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Cardinal Heart’s Crosson finds balancing act
by Mary Snow, take5 correspondent
published February 8, 2008
Dup Crosson, a solo artist who performs as Saint Solitude, has made a successful leap from his solo album, “Disaster Stories,” to uniting his talents with the newly formed independent rock band The Cardinal Heart.
Crosson, who sings and plays guitar, is joined by Brian Daignault (drums, vocals) and Charlie Pyron (bass, vocals). The trio blends romantic and atmospheric melodies with pop rock sensibilities.
Crosson spoke with take5 about balancing both his solo music with The Cardinal Heart.
Question: How was The Cardinal Heart formed?
Answer: It’s been a long time coming. The three of us got together in January of last year, and we all kind of switched instruments and saw what happened. The three of us just starting writing and knew that we were going to be a trio band and have been playing ever since. Brian Daignault (drums, vocals) started out playing the guitar, and I started with drums, and then we switched. There was a lot of adjustment time for Brian to get use to being a drummer and
me to get use to being a frontman. We are all on different instruments, which makes it interesting.
Q: Who are some of the band’s influences?
A: I listen to a lot of British stuff, anything mid-90s Brit pop and The Smashing Pumpkins. Charlie Pyron (bass, vocals) listens to a lot of Spiritualized, and Brian is into Grateful Dead, jazz and Radiohead. Brian’s influences bring a different element to the band. Charlie and I would be very rock-oriented if it wasn’t for him.
Q: What is your songwriting process?
A: We write the best stuff when we are all together. I still write all the lyrics, but the way we have been approaching songs is if it doesn’t come out of a jam, then it’s an effort between the three of us. We are keeping are minds open to different ways to write songs.
Q: How is your solo album Saint Solitude, “Disaster Stories,” different from The Cardinal Heart’s material?
A: My solo thing is out and finished, and I did that on my own. I try not to mix my solo stuff with the band. It’s unfair to the audience, and I think it’s healthy to separate the two. For the time being, I’m treating it as two separate entities as much as possible.
Q: Describe the chemistry between the band members.
A: Charlie is definitely the quiet one; we have to drag out his opinions from him. Bryan is the charismatic and talkative one. We are all becoming very close friends and I think that’s making it a lot easier to be musicians together.
Q: What do you hope that people take away from your music?
A: I think Asheville is an interesting place to be in a rock band. We are very much trying to prove that indie rock can have a lot of ground in Asheville and be as big as anything else. The trio thing is trying to achieve the sound of lots of people with only three people. We are hoping to make a living from this. That’s a definite goal. We have our hearts in this.
- Take Five (Asheville Citizen-Times)
Cardinal Heart’s Crosson finds balancing act
by Mary Snow, take5 correspondent
published February 8, 2008
Dup Crosson, a solo artist who performs as Saint Solitude, has made a successful leap from his solo album, “Disaster Stories,” to uniting his talents with the newly formed independent rock band The Cardinal Heart.
Crosson, who sings and plays guitar, is joined by Brian Daignault (drums, vocals) and Charlie Pyron (bass, vocals). The trio blends romantic and atmospheric melodies with pop rock sensibilities.
Crosson spoke with take5 about balancing both his solo music with The Cardinal Heart.
Question: How was The Cardinal Heart formed?
Answer: It’s been a long time coming. The three of us got together in January of last year, and we all kind of switched instruments and saw what happened. The three of us just starting writing and knew that we were going to be a trio band and have been playing ever since. Brian Daignault (drums, vocals) started out playing the guitar, and I started with drums, and then we switched. There was a lot of adjustment time for Brian to get use to being a drummer and
me to get use to being a frontman. We are all on different instruments, which makes it interesting.
Q: Who are some of the band’s influences?
A: I listen to a lot of British stuff, anything mid-90s Brit pop and The Smashing Pumpkins. Charlie Pyron (bass, vocals) listens to a lot of Spiritualized, and Brian is into Grateful Dead, jazz and Radiohead. Brian’s influences bring a different element to the band. Charlie and I would be very rock-oriented if it wasn’t for him.
Q: What is your songwriting process?
A: We write the best stuff when we are all together. I still write all the lyrics, but the way we have been approaching songs is if it doesn’t come out of a jam, then it’s an effort between the three of us. We are keeping are minds open to different ways to write songs.
Q: How is your solo album Saint Solitude, “Disaster Stories,” different from The Cardinal Heart’s material?
A: My solo thing is out and finished, and I did that on my own. I try not to mix my solo stuff with the band. It’s unfair to the audience, and I think it’s healthy to separate the two. For the time being, I’m treating it as two separate entities as much as possible.
Q: Describe the chemistry between the band members.
A: Charlie is definitely the quiet one; we have to drag out his opinions from him. Bryan is the charismatic and talkative one. We are all becoming very close friends and I think that’s making it a lot easier to be musicians together.
Q: What do you hope that people take away from your music?
A: I think Asheville is an interesting place to be in a rock band. We are very much trying to prove that indie rock can have a lot of ground in Asheville and be as big as anything else. The trio thing is trying to achieve the sound of lots of people with only three people. We are hoping to make a living from this. That’s a definite goal. We have our hearts in this.
- Take Five (Asheville Citizen-Times)
Discography
Battle Cry EP (2008, independent)
Photos
Bio
Self-described "indie amalgamators", The Cardinal Heart formed in Asheville, NC in 2007.
The band, led by vocalist/guitarist Dup Crosson, excels in concise, melodic indie rock with definite hints of psychedelia in both their delivery and production. Although their songs remain the constant focus, the group (rounded out by Charlie Pyron on bass and Brian K. Brown on drums) is hardly afraid to overstep their boundaries into the unknown and experimental sides of pop, which allows them to shift from the intimate to the relentless in a matter of a single song. The trio have recently released their debut CD, the Battle Cry EP, and are playing regional shows throughout the summer and beyond.
From the band:
We love the romance of being in a trio, as challenging and exhausting as it can be, and we aim to strike a nerve with anyone who loves passionate music played by passionate individuals who wouldn't trade it for absolutely anything.
We sing about revolution and all that its failed to become. Our songs tend to end up in a different place from where they started.
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