Originally from just across the Detroit River in Windsor, Ontario, Canada…Steve “Crossworm” Weatherbie is a self-produced alternative hip hop artist, a certified audio engineer, the founder of the Dirtcore brand, and CEO of his company “Legacy Creative Industries LLC” based in Grand Rapids, MI. From audio production, mixing and mastering, and branding for the arts and entertainment industry, Crossworm is currently the most sought after producer / engineer in our scene, and is mixing some of the biggest up and coming artists in the underground.

What is the first thought that pops in your mind when you read your name Crossworm?

Whenever I read it, it’s because someone tagged me on facebook about audio or artwork. So my first thought is: “Somebody needs something done”. It’s like the bat signal when I see it.

Where did you grow up, and how did it influence you as a producer today?

I was born in the city that borders Detroit, Michigan. There’s a 2000 foot river and a bridge that separates Detroit and Windsor, Ontario Canada. Myself, J Reno, and Kannibalistik came up in the Windsor / Detroit scene. I was raised in a really small town just outside Windsor called Essex. It’s surrounded for miles around on all sides by farmland. Essex is an extremely closed minded lower-middle class town. I never felt welcomed growing up but looking back I don’t think it was the people, it was my reaction to them and my attitude that made me feel left out. In all honesty my head was spent in the clouds off in my own little world growing up, so I’m not sure HOW it influenced me. I like to think my own personal response to stimuli is what influenced me to turn inward and hone my craft. I started as a drummer when I was 10, jamming with friends in bands into my teens. So that was my foundation that I built everything off of.

Tell us about the origin of the name Crossworm. It’s pretty unique.

My first alias was “Mentally Corrupt Weatherbie” (my last name). I realized pretty quickly how lame and over used that sounded. I knew I needed something original and new to replace it. But I remember the day I came up with the name Crossworm, and wow it was 15 years ago now. I was at an ex-girlfriend’s house and they lived on Lake St Clair. I remember there was a massive storm over the lake and the power was out. I picked up a pen and a piece of paper and just thought that I would let the universe decide. Whatever came to my mind first would be the name. The first word I wrote was WORM. I decided it was too plain. The 2nd word that came to my mind was CROSS, and I ran out of room on the page so I wrote CROSS on the left wide of WORM with no space. CROSSWORM. I wrote many names on that page, but I don’t remember any of them. That one stayed and hasn’t left me since.

What is Dirtcore? Explain its origins.

Dirtcore is my brand. It’s my style. It’s my work ethic. I think it’s extremely cheesy when people come up with their own names for genres, so I never intended it to be that. But when you stand out in a positive way, it’s hard for other people to NOT embrace it that way. Aesthetically it sounds like a melting pot of hardcore hip hop and industrial, with rapped, sung, and screamed elements. But it’s not a mosaic. It’s not patchwork. It’s cohesive and it really works well for me. I’ve been doing the style since the late 90’s but never had a name for it until about 2007. My beats are dirty, and gritty, and really underground. Worms live underground. Dirtcore. It just made sense. But as time went by I have treated it more like a certification, and a work ethic than anything. It’s really VERY personal to me.

To me, it describes a process of evolution. The key elements are attention to detail, and constant learning / upgrading of ones skill sets. It is a way to consistently evolve and out do oneself for the betterment of their craft and well being. It is not enough to be consistent. Constantly out doing yourself is the primary objective.

This process starts in the day to day habits and thinking pattern, and is carried over to your personal life, and whatever craft the practitioner is most passionate about. This can be music, illustration, carpentry, sales, consultation, etc.

So to me… Dirtcore is evolution from the ground up, making use of an innate ability to start over from scratch, unlearn old methods, and incorporate new ones.

Why was the industrial sound your personal choice to blend in your beat production?

It is the best use of aggression in my opinion. A poly-phonic synth with harmonic distortion sounds WAY meaner than a guitar to me. Plus I don’t play guitar, and don’t like relying on other people. It just sounds really dirty and I like it. Feels like home.

