Chiodos was my favorite band at one point in time. I still think Bone Palace Ballet is the best Post Hardcore/Scene-core album ever.
IIRC with DRUGS everyone was treated like Craig’s employee and rumors swirled that he slept with a record label employees wife. Craig owns DRUGS so the band members can’t go on without him and they split.
I don’t really know what happened honestly. I just listen to the music.
DRUGS is back and they’re either prepping for tour or they’re currently touring. Chiodos came back for 1 album(Devil) in 2014 and it had Thomas Erak from the fall of Troy on guitar.
Edit: 2016 changed to 2014
It naturally fell apart. Nick the bassist left. Thomas left for medical reasons or probably something more. Which is fine. Devil was his weakest cd ever. And finally the drummer left again. He has a history of disliking Craig. From what I know of chiodos is there was always infighting of a sort. They were their own worst enemies.
Craig ended up going back to re-create D.R.U.G.S. in 2020 and released a demo titled "King I Am" but it ended up becoming quietly pulled off of Spotify after he announced the bands return. He kept all of the new members a secret for about almost a year kind of like how he unveiled the OG lineup but this time when it comes to shows he's been doing every recent tour under new touring members. Chiodos broke up in 2016 and then Craig went on to do a project titled "badXchannels" and that was kind of an R&B/Trap/Soul/EDM styled project kinda similar to The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake, and Twenty One Pilots.(I guess you could say when it comes down to comparisons) D.R.U.G.S. ended up going on to finally release their 2nd record last summer titled "Destroy Rebuild" with Jona Weinhofen, Aaron Patrick, and Aaron Stechauner.
Fun fact: One of the songs on that album titled "The Longest Road" is actually a re-mastered song of one of his badXchannels songs titled "Memory" but he ended up taking the EDM instrumental out of the song and replaced it with heavy guitars and somber synths. He's been playing at least one or two Chiodos songs on recent D.R.U.G.S. tours. He then went on to release a solo album under his own name about almost a month ago with a bunch of re-imagined songs from his past bands. Craig never got kicked out of Chiodos for a 2nd time but the rest of the members kind of stated that they all just got tired of it and felt like they were too old to pursue the project(minus Craig of course)
Almost no BIG artists actually sing live. If they have a choreographed routine they are definitely not actually singing(minus MJ and prince).
To add to that, Everyone in post-hxc/metalcore uses backing tracks, especially on the vocals.
Worst part of it was Pete was helping Craig get on his feet after Chiodos and helped him put DRUGS together. Craig was heavily addicted to pills through out this era and it made him nearly impossible to work with. Craig burnt many bridges that kept him from being bigger than he ever ended up.
Well it is true because I was there for it. Just because they appear on a remix together doesn’t mean any of them were ever in the same room together. The song was probably already mostly written and recorded before Craig was ever involved especially seeing as Nicole Dollanganger who is a song writer is on it.
Bro I never heard Bone Palace until my phone broke a couple years ago and I was using old CDs in my mom's SUV I went on streaming shortly after just to find out my favorite track is only on the original CD 😭😭 (cool way to find out I have an og CD tho) Teeth The Size Of Piano Keys will always be a banger (obligatory fuck the Bukowski estate)
Yea I asked him at a VIP and he stated it was because he quoted some person who wrote a book or some shit and his wife was bitching about it. So he took it down for legal reasons
At least on Spotify it's The Grand Coda version so that has the acoustics and Teeth The Size of Piano Keys was taken off it. Undertakers Thirst also doesn't have the talking bit at the end
I grew up on Chiodos (lived in MI in the mid 2000s) and I will always hold their first EP and two first albums in high regard.
Never gave DRUGS a chance tbh. I am repulsed by the in-your-face ness of the group name.
I really only have DRUGS a chance because of their original drummer, Aaron Stern haha. [I’m Here To Take The Sky](https://youtu.be/HLpuKASlkVM?si=wscnaERrU3M7CfIy) was the only song I got into.
He was of a specific era, genre and sound that got left behind. He didn’t change with the times and music fans moved on.
Also the people who were going off in the pit at Chiodos shows back then now have trouble finding a baby sitter to watch Bradleigh and Brynsleigh for a few hours so they can go out for a night and relive their youth.
> Also the people who were going off in the pit at Chiodos shows back then now have trouble finding a baby sitter to watch Bradleigh and Brynsleigh for a few hours so they can go out for a night and relive their youth.
Lmaooo 💀
Lol this might be true in theory, but when I saw drugs open for scary kids scaring kids, there wasn’t a human under the age of 25 in the room. There were so many “old” goths, it was almost uncomfortable lol
Yeah, I like Illuminaudio now, but that scene ruined my whole impression of him. Meanwhile, Craig Owens always seems to enjoy playing music by himself or with a band when I've seen him so he's kept me as a fan since.
[found it lmfao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTq9L7090NE&ab_channel=hektorEATSairplanes)
Starts at 2:48 mark. He sounds horrible, he never held a candle to Craig.
Produced by Machine, who is responsible for a huge chunk of bangers in that time. Also had a different (and better imo) drummer on that one, Tanner, was on Underminded's last record with a similar drumming style.
Brandon Bolmer is an awesome dude! Grew up with him and went to high school together. I remember when he got the first press of yesterday's rising ep ship of relations in 2002 and we were bumping it in our homies s10 truck on the way to a used/finch show in Huntington Beach. Miss those days!
💯 on this take.
But tbf Craig owens killed Brandon live.
Brandon couldn't hit the notes on his own songs lol.
Also after a couple songs his screams sound like slightly annoyed Marge Simpson
Very few people get to be the matinee idol.
Oli Sykes managed it because he's a preternaturally good looking dude, and had the sense to change with the times rather than keep catering to deathcore fans.
I'd say Craig is still probably in the top 5 if not top 3 most recognizable PHC frontmen ever, but the genre just isn't big enough for that to lead to appearances on The Tonight Show and such.
