independent forever. In order to do that, I have to build a solid relationship with my fans. I do this by staying transparent in my music, and spending as much time as I can at any and all venues getting to know whoever takes the time to get to know me. I think that’s what also separates me from the masses. It’s really not about the money for me. You can even see on my website where I donate 30% of everything to Toys 4 Tots, with a button that lets you donate directly if you don’t want to buy anything from me. I also give a lot of music away that you can’t find on streaming services, or articles that teach you how to use the system in your favor. For me, music is something to be experienced. The best way, in my opinion, is to either share your own experience, or emotion. I want the world to know that my brand is about personal Enlightenment. I like to say that my books are about near Dystopic futures, and my music is about real time experience. It’s all just a distraction to remind you that the only things that are truly real are the ones you believe in.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m big on art, history, and seclusion. With a week, we could get a Citypass and go to all of the museum’s downton, starting with the MFA. We would also have to go roller skating at least once, so Houston Just Roller rink. I also love going go kart racing at Houston Grand Prix. Red’s Snow Wagon is one of my go to eats; if you leave without a snow cone, I admire your willpower. I’m know to be a night owl, and we would for sure end up eating at Glazed Donut Shop or Katz, both of which are 24 hours. A comedy show, or even just a patio drink at The Secret Group, and a night at Numbers would definitely happen. There has to be dancing. Dj Samurai Santee out of Houston host my favorite karaoke at Stadia in Pearland on Wednesdays. Open mic at Exchange 2 Change Thursday is also an option. We would also end up at the Arbetorum. I have to admit I would interrupt the walk to stop for Pokemon, but the scenery would be enjoyable. It’s a great place to find a spot to chill, picnic, or take great photos.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to first shutout a lot of people I went to highschool with who not only really helped me become more confident in myself, but also helped me turn dreams into goals. People like Kris Obaseki (AKA Kris London), Klarke Foreman, and Ramxes. Kris helped me gain the confidence to make dance videos early on. Klarke was a very good friend that always kept me grounded, and thinking critically. She was also one of those people you could always be yourself around, and couldn’t come up with anything bad to say about. She taught me to be myself unapologetically. I thank Ramxes for showing me that the stories about making your own path and goals, coupled with hard work and dedication can actually land you a career in the music industry. I also have to thank J. Michael Stovall for helping refine my pencil and digital art. I would lastly like to shout-out Jack Thode, owner and artist of the clothing brand Nothing Goxd. He gave me the confidence to start designing and creating my own merchandise.

Website: crashbandiicoot.com/links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/warpeduchiha/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/warpeduchiha?s=09
Youtube: https://youtube.com/user/charlestonterrell

Image Credits
Charleston Terrell Williams Jr.