Today we’d like to introduce you to Classroom Craig.
Classroom, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
What began as a high school nickname used to describe my change in demeanor once the bell rang, ‘Classroom Craig’ is now a nod to my studious and curious approach to life and making music.
I pushed through years of piano training in the Suzuki method as a kid. Those hours honed my ear and my fingers, but I never got any sense of joy that I can remember. As a teen I fell in love with hip hop and learned about producers and beatmakers like The Neptunes and Jermaine Dupri. I began composing my own beats on my family keyboard with 6 track digital recording capability. That is where my LOVE of playing music began.
In time I learned about sampling and crate digging. That led to a journey through time and layers of hip hop’s source material, which in turn led to a passion for all things funky, soulful, groovy, and psychedelic. After some time in audio school and the internship of a lifetime, I learned to fuse all of my influences together through my own filter and capabilities to create music that I want to hear.
I spent my early producing years collaborating and writing with vocalists, seeing a number of small victories. I found it difficult to find the right collaborators who match the vibe, passion and drive to release music consistently. So in 2022 I decided to do a project with my own vocals. I had often added my own backing vocals to the projects I worked on before. But moving to the foreground was a big step for this back of the classroom producer. That project was released as an EP call Mind’s Eye in 2024 on Mixtape Meditation. I found enough joy in that process to do another EP which will be released this fall on the same label.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Growing pains. Building the skills and relationships that give my music a chance to have a far reach. Trying to figure out how I want to fit into a crazy industry. Imposter syndrome. I wonder if my music resonates with people. Another thing I still struggle with is balancing my time. I want to spend ALL of my time creating. But I have a 9-5 that requires a lot of time and energy. I’m a dad and really value family time. So sometimes it’s a struggle to find the creative space and finish projects. I’d like to be able to work on more projects and release more frequently.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I play with sounds. I play real instruments and chop real drum samples with the intent to create music that sounds organic and raw. Even though I’m piecing everything together much like a sample based producer would, I’m almost always trying to make it sound like a record that Madlib would want to sample.
I’m proud of each project that I see through from start to finish. I’m proud of the small victories, the blog posts, magazine features, sync deals. I’m just a kid trying to make stuff that lights me up and resonates with people’s spirits. The same way that Stevie Wonder created music that resonates with mine.
What sets me apart from others is just my tastes and preferences. I have a vision for what I like and want my music to sound like. Sometimes the end result matches the vision, often it falls short. But my lens, my life experiences and my perspective is what informs my music.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
My first love was soccer. That was the only future I saw for myself for a long time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2rpuo1ijoGLb6KWaxFtvxy?si=GLcEG7eUTfeuxn5RuaXg4w
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/classroomcraig/
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/classroomcraig
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/classrromcraig
- Other: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/classroom-craig/1508768916