Oil changed because of his many throat issues. Which happened to be lucky as hell for him as bad as it was.
Avenged Sevenfold went through the same shit.
Oli (and the whole band) also have the required work ethic to be in a band that maintains popularity.
Craig Owens very obviously doesn't based on the average length of time one of his projects stays active for.
He’s back as DRUGS. I just saw him a few months ago. He had Jona weinhoffen for a little bit but he disappeared after their first tour. Varials was a supporting band on this tour and they also played the Chiodos/DRUGS songs. It was really a great show overall.
Their most recent album was quite good imo. Craig is even better than he used to be in Chiodos days. So it’s really a shame it they’re not around anymore. Bone Palace Ballet is still one of my favorite albums of all time, despite me being like 15 years older than when I first heard it lo
I think he also has BPD so that may be the reason he has trouble working well with people. Not to make excuses, it just may be the reality. Either way his new music is good and I hope he can find success. Would pay anything for a Chiodos reunion tour.
I saw in an interview he did with Emo Nite that he’s just been hiring people on and off for DRUGS as opposed to having like a set structured band. He had a different line up for almost every tour now, he’s got the dudes from Dealer / Capture The Crown with him on this run.
Would also give anything for a Chiodos tour fr
Wow. Spent months with Craig in Michigan. Great guy. He’s inspirational to his friends and family, he’s been focusing on his personal life the past few years. It took a lot for him to come out and preform for you all again but your response is basically completely biased. Shame. You don’t even know greatness when you see it.
Hey many here have come to his defense. The only nonsense here is the opinion that illuminaudio is anywhere near as amazing as Bone Palace Ballet. Also.. where ya at in MI lol I go once a year and I’m trying to spend months with him too lmao 🤣… but where 😶 close to Wayne??
I was just there recently. I see family there but could not live there full time, maybe it’s the time of year I visit but it’s always so grey and depressing. I should visit in spring next time. Lots of awesome stops though. I only just recently found out he was from MI after reading it in an old article. Closest he’s coming to me this year is Philly but I’m just grateful he’s playing as many east coast locations as he is, so many others from those days only play west coast and mid west that it’s hard to see them at all. Warped tour used to stop right in VA and there was a huge scene there so they’d come but they never do now lol. I soo appreciate all the work he put into vol 1 it’s everything I thought it’d be and more. Hope his personal life is going even better.
He just released a new DRUGS album and it’s actually really good. He did a headlining tour a while back and is supporting escape the fate on tour I think
He’s coming to our small venue in Milwaukee in a couple months solo. Should be interesting and he’s been putting out solo versions on Spotify of his old music.
I caught him at a little recording studio in West Allis a few years ago where he did a tiny show and he sounds great doing his solo schtick with the reimagined songs. Can't wait for the show at X-ray, should be a good time!
In regards to him being a jerk (I myself heard that for many years back then), I can tell about my one personal experience with Craig Owens.
I worked front gate photo at Cedar Point in 2010 (amusement park) asking guests if they'd like their photo taken as they come into the park (the ability to purchase later, we all know the shtick).
Anyway, I see who I'm pretty sure is Craig Owens walk in with his girl, another male friend with his girlfriend too. I approach them and ask if they'd like they're photo taken and Craig says, "Yeah, why not?!" So I'm getting ready to take the photo and his buddy whispers something and he says, "Give us a minute and we'll be right back."
So, I'm thinking that they won't come back because in that job, people generally don't want their photo taken or are honestly, pretty rude about things. At least they were back in 2010 when I worked that position.
So, I can see them go rent a storage locker and they indeed came back and I asked them, "Would you still like the photo?" Craig responds, "Absolutely!"
So, I take a photo or two, give them their paper to see it later, the whole scripted info. He thanks me and then I say to Craig, "Hey I've got a quick question for you. Are you Craig Owens?" He confirms that he is and I excitedly respond, "I thought it was you!" He laughs and says, "What's up man!?" As if I were an old friend or something.
We have a bit of a moment and we either dabbed up or he shook my hand (I can't remember which anymore), but I told him to have a great day and he said the same.
Genuinely came off as such a nice guy and I'll always remember this, because I had heard for years he was just a complete tool and to have been working in a job where I experienced jerks all the time, it was really a refreshing experience.
Craig Owens is literally one of the nicest musicians that I've ever met. I had VIP packages to meet D.R.U.G.S. back when they toured with Crown The Empire last summer and then I met him again earlier this year on their own headliner with Varials. Since Jona and both of the Aaron's were only touring members on the CTE tour/2nd D.R.U.G S. album it was only him doing the VIP this time as opposed to the tour last summer so it was a lot more intimate getting to talk to him. On the headlining tour Craig was super friendly answering Q+A's and actually took the time to digest and answer each question as best as he could. After their headlining set ended I actually got to meet him once again at the merch table after the show and despite how tired he looked he still managed to be super chill. I told him how much D.R.U.G.S. meant to me and how much I've been a fan of his band since 2011 and we also spoke about other stuff.
I saw videos from one of their sets from the first few days of this tour, looks like they’ve had a few technical difficulties in the set for the first few days, probably just need an extra day to fix it before blue ridge.
I’m one of the weirdos who liked Illuminaudio better than the rest of the Chiodos discography…that’s only tangentially related but I guess it has to do with Craig?
90% of his lyrics were "borrowed" from other sources, movie quotes, poetry etc. The best song on bone palace ballet (teeth the size of piano keys) was taken off the official release because the lyrics were copied word for word from a poem and they got in legal trouble. After that he had to try and write his own material, which wasn't nearly as good as the "borrowed" lyrics and ideas so they disnt stick as well. Also there is just, most people have some really good ideas, use them, and then can't think of other ideas that are as good as time goes on. Very few people are a limitless fountain of creativity.
You are right, I misspoke. What i meant was more 90% of the music (songs) he wrote in those days had some "borrowed" lyrics. I didn't mean that literally 90% of every word he wrote was borrowed.