What is the main reason why you decided to produce?

I’ve had melodies in my head as far back as I can remember. I just have to get them out. They can’t stay there or they will haunt me. Getting them out is like a huge relief for me. It’s gratifying and it nurtures something in me I can’t describe. But I am addicted to it and can’t give it up. I will compose music until I am dead.

What was your very first beat like?

I can tell you EXACTLY what my first beat sounded like. It was the intro drums to Scentless Apprentice by Nirvana, with a bass synth playing The Rock’s entry music. Matter of fact… I’m going to redo that and write to it lol.

Describe your average day in the studio.

My average day in the studio depends on if I am tracking, performing, or mixing/mastering.

I’m hyper efficient though. I have my sessions all laid out with markers. Everything beat mapped. Track groups and buses labelled neatly. I like my sessions to be ultra clean looking. Organization is the biggest part of my process.

What is your biggest pet peeve you come across when mixing/mastering an album for a client?

Room noise on the vocals. It doubles my workload, and can’t be fixed depending on how bad it is. There is no reason for this. Foambymail.com has acoustic foam for cheap. Artists need to either pony up the scratch for recording time at a legit studio, or they need to sound proof the area they record in. All vocals need compression. When you compress in the mix, the room echo gets louder. No way around it. So the room noise makes it sound like the artist recorded in a bathroom. And that is shitty on a mix.

How has your production evolved since day one?

If I don’t see progress I don’t continue. I move on to something else that keeps my attention and feels gratifying. Constantly trying to get a better sound has been my number one goal. I spent 10 years paying for time in pro studios before I attempted to record on my own at home. I never wanted to sacrifice quality. I started producing in mixman, and old loop sequencer. I discovered that I could use a wave recorder / editor to chop parts out of my CD collection. So I used the loop sequencer as a sampler and basically put beats together the same way samplers and glitch artists do it. But at the time I didn’t know what the techniques were. The evolution came naturally from just wanting to learn and do things bigger and better. Now, evolution is part of my method. With each new release I have to utterly destroy my previous work, or I don’t get gratification from it. Aesthetically I’ve managed to control the level of quality and the level of grit I put into the music. I am to the point now, where I am able to get my music EXACTLY the way I intend it to. That’s a great feeling because there is nothing anyone can say negative if it sounds exactly the way you meant it to. They may not LIKE it, but that has nothing to do with anything once you hit that point.

You got the chance to tour with the rockers Hurt and Smile Empty Soul, as the DJ for a project titled Sun Sky And Surface, In full detail what was the first time touring like??

Actually it was not my first tour. I toured with Ozzfest in 2007 as a road crew for The Brothers Grim Side Show. That was the ultimate nightmare for so many reasons but it put me through the worst case scenario right off the jump. I’ll probably never be that malnourished, under that much stress, overworked, and paid so little. However, there is a bond you develop when you are under that much pressure on the road. Some of those guys are some of my closest friends because of that experience we lived through.

Rock4Revival was a tour that Luke Danelon, (the singer of my group SSS aka Sun Sky and Surface) put together with our friends Kayla Riley of Sirius Octane, and our booking agent Ryan Darnell of the 3Thirteen Entertainment Group. Luke’s entertainment production firm is called Ghost Rocket Music. So there were a lot of hands involved. I visually branded the tour. So the 4 of us built that tour from the ground up. We had 4 interns working with us hands on every day in our office, and they continued as Luke and I went out on the road as artists.

I love being on tour, and I had a blast. I was meant for the road, and for travel. Meeting new people, and sharing a bond with them is my favorite part. I could talk for hours about being on the road.

How did their fans (Hurt & Smile Empty Soul) react to the Dirtcore sound?

