July 19 — Crobot kicked off the weekend by premiering a new single from its forthcoming album, Obsidian.
The band debuted the album’s title track and its companion video Friday. The musical arrangement featured in the new single is an interesting presentation. Throughout the composition, audiences can easily hear the stoner rock sound for which the band has come to be known. At the same time, there is also a hard rock leaning that makes the work somewhat comparable in style to recent works from Metallica. The duality therein makes the arangement an interesting work in itself.
According to vocalist Brandon Yeagley and guitarist Chris Bishop, the band got some creative help from Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage, Light The Torch) to make the arrangement happen.
“‘Obsidian’ was the last song we worked on, and we had already decided to have that be the album’s title,” sad Bishop. “We had four different versions of the song, but, especially with the melodies and lyrics, we weren’t completely happy with it.”
“Howard [Jones] just ran with it and came back with what is now the final title track,” added Yeagley. “And, it encapsules everything that I wrote about on the record. The lyrics are about reflection, taking on those aspects of who we are that we don’t necessarily like, but are all parts that round us out as people. The lyrics also illustrate what obsidian means to someone who’s a crystal collector, and the symbolism surrounding obsidian.”
Yeagley went on to discuss the song’s back story at length, noting, “I had been doing a lot of research on Druids, on Celtic shamans, different types of spirituality,” he explains. “I was born in the country’s coal region and I was raised around anthracite coal. One day I went out for a walk just beyond my backyard, I’m walking around this tree, and sure as sh*t, there at my feet is a huge piece of black coal, the size of a softball. When I picked it up, I realized it wasn’t coal, and, as a huge fan of ‘Game of Thrones,’ I thought there was no way this could be dragonglass.”
Yeagley continued, “And it was indeed a huge chunk of obsidian. “It was several weird things – strange synchronicities that led me to that stone. “I took it along with me to Jamaica when the band played Shiprocked, a cruise to Jamaica. That trip started with a tornado during load in, and then the boat was punctured and took on water, all while going through the Bermuda Triangle. When we got home and went to collect our luggage, the bag with the thousands of dollars worth of camera gear came down the conveyor belt completely open, and then we found out that our van had been struck by lightning. But the obsidian made it through.”
According to Yeagley, the house where the band shot the video for its new single was a dilapidated structure in Shenandoah, PA dating back to 1900.
“The ceiling was coming down, paint was falling off the walls, there’s drywall everywhere that had fallen from the ceiling, the place was just like a snapshot of a 1960’s-something place frozen in time,” said Yeagley. “And there had been a public bar in the house that may have been one of the very first speakeasys in the town, which was where we shot this video.”
In other news Crobot is scheduled to join CKY later this summer on tour across America. The tour’s schedule is noted below:
Crobot will join up with CKY for a 16-date U.S. tour that kicks off September 12 in Nashville, TN at The Mil @ Cannery Hall. Dates are below.
SEPTEMBER
12 Cannery Hall, Nashville, TN
13 Radio Room, Greenville, SC
15 Tally Ho Theatre, Leesburg, VA
17 Lovedraft’s Brewing Co., Mechanicsburg, PA
18 Empire Live, Albany, NY
19 The Webster, Hartford, CT
22 The Rockpile, Toronto, ON Canada
26 Buffalo Iron Works, Buffalo, NY
OCTOBER
1 Granada Theatre, Dallas, TX
2 Scout Bar, Houston, TX
3 Come And Take It Live, Austin, TX
6 Black Sheep, Colorado Springs, CO
8 The Nile Theater, Mesa, AZ
9 Brick By Brick, San Diego, CA
10 Teragram Ballroom, Los Angeles, CA
11 House of Blues Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
More information on Crobot’s new single, video, album and tour is available along with all of the band’s latest news at:
Website: https://crobotband.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Crobotband
Twitter: https://twitter.com/crobotband