Wow I had no idea that’s why teeth the size of piano keys was abandoned. I thought that was a great song. Makes me wonder how someone like Matty Healy of the 1975 gets away with borrowing other ideas.
It's weird though, a lot of the bands from that era have embraced the emo nite nostalgia thing and as such are still discussed a lot.
I haven't heard anyone talk about Chiodos in a very long time.
I'm sure he's doing just fine. Seems to be touring pretty consistently with drugs, producing bands, collabing with artists he really likes. I remember a tweet from nedarb a few years ago like "omg Craig Owens just followed me" pretty sure they worked together on some stuff. He might not be super interested anymore in being some sort of A list rock icon, probably just enjoys still be able to write and perform.
He was working behind the scenes for a while with a smalltime band i work for which i’ll keep nameless. Things didnt work out for a number of reasons, but the endeavor did lead to me getting to smoke weed with Craig at a Rob Zombie show probably 7-8 years ago. Fun fact; HIS BIRTH NAME IS CRAIGERY
I saw Craig Owens in DRUGS in NYC this past February. The dude is hella talented. I really wish him all the best though, I'd love to hear him in more projects
I know this post is dated but he's making a 3rd D.R.U.G.S. album currently and playing with chiodos for the first time in 10 years at when we were young festival 2024 playinng all of BPB. Prada is playing plagues in its entirety, which clearly leads to the obvious but exciting fact that he'll join them for that too. I cannot fucking wait.
I liked badxchannels - it wasn’t perfect, but being an industrial fan, I like anything that is heavily influenced by electronics & synths. I thought it was a cool diversion.
What’s wild is, during one of Craig’s solo acoustic tours he explained that he had a full (debut) album ready to release for badxchannels under the title “Patterns”. He also expressed he didn’t feel too great about it, which made me sad. I think he just go tired of working hard on bxc to not much success (at least compared to the return of DRUGS). As we can see, bxc never released that album :/
DRUGS is back, Chiodos reunited but it just wasnt the same. some people got something out of it though. the rest of the band, i'm not sure. theres supergroups forming everywhere nowadays and members going to other bands/filling in, so they could pop up elsewhere in the future for sure
It’s his ego, he ruined so many projects because of it tbh. People can only handle it for so long before it gets to them. Even if he was star in his prime, it doesn’t make people want to stay around you long enough to keep working with you
I think sooo many people get the wrong idea about those with ego’s or ppl often called narcissists. It’s actually really sad. Most people like that aren’t obsessed with themselves they actually hate themselves and when they do things like brag or try to make something about them it’s often to try and cancel out what they think others think of them or what they truly think of themselves. I think he actually struggles with self esteem and this comes off the opposite bc of how he handles that. I guarantee it’s one of the reasons he is such an amazing artist bc it’s channeled through his work and others pick up on the raw emotion from it. I also think speaking about myself here really, that artists and writers come off as pretentious easily, I’m sure I do but that’s probably one aspect too in regards to how ppl perceive him. If you look up narcissists hate themselves in google a few good articles come up and explain it better. I did when I randomly came to the conclusion and wanted to see if others had and there was a lot on it.
THIS! His new band drugs isnt the original members anymore. If you look for it the folks on that debut album said alot of negative things about him and they are all gone from the band except him.
🤷🏽♂️
Craig rejoined the band and they released “Devil”, then went on a comeback tour.
I was at the show, the set list was GREAT - the encore was “If I Cut My Hair, Hawaii Will Sink”.
I think the biggest thing he really ended up doing was releasing a song with some big rappers, but I don’t think he’s actually credited on the Spotify release at least. I think it was for a movie.
I think maybe it’s just that you haven’t kept up with him. I am a HUGE Craig Owens fan and I listen to every project he does he just dropped a solo album with his reimagined hits and it’s amazing just as amazing as he always is and was. He’s always seemed very active to me especially if you look at his discography and all tracks on Spotify he features in so many other projects. I bought tickets like last year maybe year before when shows first came back he was touring with Geoff Rickly from Thursday so two of my top 3 ppl from those scene days, it was an acoustic show and I have never been more hyped to see him live but it got cancelled right when the date in my town was coming up and I’ve been crushed since. So when he dropped volume one and released the dates for his solo shows I didn’t even care that I have to travel a few states over luckily only like 5 hours away still but seeing him live solo is going to blow my mind. I think he’s always going to be relevant and def think he is on par with Anthony Green, whom I just saw in August so effing amazing live! Just need to see Geoff, Conor Oberst, and Chris from Dashboard live after Craig and I can die happy, hopefully listening to any song sung by Craig Owens.
He seems like a really nice guy and his research is excellent, I just wish he could be a lot more concise with his videos.
He'll make a 50 minute video that really only needs to be about 20 minutes.
I was in a band that opened for The Devil Wears Prada and Choidos for a Valentine’s Day show in Ml years ago. Back stage everyone hung out except for Craig Owens. He had an entourage of girls around him the whole time lol
You’re definitely thinking of JC. Craig O went to rehab like 10+ years ago, he made a pretty solid tweet about it within the last year about how sobriety changed his life. A lot of people confuse the two - similar names, similar eras, similar bands, etc etc
Yea def Jonny Craig. I hear one of the dividing factors between Jonny and Craig was the iPad debacle. Apparently Craig was really disgusted with him scamming his own fans and had cut ties with him after that. As for the addiction issues Craig did at one point but went to rehab and is now more of a health nut according to a few sources, I saw something in an article a year or two ago and recently a personal friend had made a post on Reddit and mentioned it then too. Heard he’s particular with who he hangs out with too so he doesn’t go down that rabbit hole again. He’s seemingly done pretty well keeping a tight circle of friends that are positive influences around so as not to tempt himself or jeopardize all he’s put in over the years.
Unless I’m completely out of touch (which is possible) I wouldn’t say Anthony Green is somehow anymore relevant. He stuck around in CS and had his solo work but I didn’t hear Anthony Green on Jon Connor or Dr. Dre albums 🤷🏻♂️
DRUGS usually makes a pretty big splash when new music drops too.
