Interview with Craig Ewan of Dead Defined (Canada)
By Mick Michaels
The Cosmick View: Hello, Craig and welcome to The Cosmick View/MBM Ten Pounder! Thanks for taking some time to chat with us!
Craig Ewan: No worries! I’m truly thankful for anyone who shows interest in my music and wants to know more about me as an artist and human being!
CV: Describe your definition of your sound and style and how does that definition uniquely describe the music?
CE: I like to describe my musical style as Pop/Rock/Industrial. With this project I wanted to incorporate all of my favorite styles of music into it. The sound may vary from song to song but it’s based off of a 4 on the floor beat and guitar driven rock. The music is commercially written as I like that style of music. I’m not much into experimenting with different musical arrangements as I find the listeners tend to tune it out nowadays with mainstream music and Top 40 sticking with the commercial aspect of writing.
CV: Today, everyone talks about artist and audience connection. Is such a level of connection actually achievable for an artist and if so, how have you made the connection to your fans?
CE: I most definitely think it is these days. Social Media is everything for a band and I use it daily. I came from the era of music where it was meant to be a mystery behind the band and its members. What happened backstage and in a musicians private life was all speculation which really made you in control of your own narrative.
These days with social media, fans and followers want to know more about you and have that digital connection with you and your music 24/7. Either you learn to be somewhat social and talk to your audience or you’re pretty much dead in the water. Making content for your followers is a job in it’s own besides the music these days. Some of the bigger bands around the world have a whole team devoted to just that.
CE: Of course! With social sites like Twitter, Facebook and Reddit it’s a whole new wave of inner fan culture. There are groups of fans who interact with each other in private gatherings online where the main narrative is just the band. It’s a very interesting thing as back in the day you’d only associate with other fans in person when attending a live show but now with social media the fans interact with each other online 24/7. It’s pretty much like an online street team.
CV: Can an artist or band truly interact with
its fans and still maintain a level of personal privacy without crossing the
line and giving up their “personal space” in your opinion?
CE: I believe so. The
way I interact with fans daily on my social media is on my own time and terms when
I set that aside. I have my own private life that I live that doesn’t involve
music or promoting via social media etc. I think it’s very important to have a
private life run parallel to social media than to just rely on it to nurture
your fans/followers at their beck and call. I try to make sure my social media
content expresses who I really am in real life, not just a character or someone
playing a part to please everyone else.
CV: Is music, and its value, viewed
differently around the world in your opinion? If so, what do you see as
the biggest difference in such multiple views among various cultures?
CE: I really don’t
have much of an opinion on this one as I haven’t traveled much when having to
do with music or touring. Culturally I could see a disdain for certain genres
and/or artistic image though.
CV: Do you feel that an artist or band that
has an international appeal, will tend to connect more so to American audience?
Would they be more enticed or intrigued to see that artist or band over
indigenous acts because of the foreign flavor?
CE: Being Canadian, our
music culture intertwines a lot with American music culture. I especially see
this when it comes to Hard Rock and Mainstream Top 40 artists.It’s very
accepting as many of these big artists on the billboard charts are Canadian.
Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Justin Bieber, Drake…just to name a few. I really
can’t speak for the interest in indigenous acts as I’m not well educated on that
scope of the music industry. I do know however that when big American acts tour
Canada there is quite a demand for them in the larger city hubs, as Canada
being so large and vast it’s hard for any band to go on a cross country tour without
the pull from major cities in our country.
CV: Has modern-day digital technology made
everyone an artist on some level in your opinion? Have the actual lines of what
really is an artist been blurred?
CE: I most definitely
think so. Not to sound so old and date myself…I’m 36, but it used to be based
on actual physical talent on stage and in studioto be noticed in the music
industry. It was ticket sales and word of mouth. Nowadays if you know how to
properly market yourself online and have a ton of followers and a lot of song
plays…even if the music isn’t great, you won’t be on anyone’s Spotify playlist
orSocial Media homepage. As far as recording technology, more and more artists
are and will become DIY, and the big studios are and will be fading when it
comes to this point.
CV: How would you describe the difference
between an artist who follows trends and one who sets them?
CE: It takes a lot of
determination and music education to be able to set a trend these days that
will make an impact in the business in my opinion. I feel a lot of artists
follow a trend while building their career based on self-image and music style
but eventually a few develop that trend building quality once they get to a
certain point of recognition.
CV: Has music overall been splintered into too many sub-genres in an effort to appease fan tastes in your opinion? And has such fan appeasements, in actuality, weakened music’s impact as a whole by dividing audiences?
CE: I used to think it was outrageous, until I understood why. I see many artists from all different genres collaborating and writing together, I think it’s almost needed for the industry to keep diversifying and growing. By doing this type of genre-mashing, it opens the door for so many new types of sounds and music styles to bloom. I’m interested to see where certain niche genres go in the future and how mainstream they could become.
CV: What can fans expect to see coming next from you?
CE: I’m currently still promoting my latest single that was just released on April/1st/2022. For anyone struggling with Addiction, Mental Health, Loneliness, Relationships… this one’s for you.
‘A Sun That Doesn’t Rise’ was written on the
basis of all these life hurdles that the everyday person deals with on the
inside. This song goes out to all those who continue to push on in life through
the pain, sorrow, and darkness. I wrote this song from life experience and hope
it resonates with people from all walks of life. There can be no light without
darkness. Being a Mental Health Advocate I preach positivity daily, and through
the lyrics of this song I hope the listener will find some type of solace in my
words.
CV: Thanks again Craig for taking
some time and talking. It is greatly appreciated.
CE: Thanks so much for
the chat and hope to catch up with you again in the near future, Much Love.
Check out Dead
Defined at:
Official Website - https://www.deaddefined.com/
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9heJOPHswZyf5_fbKJYhSw
Personal Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DeadDefined
Band Page Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DeadDefinedOfficial
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/craig_ewan/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/4JhsozqHaCW7SlKGKaysXF
Apple Music - https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/dead-defined/1356349643
TikTok
- https://www.tiktok.com/@craig_ewan
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