The band guys themselves appreciate what we do, and that is priceless to me, As far as their fans go. we we’re the odd men out on that tour. SSS is pretty much like dark pop with tinges of industrial and almost an R&B nature to it. But the hard edge on some of our tracks got people interested and moving. In all honesty a lot of people didn’t understand what they were LOOKING at because it was 2 people, a singer, and an electronic instrumentalist. I don’t use the term DJ because I’m not one. I performed a part at all times and nothing was strictly playback. But even though it was hard to understand visually, sonically people were digging it. Our merch table always had people at it after the show and I talked to a lot of new fans that were blown away by what I do instrumentally. I have made a lot of friends from within their fanbase, and that’s incredible to be able to do.

I did learn a very important lesson from that tour though…. What type of music you make does NOT define your genre in the touring world. How it is performed on stage is what determines your genre when it comes to touring. I know that doesn’t make sense, but even though we were well received, and our music had a rock-ish edge… I think we would have done better on a hip hop or an electronic tour because of our 2 person, DJ/singer stage dynamic. (Although I’m not a DJ, that is what it’s going to get called because it’s the most common term.)

You also draw / design album artwork for artists. So far, what is your personal favorite project that you have illustrated?

Each new piece ends up being my favorite because I seem to be learning new techniques with each one. But I definitely loved the cover art I did for Devilz Nite 2012, and recently with MidWest Monsters album in October. They are both laid out the same and look dope in digipak form.

I’m currently working for No Bad Ideas Clothing Company based out of Indianapolis. They specialize in headwear for the counterculture and their product is sick. I drew a self-portrait wearing one of their hats, and I stuck it on their FB wall. The owner of the company Andrew Moss flipped over it and has since hired me to design several trade show posters and online placements. I recently did one for a LIDS in store advert, and that one is HIGHLY sick. I’m really happy with the way that turned out. Those pieces end up really nice. I’m given a lot of creative freedom. They recently used one of my self-portraits as an 8 foot x 8 foot banner at one of their trade shows. It was originally on the cover for my Jaws Full of Dirt album which was a digital distro exclusive though Spotify and Amazon.

How long do you think Facebook will last, social networks you stay away from, and is social networking a required tool today?

Everything is optional until everyone is using it. There are a few major corporations that take the leap of faith. In turn they set standard business practices. This was done between Beta and VHS, and other competing formats in different media. The big business usage of one product, will determine the fate of its competitor. Facebook did the same to myspace. There’s no need for myspace now.

But getting back to the point… it’s all highly necessary. I personally hate twitter, but I have one. You have to be available every single way that people want availability. Networking has always been required, it just didn’t have a buzz term to define it specifically. It’s here to stay. It has already completely warped social dynamics and how people interact. It caused a massive generation gap in the way we communicate, and because of that… it is here to stay. It’s not good, it’s not bad. It just is what it is.

What is the weirdest moment you’ve had with a fan?

A fan in Olean, NY came up to my merch booth and was pissed off at Smile Empty Soul. He was being a loud mouth prick during their acoustic set. They called him out and told him to shut the fuck up. That rubbed him the wrong way and he was making it known to me for some reason. He was threatening band members. I thanked him for the compliments he gave us, but I kindly let him know that if he starts a fight he was going to lose. I didn’t appreciate the threats. SES are genuinely awesome, nice, hard-working dudes and they don’t deserve someone interrupting their shit and then threatening them over it. That shit was weird to me, because I wanted to make a fan happy, I wanted to defend the bros on tour, and I wanted to beat some ass. Too many feelings to have all at once.

What are your top 5 favorite projects you have been part of/are currently part of?

In no particular order:

1 – My band Dear Dangerous. I grew up with these guys and we travelled the continent together. Did a record in Malibu at the morning view mansion. Shot video in Hollywood. Played shows all over. And even caught the ear of Adam Gontier the former singer of Three Days Grace. He really loved our record, and paid us some really cool compliments when we met him in Detroit. That was huge for me, because I was a huge 3DG fan before they broke up.

2 – Sun Sky and Surface. My group with the singer of Dear Dangerous. He let me take the reigns on the music and direct that project from the ground up. It was Dirtcore-meets-pop for the first time ever. We did the album at Hollywood and toured the EP. I learned to home my mixing and production craft from that record. I spent a month and a half just producing and mixing 12 hrs a day at the singers house in Hollywood. From start to finish, SSS was an incredible project to be a part of for a lot of reasons.

