Jon Crosby
Encyclopedia
Jon Crosby is an American
musician
, founder of the musical outfit VAST
. He is a resident of Seattle, Washington
.
, California
, and grew up in Humboldt
and Sonoma
counties in Northern California, raised by a single mother from an upper class family who owned a record store in Fortuna, California
. His great-grandfather was John C. Crosby, a congressman from Massachusetts
and his ancestry on his mother's side is English and Native American. It is speculated that his father, who was a lounge guitarist whom he never met, may have been partially Japanese.
At the age of 13, he was profiled in Guitar Player
magazine and Shrapnel Magazine as a rising young star. He developed a love for classical music after watching the film Amadeus
. When he met a girl named Michelle in 6th Grade, he learned to play The Beatles
' hit "Michelle
" on guitar to impress her. This sparked his interest in The Beatles, and in rock music
in general. Crosby's other influences include Steve Vai
, Joe Satriani
, U2
, and Depeche Mode
. He formed VAST in 1993, at the age of 16, after moving to Petaluma, CA with friends Mike Alioti and Dimitri Katzoff, formerly of ska-band The Conspiracy
, though that line-up was short-lived and would be frequently supplanted. He played few early shows, mainly at the famed Phoenix Theater
, where many early acts—like Green Day
-- got their first big break.
At 19, Crosby's manager/ex-girlfriend Sakina Sati took him to New York, along with ex-members Daniel Alva and Stephen Garver, for the purpose of shopping his demo tapes through Shiva Baum, former manager for Opiate for the Masses
, and a bidding war broke out; he then signed with Elektra
. Two albums were released by Elektra - Visual Audio Sensory Theater
in 1998 and Music For People
in 2000. In 2002, however, Crosby left the label. 2003 saw him break new ground when he released two digital download albums, Turquoise 3.x and Crimson 3.x. He then moved on to Carson Daly
's 456 Entertainment, where Nude was released in 2004.
In 2003 he started his own record label, 2Blossoms Records & Media. Late 2007 and early 2008, Crosby released five download-only EPs, under the collective title Generica
, which was to be "an exploration of people, places and American music." The first three volumes were solo acoustic guitar songs, while the last two were recorded along with VAST band members under the name "Jon Crosby And The Resonator Band". Crosby stressed the difference between this outfit and VAST:
to Christianity
to Shamanism
, to Buddhism
, and they are reflected in his music.
, Nine Inch Nails
, The Cure
, Depeche Mode
, Metallica
, The Doors
, The Tea Party
, Mr. Bungle
(whose first drummer, Jed Watts, played briefly with VAST), Machines of Loving Grace
, Mozart, assorted early 90s Techno
, World Music
, and Nirvana
, as well as goth clubs, which he frequented in San Francisco and New York City.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
, founder of the musical outfit VAST
VAST
VAST is an American industrial rock band based in Austin, Texas. The acronym VAST stands for Visual Audio Sensory Theater and is the main creation of singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jon Crosby...
. He is a resident of Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
.
Biography
Crosby was born in Los AngelesLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and grew up in Humboldt
Humboldt County, California
Humboldt County is a county in the U.S. state of California, located on the far North Coast 200 miles north of San Francisco. According to 2010 Census Data, the county’s population was 134,623...
and Sonoma
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
counties in Northern California, raised by a single mother from an upper class family who owned a record store in Fortuna, California
Fortuna, California
Fortuna is a city in western-central Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 11,926 at the 2010 census, up from 10,497 at the 2000 census. The city lies on the northeast shore of the Eel River , and is on U.S...
. His great-grandfather was John C. Crosby, a congressman from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and his ancestry on his mother's side is English and Native American. It is speculated that his father, who was a lounge guitarist whom he never met, may have been partially Japanese.
At the age of 13, he was profiled in Guitar Player
Guitar Player
Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...
magazine and Shrapnel Magazine as a rising young star. He developed a love for classical music after watching the film Amadeus
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...
. When he met a girl named Michelle in 6th Grade, he learned to play The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' hit "Michelle
Michelle (song)
"Michelle" is a love ballad by The Beatles, mainly written by Paul McCartney, with the middle eight co-written with John Lennon. It is featured on their Rubber Soul album. The song departs from most of The Beatles' other recordings in that some of the lyrics are in French...
" on guitar to impress her. This sparked his interest in The Beatles, and in rock music
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in general. Crosby's other influences include Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani
Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, and Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. He formed VAST in 1993, at the age of 16, after moving to Petaluma, CA with friends Mike Alioti and Dimitri Katzoff, formerly of ska-band The Conspiracy
The Conspiracy
The Conspiracy is a 1916 drama film featuring Harry Carey.-Cast:* Harry Carey* Edith Johnson* Lee Shumway - * Edwin Wallock -...
