Crobot: A new era of rock n’ roll

By Wesley Wilcox | gargoyle@flagler.edu

The imagery of rock and roll is one that has been redefined over the past few decades. Long before today’s rock bands there was a time when one genre of music stood alone. With it a community was created, as peace and love were the product of a movement that not only defined a culture, but a way of living. Rock and roll at its strongest spoke on behalf of a generation as bands the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones defied the social norm. The genre evolved as the original heavyweights passed the torch to bands such as AC/DC and Guns N’ Roses.

Today, rock and roll has once again found a new band that has picked up the torch: Crobot. Crobot is coming off of their debut album Legend of the Spaceborne Killer, which was released in 2014. The band found immediate success as their debut single “Nowhere to Hide” grew in popularity among festivalgoers. “We’re so far outside of radio rock,” said lead singer Brandon Yeagley. “I think that’s a good thing. We stay out of the cookie cutter of radio rock.”

The world of rock and roll is one that constantly is adapting, especially with music as a whole continuously evolving. In their debut album Legend of the Spaceborne Killer, the band heavily differentiates from any other rock band solely on the influences that the band uses in their sound. “I grew up listening to Deep Purple and Zeppelin, and definitely a fan of funk,” said Yeagley. “It all blended together.”

Unlike most newcomers, Crobot has landed massive gigs with huge crowds through their tours that featured rock icons Motorhead, Chevelle and Volbeat, which allowed the band to learn from the their success. “We learned a little of everything,” said Yeagley. “With Motorhead it was great to see a band survive 40 years. They destroyed the stage. Chevelle and Volbeat were all very different. We try to take something from every tour.”

With the release of their sophomore album, Welcome to Fat City coming in September, the band is looking forward to who they will be touring with next, and they already have an idea or two. “Graveyard,” said Yeagley. “We’ve been listening to them for years. Another is Queens of the Stone Age. We’ve listened to them as well.”

Crobot has found success in the rock community by creating a bluesy, funk rock sound that gives a glimpse into the influential era of rock and roll. According to Yeagley, the band has no intentions of leaving that sound on Welcome to Fat City. “We tried to do the same process. We didn’t try to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “We try to hold near and dear to the process. We get in the studio and jam.”

Yeagley and the other members of Crobot are the definition of a modern day rock band as the guys just like to jam, party and have a good time, especially on tour. “We always like to have fun. We don’t have to take it to seriously. We love that we’re playing new material, and we did a similar process the last year,” said Yeagley. With the partying comes some pretty crazy tour stories and Yeagley was kind enough to share one: “We were in Hamburg, Germany on tour with Black Label Society. We ended up doing a one off concert with Black Tusk and ended up going out for drinks afterwards. It turned into a night of debauchery. I lost my leather jacket; the crowd was chanting Bohemian Rhapsody. It was a pretty epic night drinking in Germany with Black Tusk. It didn’t end there. We went out to karaoke and I started screaming expletives in German (laughs).”

Crobot releases their sophomore album Welcome to Fat City on Tuesday September 23rd. You can preorder the album on the bands official site and iTunes.
http://crobotband.com