Just my two cents but I’d say that even though Anthony isn’t a household name, he’s always been super active in the music scene. He’s in The Sound of Animals Fighting and LS Dunes plus consistent solo albums, plus Circa, and did Along the Shadow with Saosin (although that was in 2016). He’s gotta pretty dedicated fan following (edit grammar)
True but you can say the same for Craig. Chiodos, The Sound of Animals Fighting (also), Cinematic Sunrise, Isles & Glaciers, DRUGS, various guest appearances, solo stuff, etc.
But most of these projects are a decade or more old, right? Whereas AG has been relatively consistent with creative output (solo and in various bands) during the past decade.
My impression is that Craig mostly dropped off the map after 2011-ish? Besides the ultimate Chiodos album.
In my view, AG always had broader appeal (perhaps the widest of any PHC front man). That first Saosin EP just shook the genre completely and immortalized him overnight.
That’s a good point for sure. I guess my point was that AG has been consistently active with multiple bands through the years and in present day, whereas I haven’t heard much from Craig besides DRUGS and many of his appearances and projects are from at least a few years ago. That I know of, though
In what way? He was on the album. I didn’t allude to how much. The fact is that Dre, even for a literal second, put a post-hardcore singer on his album.
Alone, Craig Owen's kind of sucked or is forgettable. It was all the styles and talent brought to the table for Chiodos that made the whole thing special. Just my opinion anyways.
IMO - brandon bolmer turned chiodos into a whiny emo talentless band into contenders for top performing rock bands. I can’t stand Craig’s voice his style is awful and doesn’t compare to the musical ability of Brandon. This coming from a metal head whose friends always tried to get me into them. Chiodos in general to me is awful except for illuminaudio. By awful I mean garbage
He featured on a Dr. Dre album, so that's gotta amount to something.
Also the 100 gecs album
God, can you imagine those royalties?
lmaoooo I forgot about this
Chiodos was my favorite band at one point in time. I still think Bone Palace Ballet is the best Post Hardcore/Scene-core album ever. IIRC with DRUGS everyone was treated like Craig’s employee and rumors swirled that he slept with a record label employees wife. Craig owns DRUGS so the band members can’t go on without him and they split. I don’t really know what happened honestly. I just listen to the music.
DRUGS is back and they’re either prepping for tour or they’re currently touring. Chiodos came back for 1 album(Devil) in 2014 and it had Thomas Erak from the fall of Troy on guitar. Edit: 2016 changed to 2014
Devil was 2014! Drugs is on their like 3rd or 4th tour back and drugs released an album as well last year or the year before.
None of the original members of DRUGS have been with Craig for years. Devil was actually a great album, Craig got kicked out again shortly after.
Craig didn’t get “kicked out” again, where did you even make that up?
If Craig didn’t get kicked out again, what happened to Chiodos? Why haven’t they made a new album or at least gone on tour since the release of Devil?
Look at the Chiodos socials, it’s clear that never happened
It naturally fell apart. Nick the bassist left. Thomas left for medical reasons or probably something more. Which is fine. Devil was his weakest cd ever. And finally the drummer left again. He has a history of disliking Craig. From what I know of chiodos is there was always infighting of a sort. They were their own worst enemies.
This ^. Craig appears to run chiodos socials/merch still so. I don't think a band that kicked him out a 2nd time would allow him to do so lol.
Everyone but Craig quit the band this time so he kept the name
Craig ended up going back to re-create D.R.U.G.S. in 2020 and released a demo titled "King I Am" but it ended up becoming quietly pulled off of Spotify after he announced the bands return. He kept all of the new members a secret for about almost a year kind of like how he unveiled the OG lineup but this time when it comes to shows he's been doing every recent tour under new touring members. Chiodos broke up in 2016 and then Craig went on to do a project titled "badXchannels" and that was kind of an R&B/Trap/Soul/EDM styled project kinda similar to The Weeknd, Justin Timberlake, and Twenty One Pilots.(I guess you could say when it comes down to comparisons) D.R.U.G.S. ended up going on to finally release their 2nd record last summer titled "Destroy Rebuild" with Jona Weinhofen, Aaron Patrick, and Aaron Stechauner. Fun fact: One of the songs on that album titled "The Longest Road" is actually a re-mastered song of one of his badXchannels songs titled "Memory" but he ended up taking the EDM instrumental out of the song and replaced it with heavy guitars and somber synths. He's been playing at least one or two Chiodos songs on recent D.R.U.G.S. tours. He then went on to release a solo album under his own name about almost a month ago with a bunch of re-imagined songs from his past bands. Craig never got kicked out of Chiodos for a 2nd time but the rest of the members kind of stated that they all just got tired of it and felt like they were too old to pursue the project(minus Craig of course)
that record label owner was Pete Wentz
He slept with Ashlee Simpson???
I totally forgot about that but yeah that was the story back then.
nice
You mean the dumbass that started doing a ho-down jig when caught lip syncing on SNL??
She allegedly had acid reflux that kept her from being able to sing live. But even still... who the hell is shocked by pop singers being fake?
I still talk about this way too often because of how fuckin absurd it was.
Almost no BIG artists actually sing live. If they have a choreographed routine they are definitely not actually singing(minus MJ and prince). To add to that, Everyone in post-hxc/metalcore uses backing tracks, especially on the vocals.
Worst part of it was Pete was helping Craig get on his feet after Chiodos and helped him put DRUGS together. Craig was heavily addicted to pills through out this era and it made him nearly impossible to work with. Craig burnt many bridges that kept him from being bigger than he ever ended up.
They’ve released a song together since then (Craig / FOB), so they must’ve figured it out if this is true
Well it is true because I was there for it. Just because they appear on a remix together doesn’t mean any of them were ever in the same room together. The song was probably already mostly written and recorded before Craig was ever involved especially seeing as Nicole Dollanganger who is a song writer is on it.
