Unveiling their new EP Four Fables, Transatlantic duo Crypto Knight tell us about the evolution of their sound and what listeners can expect from their new EP.
Who are you and where are you from?
I’m Dave Johnson, originally from Seaham, Co, Durham. currently in Portugal after living in the USA
What is it you do?
I’m a songwriter, musician and producer. I play guitar, bass and keyboards and, along with Tim Malugin who’s a lyricist and vocalist in the USA, we release albums under the name of Crypto Knight.
How long have you been doing it?
A long time! I got my first guitar at 14 then after a while started writing songs. As time went by I bought a basic synth, a drum machine and a 4-track recorder. My first gigs were in Durham and Newcastle with a singer called Phil Corrigan. We played rock music as a duo using pre-recorded drums and synths and did have interest from Elektra Records for a while after their A&R guy saw us at Riverside and Edwards Bar. At the time we were going under the name of Nirvana, until we found out there was another band with the same name from Seattle who were getting more attention than us. I later moved to London but found it difficult getting a band together so I focused on writing and recording. After moving to LA I reconnected with Phil remotely and we released 3 albums as The Forgotten Man but then Covid hit and recording came to a halt. In the meantime I had enrolled in an online music course where we had to collaborate with other writers and that’s when I started writing with Tim Malugin who liked a lot of the same bands that I did. We both had home recording studios so songs came together very easily and very quickly in a short space of time.
What inspires you?
Good music inspires me, good people inspire me. As far as songwriting goes I can take inspiration from anything and everything. It could be world events, it could be a conversation I heard, or even the sound of a phrase that popped into my head. Musically I’m inspired by a lot of early 70’s rock and progressive rock bands and I think that comes through in the music we record although one reviewer said that we were genre-blenders encompassing rock, pop and electronica combining elements of Yes with The Who, The Stranglers and OMD.
Tell us about your music
Our music has been described as art rock or neo prog and it’s fair to say that it has a retro feel to it. A lot of our earlier songs were story based as I would come up with the music then pass it on to Tim and suggest a theme or subject for him to write lyrics around. However, some of our more recent tracks have been related to current affairs or characters and personality types. We’re quite prolific, constantly writing and recording, and we released 3 Crypto Knight albums and 1 EP in 2 years which are available on all streaming platforms.
What have you got coming up in the future?
We have a new 4 track EP called Four Fables coming out on 31st May and that will be released on Bandcamp only. On YouTube watch the video that accompanies the first track, Sky Traveller. After that, we’ll be releasing a new album in a couple of months time. We have a lot of material already written and recorded it’s just a case of making the difficult decision on which tracks to include and which to leave off.
Where can people find out more about you?
We’re on all social media sites as well as all music streaming platforms. We’d love it if you follow us on Facebook, Spotify and Bandcamp.
This news is republished from another source.
