CKY
CKY Bio
Once upon a time, CKY burned it all down, with a raucous, anarchic, hard rock sound soaked in the skate-punk culture that birthed them and a hard-partying lifestyle onstage and off that decimated relationships and reputations in its wake.
Chad I Ginsburg, the band’s guitarist and singer, steps into the frontman role with charisma, charm, and bravado, confidently delivering a diverse performance as he claims a position that was clearly rightfully his to own.
He’s joined in enduring partnership and musical and personal chemistry by fellow CKY cofounder, Jess Margera, the drummer whose extracurricular work in projects like The Company Band (with guys from Clutch and Fireball Ministry) expanded CKY’s horizons as much as Ginsburg’s solo work has as well.
Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, and Deftones have all personally invited CKY on tour, cementing a legacy as a hard-charging live act. CKY built a worldwide fanbase of dedicated acolytes, friends, and supporters, lovingly dubbed the CKY Alliance, with a broader group of musicians, athletes, and other creative types in the CKY family, both literally and figuratively.
Carver City (2009) debuted at #4 on the Hard Music charts. It was the second CKY album to debut in the Top 50 on the Billboard 200: An Answer Can Be Found (2005) hit #35 upon its release. But if anything, The Phoenix is a spiritual successor to CKY’s breakthrough, Infiltrate•Destroy•Rebuild (2002), with a hint of the appropriately titled debut, Volume 1 (1999).
“We’re grown adults now with an eagle-eye perspective on who we are, what we do, and how to do it right,” Ginsburg declares, with matter-of-fact certainty. “None of us are out there in the clouds. We’re pretty well-grounded people that have an honest perspective on where we’re at.”
The totality of the CKY experience is perhaps best summarized by a quote from enigmatic comic book legend, author, and self-proclaimed magician, Alan Moore. “My experience of life is that it is is not divided up into genres; it’s a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you’re lucky.”
Margera observes that it was “a perfect storm of events” that led to CKY becoming a pretty popular name. “When it’s happening, you’re not paying attention. But once you get a couple of years under your belt, you realize, ‘Holy shit, man. That was lucky as hell that happened to us!’, ya’ know?”
“We’re feeling rather lucky,” Ginsburg agrees. “We’re not taking things for granted. We’re saturated in gratitude. It’s an incredibly humbled CKY, with a fire to last another twenty years. The point is to go play rock n’ roll and appreciate everybody else who does it, too. It’s a lucky job to have.”
crobot Bio
Guitars plugged in, smokes lit, beers poured, and amps cranked without apology, Crobot conjure up the
kind of rock ‘n’ roll you sing along to—loud. For as much as it may seem like a lost art, the Pennsylvania-
bred band still dole out head-nodding riffs, bold grooves, and hooks high enough to shake the heavens.
After piling on tens of millions of streams, logging countless shows, and earning acclaim from the likes of
Classic Rock Magazine, Loudwire, Guitar World, and more, the group—Brandon Yeagley [vocals], Chris
Bishop [guitar], Tim Peugh [bass], and Dan Ryan [drums]—realize their vision like never before on their
fifth full-length offering, Feel This [Mascot Records].
“This is the record we’ve been wanting to do ever since we started the band,” exclaims Brandon. “It’s
the vibe of everyone in a room creating together. It felt like we were working on a real album. Records
like that are hard to come by nowadays, but we made one.”
“There are a lot of classic flavors,” notes Chris. “It’s cohesive though. We were able to use all of these
ingredients and still make it sound like Crobot.”
They’ve grinded tirelessly to reach this point. The boys made waves with Legend of the Spaceborne Killer
[2012], Something Supernatural [2014], and Welcome To Fat City [2016]. However, Motherbrain [2019]
represented a high watermark. “Low Life” racked up 12.7 million Spotify streams, while Classic Rock
rated the album “4-out-of-5 stars” and proclaimed, “Motherbrain is Crobot coming of age.” They
crisscrossed the country with everyone from Anthrax and Black Label Society to Chevelle, Clutch, and
The Sword. Not to mention, they lit up the bills of festivals and the annual Shiprocked! cruise. As the
Global Pandemic descended upon the world, Chris and Dan hunkered down in Austin to jam and cut
demos, sending ideas to Brandon back in Pennsylvania.
2021 saw the boys enter Orb Studios in Austin with producer Jay Ruston [Stone Sour, Anthrax, Steel
Panther]. Rather than track all of the instruments separately, they completed one song at a time.
“Usually, you record all of the drums, then all of the bass, all of the vocals, and so on and so forth,” says
Dan. “We didn’t do it that way this time. We focused on one song, brought it to life, and moved on. It’s
just us in a room. We took what we do on stage and captured it as best as we could in the studio. It’s a
true rock record.”
Songs like “Holy Ghost” embody this spirit. As a warbling harmony wraps around the wah-drenched
guitar straight out of Seattle, Brandon’s grunge-y wail rings out on the hook, “I am not the holy ghost. I
won’t ever save your soul.”
“It came together pretty quickly,” recalls Bishop. “We inserted those big Crobot riffs with lots of energy,
and we couldn’t be happier.”
Elsewhere, “Golden” hinges on a thunderous beat as it slips into a soaring homage to a god-gone-too-
soon.
“When it came to the lyrics, we collectively wanted it to be a tribute to Chris Cornell,” says Brandon.
“We’re so influenced by everything he and Soundgarden have done. We ran with the song in honor of
his legacy.”
Evocative piano sets the tone for the epic “Set You Free,” which spirals towards a seismic crescendo and
emotionally charged guitar lead from Bishop. Then, there’s “Dance With The Dead.” Over a head-
nodding groove, the song struts towards a handclap-laden bridge, high-register harmonies, and a cheeky
and chantable hook, “Let’s go dance with the dead. They know how to kill it!”
“From there, it snowballed into being about something worth fighting for or dying for,” Brandon
elaborates. “No matter what’s going on, we might as well have a good time and dance the night away.”
“Into The Fire” trudges through the flames and right into an incendiary and infectious chorus, while
“Electrified” kickstarts the album as a rip-roaring and raucous livewire anthem with reverence for “rock
‘n’ roll bull shit like electricity,” laughs Bishop.
“I’m not super into motorcycles, or else it would’ve been about a motorcycle,” grins Brandon.
In the end, you’ll feel rock ‘n’ roll come to life in Crobot’s hands.
“We never want to make the same album twice,” Brandon leaves off. “There is something for every
Crobot fan out there as well as newcomers. At the same time, we’re having fun. We took the history
book of rock and injected it into the process with the energy and lyrical content. We want to be taken
seriously, but not too seriously—because this is monkey hour after all. Like we said, it’s rock ‘n’ roll
bullshit.”
“That’s the fucking line right there,” agrees Bishop. “We want you to walk away smiling. If I can make
you smile, I’ve done my job.”