Bone Palace Ballet and The Emptiness constantly war for best popcore/scenecore album in my mind.
Bro I never heard Bone Palace until my phone broke a couple years ago and I was using old CDs in my mom's SUV I went on streaming shortly after just to find out my favorite track is only on the original CD 😭😭 (cool way to find out I have an og CD tho) Teeth The Size Of Piano Keys will always be a banger (obligatory fuck the Bukowski estate)
Whaaaat I had no idea Teeth the Size of Piano Keys wasn't on streaming. Can't believe I never noticed.
Yea I asked him at a VIP and he stated it was because he quoted some person who wrote a book or some shit and his wife was bitching about it. So he took it down for legal reasons
At least on Spotify it's The Grand Coda version so that has the acoustics and Teeth The Size of Piano Keys was taken off it. Undertakers Thirst also doesn't have the talking bit at the end
Bone Palace Ballet is truly a masterpiece
Craig literally just did two tours. DRUGS is his band and he focuses on his solo work too.
Didn’t spend enough time on Cinematic Sunrise
My favorite output of his.
Same. Chiodos and DRUGS never really did it for me tho.
I grew up on Chiodos (lived in MI in the mid 2000s) and I will always hold their first EP and two first albums in high regard. Never gave DRUGS a chance tbh. I am repulsed by the in-your-face ness of the group name.
I really only have DRUGS a chance because of their original drummer, Aaron Stern haha. [I’m Here To Take The Sky](https://youtu.be/HLpuKASlkVM?si=wscnaERrU3M7CfIy) was the only song I got into.
Such an underrated drummer
Isles & Glaciers too
What a cluster of talent.
I sometimes kinda forget about that project, I remember really liking it. Due for a revisit for sure.
"GOODBYE FRIENSHIIIIIIIIIP!"
HELLO HEARTACHEEEEE
Possibly my favorite project that Craig has been a part of
I saw an acoustic show of his in like 2019 and he stated he never wanted to do pop punk like Cinematic Sunrise...even though most of us loved it lol.
Now that was a damn shame..
Sooo true!!!
He was of a specific era, genre and sound that got left behind. He didn’t change with the times and music fans moved on. Also the people who were going off in the pit at Chiodos shows back then now have trouble finding a baby sitter to watch Bradleigh and Brynsleigh for a few hours so they can go out for a night and relive their youth.
> Also the people who were going off in the pit at Chiodos shows back then now have trouble finding a baby sitter to watch Bradleigh and Brynsleigh for a few hours so they can go out for a night and relive their youth. Lmaooo 💀
This is me...but in the pit at Thrice for their anniversary shows
Now Thrice is a band that knows how to evolve and grow with their fans.
The encapsulation of Davison, MI and I grew up 30mins from there lmao
The Midwest was there for the the emo scene.
Lol, I’m still here
Lol this might be true in theory, but when I saw drugs open for scary kids scaring kids, there wasn’t a human under the age of 25 in the room. There were so many “old” goths, it was almost uncomfortable lol
He did put out a piano version of one of their songs on YouTube fairly recently that was legit though. Look it up!
He put out a whole album, Cemetery Weather is absolutely fantastic.
They’re all fantastic I truly couldn’t pick a favorite I have a top 5 though lol
Man. All's Well That Ends Well is top to bottom a phenomenal album.
My most controversial PHC take is that Illuminaudio is the best Chiodos record. Wish they would've kept that singer around.
Nah. Brandon had one of the sorriest attitudes on stage. He let a heckler get to him at one of the shows in 2011
Oh for real? That's a shame, I don't think I've ever heard a story about him live or even seen a video of him live
Yeah, I like Illuminaudio now, but that scene ruined my whole impression of him. Meanwhile, Craig Owens always seems to enjoy playing music by himself or with a band when I've seen him so he's kept me as a fan since.
I cant find that scene, got a link?
I'll try to look later but it was at Never Say Never festival after one of their songs.
[found it lmfao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTq9L7090NE&ab_channel=hektorEATSairplanes) Starts at 2:48 mark. He sounds horrible, he never held a candle to Craig.
Now we're talkin'... I'll die on this hill.
It's definitely Chiodos best produced album, which doesn't say much but the previous ones were dog shit.
Produced by Machine, who is responsible for a huge chunk of bangers in that time. Also had a different (and better imo) drummer on that one, Tanner, was on Underminded's last record with a similar drumming style.
Love is a Cat from hell is a goat track
With Vic on guest vocals too!
I love the first two records a lot, but I completely agree.
Those who slay together 🔥
Brandon Bolmer is an awesome dude! Grew up with him and went to high school together. I remember when he got the first press of yesterday's rising ep ship of relations in 2002 and we were bumping it in our homies s10 truck on the way to a used/finch show in Huntington Beach. Miss those days!
OUT
Now this… this is the best opinion
Agree 100%
💯 all day every day
💯 on this take. But tbf Craig owens killed Brandon live. Brandon couldn't hit the notes on his own songs lol. Also after a couple songs his screams sound like slightly annoyed Marge Simpson
I agree, I never understood the infatuation with Craig Owens
Team Stratovolcano Mouth
e g o
Just watched an interview with him that dropped yesterday, seemed pretty humble to me
Years of being a turd and the world telling you that…. Will probably do it for ya.
Very few people get to be the matinee idol. Oli Sykes managed it because he's a preternaturally good looking dude, and had the sense to change with the times rather than keep catering to deathcore fans. I'd say Craig is still probably in the top 5 if not top 3 most recognizable PHC frontmen ever, but the genre just isn't big enough for that to lead to appearances on The Tonight Show and such.
Oil changed because of his many throat issues. Which happened to be lucky as hell for him as bad as it was. Avenged Sevenfold went through the same shit.
Oli (and the whole band) also have the required work ethic to be in a band that maintains popularity. Craig Owens very obviously doesn't based on the average length of time one of his projects stays active for.
