There has been few stories of artists blowing up almost the same moment they get familiar with their medium and Gabe Baer aka CRNKN is no stranger to this sort of tale. Picking up producing in his spare time, this young artist has blown up in 2013 with his progressive and melodic approach to trap music in just under a year and since been performing at festivals like Shambahla, Northern Lights and Hard Summer and is expected Hard Day of the Dead this year. While trap is his forte, he has been known to dabble in other bass centric genres proving his creativity is as adaptable as his mixing.
Photography by Lauren Engel
Questions and words by Mel Truong
A few months ago, I happened to come across your single “Still” on SoundCloud right before Hard Summer and wanted to say is that I’m so glad to have found your page! I saw that you are returning to Southern California for Hard Day of the Dead this fall and wanted to know if you are planning to drop a new single before the event?
Thanks!!!! Yeah, I’m really excited about Day of the Dead. I think that’s gonna be a blast. As for a new tune, I don’t think I’m going to be putting something out before the festival. I have several new songs finished, but I’m sending them around to labels etc. right now, and I’m not sure if they’ll be ready to be released by the time DOTD rolls around. One can hope though.
Your set falls on Halloween this year, do you think you’ll dress up while on stage?
100%. I’m going to dress up as DJ Khaled (laughs). I don’t usually do a great job with halloween costumes but I’m gonna try to nail it this year.
Previously you had cited as Curt of Flosstradomus as your mentor back in’13 and 9 months ago you had remixed their track “Rebound”. Can you tell me a little bit more about that mix, did they approach you or vice versa?
It was pretty mutual actually, I was a fan of the song and obviously them, and they were looking for remixes. My manager helps out with Floss remixes so he suggested me and they were stoked on the idea.
Did you feel more pressure knowing that it was a Floss song?
Well, yes and no. Once before I had tried to do a remix for them and it just didn’t turn out great, and I was pretty bummed out about it. So I put some pressure on myself for the Rebound remix to make sure that it outgrew the last attempt I made at remixing a Floss song.
On your official website you promised never to do something twice so does that mean in a few years we may see you explore trance or any other genre?
Well, I’m not so sure about trance, but I’m definitely trying to challenge myself and do new things musically. I’m trying to move in the direction of more songwriting, and less bangers, because I think that’s where music is headed in general. People are getting to the point where there’s a little less patience for club slammers which is nice imo.
With the trend of a bubbly mixes do you find yourself drawing new inspiration from your peers or have a specific artist you want to work with in mind?
Oh totally. There’s a few producers that I draw a ton of inspiration from. Djemba Djemba, Rustie, Mura Masa to name a few. Honestly though, I get most of my inspiration from stuff outside of dance music. I always get a little overwhelmed if I’m making electronic music, playing it out at shows, and listening to it on my free time so I kind of have a little to no dance music rule in my free time haha
What is the song that contains the melodies that are the most near and dear to your heart or that you simply think are the best ones you have written so far?
That would definitely be this new song that I have that hasn’t come out yet. It’s definitely one of my favorite things that I’ve written, and it’s called The Grip. Can’t wait for people to hear it.
Would you say your hometown or upbringing influenced a lot of your songs?
I’m not sure if where I grew up directly influences the type of music I make, but it undoubtedly influences the way i approach the music industry in general and the way I deal with people. As far as my songwriting goes, I kind of draw influence / inspiration from whatever is going on around me in my daily life while I’m writing etc, or from the track itself. Certain elements in songs inspire other ones.