, though that line-up was short-lived and would be frequently supplanted. He played few early shows, mainly at the famed Phoenix Theater
Phoenix Theater
The Phoenix Theater is an all-ages club located in Petaluma, California which has been in existence since 1905, and has been subject to many changes in both structure and purpose, mostly due to severe damage caused by multiple fires. - History :...
, where many early acts—like Green Day
Green Day
Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool...
-- got their first big break.
At 19, Crosby's manager/ex-girlfriend Sakina Sati took him to New York, along with ex-members Daniel Alva and Stephen Garver, for the purpose of shopping his demo tapes through Shiva Baum, former manager for Opiate for the Masses
Opiate For The Masses
Opiate for the Masses was a post-hardcore band from Arizona. They formed in Phoenix in 1999 by Ron Underwood, Elias Mallin, Dustin Lyon and Jim Kaufman. The meaning of their name comes from the Karl Marx quote that says the organized religion is nothing but an opiate for the masses. In June 2009,...
, and a bidding war broke out; he then signed with Elektra
Elektra Records
Elektra Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group. In 2004, it was consolidated into WMG's Atlantic Records Group. After five years of dormancy, the label was revived by Atlantic in 2009....
. Two albums were released by Elektra - Visual Audio Sensory Theater
Visual Audio Sensory Theater
Visual Audio Sensory Theater is the debut album by the band VAST, released on April 28, 1998 by Elektra Records. The album mixed samples of Benedictine monks of the Abbey of Saint-Maur and Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares, with an 18-piece orchestra, guitars and electronics.Jon Crosby originally...
in 1998 and Music For People
Music for People
Music for People is the second album by the band VAST, released on September 12, 2000 by Elektra Records. It would be VAST's last album on Elektra Records. After the success of VAST's debut album, Music for People could only produce one successful single, "Free", which charted highly and gained...
in 2000. In 2002, however, Crosby left the label. 2003 saw him break new ground when he released two digital download albums, Turquoise 3.x and Crimson 3.x. He then moved on to Carson Daly
Carson Daly
Carson Jones Daly is an American television host. He is the host of NBC's Last Call with Carson Daly, a late-night talk show that began airing on January 7, 2002. Before his role as host of that program, Daly was a VJ on MTV's TRL, and a DJ for the Southern California based radio station KROQ-FM...
's 456 Entertainment, where Nude was released in 2004.
In 2003 he started his own record label, 2Blossoms Records & Media. Late 2007 and early 2008, Crosby released five download-only EPs, under the collective title Generica
Generica
Generica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
, which was to be "an exploration of people, places and American music." The first three volumes were solo acoustic guitar songs, while the last two were recorded along with VAST band members under the name "Jon Crosby And The Resonator Band". Crosby stressed the difference between this outfit and VAST:
Personal life
Never married, Crosby has twice been engaged. He has had a number of spiritual affiliations, ranging from HinduismHinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
to Shamanism
Shamanism
Shamanism is an anthropological term referencing a range of beliefs and practices regarding communication with the spiritual world. To quote Eliade: "A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be: shamanism = technique of ecstasy." Shamanism encompasses the...
, to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, and they are reflected in his music.
Influences
Influences upon his music include such groups as Alice in ChainsAlice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
, Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
, Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
, Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
, The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
, The Tea Party
The Tea Party
The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences, dubbed "Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s up until 2005 when the band broke up, The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records...
, Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle
Mr. Bungle was an experimental band from Northern California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school and was named after a children's educational film. Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and...
(whose first drummer, Jed Watts, played briefly with VAST), Machines of Loving Grace
Machines of Loving Grace
Machines of Loving Grace was an industrial rock band from Tucson, Arizona.Named for a Richard Brautigan poem, they formed in 1989. The original lineup consisted of Scott Benzel , Stuart Kupers , and Mike Fisher , with Brad Kemp added shortly thereafter...
, Mozart, assorted early 90s Techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, World Music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, and Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...
, as well as goth clubs, which he frequented in San Francisco and New York City.
Solo
- Generica Vol. IGenericaGenerica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
(2007) - Generica Vol. IIGenericaGenerica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
(2008) - Generica Vol. IIIGenericaGenerica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
(2008)
Jon Crosby and the Resonator Band
- Generica Vol. IVGenericaGenerica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
(2008) - Generica Vol. VGenericaGenerica is the collective title of a series of five EPs released by Jon Crosby, lead singer and founder of the rock band VAST.-Origins:In late 2007 and early 2008, Jon Crosby released five download-only EPs on the band's website, under the collective title Generica, which was to be "an exploration...
(2008)