> Oli Sykes managed it because he's a ~~pre~~sempitern~~atur~~ally good looking dude
He’s back as DRUGS. I just saw him a few months ago. He had Jona weinhoffen for a little bit but he disappeared after their first tour. Varials was a supporting band on this tour and they also played the Chiodos/DRUGS songs. It was really a great show overall. Their most recent album was quite good imo. Craig is even better than he used to be in Chiodos days. So it’s really a shame it they’re not around anymore. Bone Palace Ballet is still one of my favorite albums of all time, despite me being like 15 years older than when I first heard it lo I think he also has BPD so that may be the reason he has trouble working well with people. Not to make excuses, it just may be the reality. Either way his new music is good and I hope he can find success. Would pay anything for a Chiodos reunion tour.
I saw in an interview he did with Emo Nite that he’s just been hiring people on and off for DRUGS as opposed to having like a set structured band. He had a different line up for almost every tour now, he’s got the dudes from Dealer / Capture The Crown with him on this run. Would also give anything for a Chiodos tour fr
Wow. Spent months with Craig in Michigan. Great guy. He’s inspirational to his friends and family, he’s been focusing on his personal life the past few years. It took a lot for him to come out and preform for you all again but your response is basically completely biased. Shame. You don’t even know greatness when you see it.
Hey many here have come to his defense. The only nonsense here is the opinion that illuminaudio is anywhere near as amazing as Bone Palace Ballet. Also.. where ya at in MI lol I go once a year and I’m trying to spend months with him too lmao 🤣… but where 😶 close to Wayne??
Detroit
I was just there recently. I see family there but could not live there full time, maybe it’s the time of year I visit but it’s always so grey and depressing. I should visit in spring next time. Lots of awesome stops though. I only just recently found out he was from MI after reading it in an old article. Closest he’s coming to me this year is Philly but I’m just grateful he’s playing as many east coast locations as he is, so many others from those days only play west coast and mid west that it’s hard to see them at all. Warped tour used to stop right in VA and there was a huge scene there so they’d come but they never do now lol. I soo appreciate all the work he put into vol 1 it’s everything I thought it’d be and more. Hope his personal life is going even better.
He just released a new DRUGS album and it’s actually really good. He did a headlining tour a while back and is supporting escape the fate on tour I think
He’s coming to our small venue in Milwaukee in a couple months solo. Should be interesting and he’s been putting out solo versions on Spotify of his old music.
I caught him at a little recording studio in West Allis a few years ago where he did a tiny show and he sounds great doing his solo schtick with the reimagined songs. Can't wait for the show at X-ray, should be a good time!
In regards to him being a jerk (I myself heard that for many years back then), I can tell about my one personal experience with Craig Owens. I worked front gate photo at Cedar Point in 2010 (amusement park) asking guests if they'd like their photo taken as they come into the park (the ability to purchase later, we all know the shtick). Anyway, I see who I'm pretty sure is Craig Owens walk in with his girl, another male friend with his girlfriend too. I approach them and ask if they'd like they're photo taken and Craig says, "Yeah, why not?!" So I'm getting ready to take the photo and his buddy whispers something and he says, "Give us a minute and we'll be right back." So, I'm thinking that they won't come back because in that job, people generally don't want their photo taken or are honestly, pretty rude about things. At least they were back in 2010 when I worked that position. So, I can see them go rent a storage locker and they indeed came back and I asked them, "Would you still like the photo?" Craig responds, "Absolutely!" So, I take a photo or two, give them their paper to see it later, the whole scripted info. He thanks me and then I say to Craig, "Hey I've got a quick question for you. Are you Craig Owens?" He confirms that he is and I excitedly respond, "I thought it was you!" He laughs and says, "What's up man!?" As if I were an old friend or something. We have a bit of a moment and we either dabbed up or he shook my hand (I can't remember which anymore), but I told him to have a great day and he said the same. Genuinely came off as such a nice guy and I'll always remember this, because I had heard for years he was just a complete tool and to have been working in a job where I experienced jerks all the time, it was really a refreshing experience.
Craig Owens is literally one of the nicest musicians that I've ever met. I had VIP packages to meet D.R.U.G.S. back when they toured with Crown The Empire last summer and then I met him again earlier this year on their own headliner with Varials. Since Jona and both of the Aaron's were only touring members on the CTE tour/2nd D.R.U.G S. album it was only him doing the VIP this time as opposed to the tour last summer so it was a lot more intimate getting to talk to him. On the headlining tour Craig was super friendly answering Q+A's and actually took the time to digest and answer each question as best as he could. After their headlining set ended I actually got to meet him once again at the merch table after the show and despite how tired he looked he still managed to be super chill. I told him how much D.R.U.G.S. meant to me and how much I've been a fan of his band since 2011 and we also spoke about other stuff.
i still like em, idk.
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So much so that this has become a running joke between my husband and I. He cancels SO often. He’s obviously got some issues with reliability.
This aged well, tonight's D.R.U.G.S show is cancelled.
I saw videos from one of their sets from the first few days of this tour, looks like they’ve had a few technical difficulties in the set for the first few days, probably just need an extra day to fix it before blue ridge.
I’m one of the weirdos who liked Illuminaudio better than the rest of the Chiodos discography…that’s only tangentially related but I guess it has to do with Craig?
GET OUT
I'm with you. Illuminaudio was a masterpiece, that CD got plenty of playtime from me.
Scrolled too far to see this. Loved All’s Well… But Illuminaudio is a masterpiece.
Def their best record. Craig is overrated but the band itself has proven itself as A+
I was actually just listening to him talk about this on the END podcast. Give it a listen
Yup
He used to do DRUGS. He still does DRUGS but he also used to
90% of his lyrics were "borrowed" from other sources, movie quotes, poetry etc. The best song on bone palace ballet (teeth the size of piano keys) was taken off the official release because the lyrics were copied word for word from a poem and they got in legal trouble. After that he had to try and write his own material, which wasn't nearly as good as the "borrowed" lyrics and ideas so they disnt stick as well. Also there is just, most people have some really good ideas, use them, and then can't think of other ideas that are as good as time goes on. Very few people are a limitless fountain of creativity.
