Craig Owens, the frontman of Chiodos, sat down with Music Connection to offer fellow artists advice on how to "patch up" your band. He also discusses South By Southwest 2014 and the band's upcoming record, Devil.
Music Connection: Any advice on how to handle SXSW?
Craig Owens: Go with the flow. If you try and control it too much that's when you find your exhaustion. If you can't adapt to what it is that happens—schedule changes and things like that—just take it one step at a time and see what happens.
MC: What has been your best experience at SXSW?
Owens: Wow. There's been a lot of things. There's this rapper from my hometown named John Conner. We actually met here at South by Southwest in 2011, I believe. We had been talking forever, but we hadn't actually met. He's basically become one of my brothers, straight up brother. That's how close we are [now]. He just signed with Aftermath with Dr. Dre so you'll be hearing the name John Conner a lot coming up. The connections, you meet people here [and that's my favorite part].
MC: You took a break from Chiodos. What insight do you have for bands getting back together?
Owens: Do it for the right reasons. Find out what it is that separated you in the first place. Try and communicate what it is that you need moving forward. Because if you're just going to sacrifice everything that you stand for just to get that back, you won't truly be happy doing it. I had to say what I needed when I came back to Chiodos, and that isn't exactly what everybody wanted to hear, but it was necessary for us to move forward the right way.
April 1st, Chiodos will release our first record in seven years with this line up, and we are so excited. We know that we've been inconsistent. We know that there's been ups and down and we just want to thank you guys for your support throughout the years and just want to let yo know that we are back and we aren't going anyway. We hope that you will join us on our next journey. The next chapter in Chiodos' career, and pick up Devil on April 1st.
Interview by Victoria Patneaude
Recorded by Siri Svay and Victoria Patneaude
Additional Photos by Jody Domingue
