DanielDanny Crouch, English/Philosophy, Senior
DanielDanny Crouch is a member of the minimalist band Cloud Lantern. The band isy are set to start touring July 16th in Boulder. The band’s members areis focused on being “nice” guys as opposed to the jerk model favored by some musicians, Crouch said. So feel free to talk to them should you happen to see them about.
Daily Lobo: So you’re a part of a band named Cloud Lantern? What do you with them?
DanielDanny Crouch: I play the violin in Cloud Lantern.
DL:DL: That’s interesting.; Wwould you say that classical instruments are starting to make a resurgence back into mainstream culture?
DC:DC: I have been playing classical instruments since third grade, so it’s always kind of been in the realm of what I have been doing. I think definitely … within Iindie music it’s definitely starting to make an impact.
DL:DL: So where does a name like Cloud Lantern come from, then?
DC:DC: I don’t really know. I voted for Loud Lantern. I think it started off as Lantern Cloud and then it got put as Cloud Lantern on a flyer. Then people knew us that way because the first show went pretty well. It doesn’t really go any deeper than that.
DL:DL: So how does song writing work in Cloud Lantern?
DC:DC: I don’t really think there’s one mastermind necessarily. Everyone in the band adds to the process. It’s definitely Allen and Jordan that are the base of the entire project.
DL:DL: They’re the lead?
DC:DC: They are more like what pins it all together, like what takes the percussion and makes that able to go with the string section Daniel and I have going.
DL:DL: Is that an ever an issue? Would you say band chemistry is pretty smooth right now?.
DC:DC: Oh, yeah, the band started because we were all friends. We all knew each other before hand. It wasn’t like those two just found people. In terms of a central figure, those two are the underpinnings to what’s happening. They really hold things together, and that allows Daniel and I to explore a little bit more because we are not the rock —, if you will —, of what you’re hearing. We’re allowed to branch out.
DL:DL: So you’re sort of on a metaphorical hinterlandson a metaphorical hinterland with potential to explore?
DC:DC: Totally.
DL:DL: So where does the English and pPhilosophy fit into all of this then?
DC:DC: I feel like it’s all very, very similar, if not the exact same thing.
DL:DL: Could you give me an example?
DC:DC: English is very motive driven. It’s based on experience. With music, all you’re doing, or all I am doing, is expressing emotions. I think that is perhaps how it ties together. I think in terms of philosophy there’s … theory. I don’t know how many philosophers enjoy music all that much. If you break it down too much, it’s the same as everything else (laughs).
DL:DL: So do you think you would do music as a career or not so much?
DC:DC: I am not very focused. I enjoy doing what I enjoy doing. Obviously, I would like some way to balance all those things and sustain myself, but at the same time … with those sorts of things, I have to be doing them for the right reasons. I mean, doing it because I enjoy it or because it’s something I can use to express how I am feeling. It’s definitely weird thinking about playing music professionally because therey are better artists who should be playing professionally. I just enjoy it.
DL:DL: You lived in Heaven and Hell for a while? What was it like to live in a house- show venue with heavy musical traffic?
DC:DC: The environment when you’re around people when they do what they want to do … it’s very strange. Even in college, you’re around a lot of people who do things they don’t like doing and don’t like to do. They feel a sense of obligation to do them. That’s understandable. They are under a lot of social pressures in life. At Heaven and Hell, there was definitely an air of freedom to do those sort of things. There wasn’t a pressure to do this or that. It was like, “If this is what you like doing, and this what you’re good at doing, and it’s helping you deal with whatever you’re dealing with then it’s important.”
DL:DL: I think that’s prevalent in the Uuniversity environment, the doing what you’re suppose to do. Did you ever have to deal with that sort of thing?
DC:DC: I am not outside of it. I am just as much a part of it. I think there’s an element in acknowledging and then trying to find a way to act in a distinct way and find your own path.
DL:DL: Yeah, your majors seem to echo that. I am an English major myself and that is one of the majors that gets the question:, “Well what are you going to do with that?” Do you ever ask yourself that?
DC:DC: Constantly. It goes with the territory.