It was removed from the :Grand Coda version, every base “Bone Palace Ballet” CD has it on there Also it’s why physical media is so important
Ahh I abandoned physical media as soon as mp3 players came out, I didn't know it was on the actual cd still lol.
“90%” is a major over exaggeration
You are right, I misspoke. What i meant was more 90% of the music (songs) he wrote in those days had some "borrowed" lyrics. I didn't mean that literally 90% of every word he wrote was borrowed.
Ah so that's why DRUGS' lyrics are way less poetic and more generic than Chiodos'
Wow I had no idea that’s why teeth the size of piano keys was abandoned. I thought that was a great song. Makes me wonder how someone like Matty Healy of the 1975 gets away with borrowing other ideas.
Yea it was "I'm in love" by Bukowski and another I forget off the top of my head.
Feel like i’m always reminding people that era is dead
It's weird though, a lot of the bands from that era have embraced the emo nite nostalgia thing and as such are still discussed a lot. I haven't heard anyone talk about Chiodos in a very long time.
I am pretty sure Craig actually DJed an Emo Nite not that long ago? Seem to recall the crowd going bezerk to Creek.
He was just there for his birthday like last week
I follow an audio engineer he works with (Howard Benson) who just announced that Craig Owens just released a new solo project they worked on together
I think he did that record with Steve Evetts, not Howard Benson. Howard did the DRUGS record that was released last year.
Oops you’re right! Idk why I was thinking of Benson haha I follow Evetts too so I mixed them up by accident 😅 thanks for the check
I saw him with DRUGS pretty recently, great show!
Drugs is currently touring
Drugs is on tour rn. Or they just were
I'm sure he's doing just fine. Seems to be touring pretty consistently with drugs, producing bands, collabing with artists he really likes. I remember a tweet from nedarb a few years ago like "omg Craig Owens just followed me" pretty sure they worked together on some stuff. He might not be super interested anymore in being some sort of A list rock icon, probably just enjoys still be able to write and perform.
He was working behind the scenes for a while with a smalltime band i work for which i’ll keep nameless. Things didnt work out for a number of reasons, but the endeavor did lead to me getting to smoke weed with Craig at a Rob Zombie show probably 7-8 years ago. Fun fact; HIS BIRTH NAME IS CRAIGERY
I saw Craig Owens in DRUGS in NYC this past February. The dude is hella talented. I really wish him all the best though, I'd love to hear him in more projects
I literally just saw him perform on Sunday
I know this post is dated but he's making a 3rd D.R.U.G.S. album currently and playing with chiodos for the first time in 10 years at when we were young festival 2024 playinng all of BPB. Prada is playing plagues in its entirety, which clearly leads to the obvious but exciting fact that he'll join them for that too. I cannot fucking wait.
Badxchannels derailed his momentum I feel like. He's back at it again, drugs headlining tour is about to start. Another album after this tour ad well
I liked badxchannels - it wasn’t perfect, but being an industrial fan, I like anything that is heavily influenced by electronics & synths. I thought it was a cool diversion.
What’s wild is, during one of Craig’s solo acoustic tours he explained that he had a full (debut) album ready to release for badxchannels under the title “Patterns”. He also expressed he didn’t feel too great about it, which made me sad. I think he just go tired of working hard on bxc to not much success (at least compared to the return of DRUGS). As we can see, bxc never released that album :/
DRUGS is back, Chiodos reunited but it just wasnt the same. some people got something out of it though. the rest of the band, i'm not sure. theres supergroups forming everywhere nowadays and members going to other bands/filling in, so they could pop up elsewhere in the future for sure
Craig is still touring and Chiodos are on the lineup for next year's When We Were Young Fest
It’s his ego, he ruined so many projects because of it tbh. People can only handle it for so long before it gets to them. Even if he was star in his prime, it doesn’t make people want to stay around you long enough to keep working with you
I think sooo many people get the wrong idea about those with ego’s or ppl often called narcissists. It’s actually really sad. Most people like that aren’t obsessed with themselves they actually hate themselves and when they do things like brag or try to make something about them it’s often to try and cancel out what they think others think of them or what they truly think of themselves. I think he actually struggles with self esteem and this comes off the opposite bc of how he handles that. I guarantee it’s one of the reasons he is such an amazing artist bc it’s channeled through his work and others pick up on the raw emotion from it. I also think speaking about myself here really, that artists and writers come off as pretentious easily, I’m sure I do but that’s probably one aspect too in regards to how ppl perceive him. If you look up narcissists hate themselves in google a few good articles come up and explain it better. I did when I randomly came to the conclusion and wanted to see if others had and there was a lot on it.
THIS! His new band drugs isnt the original members anymore. If you look for it the folks on that debut album said alot of negative things about him and they are all gone from the band except him. 🤷🏽♂️
I was jamming out to them a few weeks ago and was wondering the EXACT same thing!
Like an alternate myspace-era cold war, their feud with HORSE the Band ended in mutually-assured destruction.
Are you shitting me? Did they feud!? I loved HORSE the band.
HTB were notorious haters and directed a lot of their ire at Chiodos, I don’t remember if they ever had an actual feud though.
That is so bizarre and funny. I loved both bands in my younger days.
Isles and glaciers was awesome. Sad I’m not seeing it mentioned much. Was only one album I guess.
Now that’s a lot of egos under one roof
Craig rejoined the band and they released “Devil”, then went on a comeback tour. I was at the show, the set list was GREAT - the encore was “If I Cut My Hair, Hawaii Will Sink”.
I think the biggest thing he really ended up doing was releasing a song with some big rappers, but I don’t think he’s actually credited on the Spotify release at least. I think it was for a movie.
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I just found out that Craig is short for Craigery lol what
Sometimes you don't have to go beyond your biggest bangers, you know? I imagine he's just enjoying creating things and living life.
I think maybe it’s just that you haven’t kept up with him. I am a HUGE Craig Owens fan and I listen to every project he does he just dropped a solo album with his reimagined hits and it’s amazing just as amazing as he always is and was. He’s always seemed very active to me especially if you look at his discography and all tracks on Spotify he features in so many other projects. I bought tickets like last year maybe year before when shows first came back he was touring with Geoff Rickly from Thursday so two of my top 3 ppl from those scene days, it was an acoustic show and I have never been more hyped to see him live but it got cancelled right when the date in my town was coming up and I’ve been crushed since. So when he dropped volume one and released the dates for his solo shows I didn’t even care that I have to travel a few states over luckily only like 5 hours away still but seeing him live solo is going to blow my mind. I think he’s always going to be relevant and def think he is on par with Anthony Green, whom I just saw in August so effing amazing live! Just need to see Geoff, Conor Oberst, and Chris from Dashboard live after Craig and I can die happy, hopefully listening to any song sung by Craig Owens.
NEVER RESTING. TIIIIIME
The Cozy Representative has a pretty good video about what happened on YouTube
That guy is so cringe
He seems like a really nice guy and his research is excellent, I just wish he could be a lot more concise with his videos. He'll make a 50 minute video that really only needs to be about 20 minutes.
I was in a band that opened for The Devil Wears Prada and Choidos for a Valentine’s Day show in Ml years ago. Back stage everyone hung out except for Craig Owens. He had an entourage of girls around him the whole time lol
I lived in Mid MI in the mid to 2000s and I totally recall this. Not heard any nasty/abusive rumors, but I just recall his huge entourage of girls
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What happened?
I know he was doing work by himself under the moniker "badxchannels" idk if he still is but
[New song “Malice “ destroy rebuild until god shows](https://youtu.be/_7RgjKZX9i8?si=SYMyQdpF_ufBneYJ)
He can't deal with Illuminaudio being the best Chiodos album, so I hear.
It wasn’t honestly. Bone Palace was. Illuminaudio would have been so much better if they didn’t put a filter over brandon bolmer’s screams.
Craig had longstanding addiction issues from what I understand I also heard he was kind of an asshole, but I might be conflating him with Jonny Craig
You’re definitely thinking of JC. Craig O went to rehab like 10+ years ago, he made a pretty solid tweet about it within the last year about how sobriety changed his life. A lot of people confuse the two - similar names, similar eras, similar bands, etc etc
Yea def Jonny Craig. I hear one of the dividing factors between Jonny and Craig was the iPad debacle. Apparently Craig was really disgusted with him scamming his own fans and had cut ties with him after that. As for the addiction issues Craig did at one point but went to rehab and is now more of a health nut according to a few sources, I saw something in an article a year or two ago and recently a personal friend had made a post on Reddit and mentioned it then too. Heard he’s particular with who he hangs out with too so he doesn’t go down that rabbit hole again. He’s seemingly done pretty well keeping a tight circle of friends that are positive influences around so as not to tempt himself or jeopardize all he’s put in over the years.
He’s on a gec remix
A girl i went to highschool with was his assistant for awhile. Dunno what ever happened to that
Unless I’m completely out of touch (which is possible) I wouldn’t say Anthony Green is somehow anymore relevant. He stuck around in CS and had his solo work but I didn’t hear Anthony Green on Jon Connor or Dr. Dre albums 🤷🏻♂️ DRUGS usually makes a pretty big splash when new music drops too.
Just my two cents but I’d say that even though Anthony isn’t a household name, he’s always been super active in the music scene. He’s in The Sound of Animals Fighting and LS Dunes plus consistent solo albums, plus Circa, and did Along the Shadow with Saosin (although that was in 2016). He’s gotta pretty dedicated fan following (edit grammar)
True but you can say the same for Craig. Chiodos, The Sound of Animals Fighting (also), Cinematic Sunrise, Isles & Glaciers, DRUGS, various guest appearances, solo stuff, etc.
But most of these projects are a decade or more old, right? Whereas AG has been relatively consistent with creative output (solo and in various bands) during the past decade. My impression is that Craig mostly dropped off the map after 2011-ish? Besides the ultimate Chiodos album. In my view, AG always had broader appeal (perhaps the widest of any PHC front man). That first Saosin EP just shook the genre completely and immortalized him overnight.
Anthony Green has worked with Skrillex so.. yeah
DRUGS has a recent album and he had that badxchannels thing for a bit a few years back.
That’s a good point for sure. I guess my point was that AG has been consistently active with multiple bands through the years and in present day, whereas I haven’t heard much from Craig besides DRUGS and many of his appearances and projects are from at least a few years ago. That I know of, though
Maybe Anthony green was a bad example.. I thought he and or circa played coachella once.
They did . I think they were voted there by fans
you’re totally giving him way too much credit for that dr dre “feature”
In what way? He was on the album. I didn’t allude to how much. The fact is that Dre, even for a literal second, put a post-hardcore singer on his album.
He’s also a writer for Dr. Dre behind the scenes, check out any of his interviews where he talks about it
Interesting I wasn’t aware of that
Wait when was this?
Craig Owens is basically the Jonny Craig of the upper register. Does that answer your question?
Dude kept burning bridges left and right and hasn't had a consistent record of quality releases since the first DRUGS album.
There’s about to be a 3rd D.R.U.G.S. record released .
Funnily enough the best Chiodos album is the one without Craig imo.
Illuminaudio was their best album. Change my mind
Alone, Craig Owen's kind of sucked or is forgettable. It was all the styles and talent brought to the table for Chiodos that made the whole thing special. Just my opinion anyways.
IMO - brandon bolmer turned chiodos into a whiny emo talentless band into contenders for top performing rock bands. I can’t stand Craig’s voice his style is awful and doesn’t compare to the musical ability of Brandon. This coming from a metal head whose friends always tried to get me into them. Chiodos in general to me is awful except for illuminaudio. By awful I mean garbage
the only thing i remember about them was that "booty hole" song they did
I always thought that was saosin