3 – 2KORPSE. My first horrorcore group from 1998 to 2000. Me and my old partner in crime, “Krayz” got our sea legs in the wickedshit really young and changed a lot of things in the Windsor underground.

4 – Blister. This is a new wickedshit duo comprised of myself and Renigade from Detroit. New Era Wickdshit. We are two singles into the project and this is such a fun thing to be a part of.

5 – The Prophets Compilation. This is a new compilation record I am working on with Krazy of Rydas Records, but you know that because you are a new member of our team on this project :) It’s highly edgy and political, with the rights movement in mind. It will definitely cause some trouble. But I firmly believe in the project, and the freedom of speech it will exercise.

What was your first initial reaction when you were hired to mixed and master Dopesic’s release “Nothing Matters” and you found out it was being distributed by Universal?

If it was anyone else, I would have thought. Yup. OK pal. But I had done business with Jimmy Donn before. I knew he was a networker. The thing about distribution is, if the record isn’t marketed, then it doesn’t matter where you can buy it. I’m not star struck over a logo on a CD I’m too far into this game for that. I busted my ass to get the album done, and even skipped out on business with Renigade in Detroit to get home to meet their deadline. As it stands… I never saw one penny for mixing that album. But I’m proud of the work I put into it.

So far how many albums have you produced something for/mixed and mastered? And how many albums per month are you hired to do something for?

I’m losing count, but I have worked on projects and songs in many different areas for at least 50 artists including some unreleased material for Lo Key, Cryptic Wisdom, Playboy The Beast and several others. I’ve been booked solid since September, and that usually averages 2 albums per month, and some loose tracks here and there from different artists. I would say I do one big illustration project per month. That takes a significant amount of time, as most of my work is hand drawn / inked.

Which recording artists have had the most impact on your career?

In hip hop I would say Menacide. He had a shitload of underground cred. And he co-signed me 100%. He pulled me into his inner circle and I’ve stayed there. I’m Steve and he is Shawn. We’re real with our friendship. Only myself and McNastee have been able to do that with him. The 3 of us were 13% Records.

Menacide taught me the politics of hip hop. He taught me how to hustle. He taught me when to be silent, and when to strike. In Hip Hop, Menacide was my big brother. He retired from music, but I have adopted his sense of presence, and I continue to mentor artists the way he started off with me in our friendship.

Of course my writing partner in crime and friend of over 8 years, Luke Danelon has influenced me the most, in all areas. He is an incredible networker that has gone from nothing, to a powerful industry exec all on his own in a short period of time. And he’s an even better musician and song writer.

Any advice you can give to other producers just starting out in music?

Whether you are starting out, or you have been doing it forever… you need to start getting out of the way in your beats. Most beat makers don’t understand how a full song is mixed. Spatial-dynamics and EQ are sorely lacking in their mix and this causes all kind of problems for the vocalist. Beat makers are 50% to blame for bad quality, and vocalists are doing all kinds of insane shit to their vocals. Like panning them all over the place and adding too many layers. They are trying to cut through badly mixed beats.

I’m not saying you have to learn how to mix whole songs, but you need to track out your beats per instrument in stereo wav files, so that the mixing engineer can move things around and change levels if they need to. It’s arrogant to think you know how the whole track needs to sound just based off your beat.

And stop limiting your beats. Don’t master them. Give them a bit of breathing room. And offer wave files. NO MORE mp3’s. It’s not the best quality. Doesn’t matter if people can’t hear it. You offer it anyways. Otherwise, have fun in the dark ages.

Any advice to bands/rappers in regards to recording?

Rent studio time. LEGITIMATE studio time. If you don’t want to do that, then hit me up and I’ll tell you how to get a tight clean sound in your home studio. I’ll recommend you the best acoustic foam treatment and some sound blankets. At least get your vocals clean so that you can outsource the mixing. That’s what I do for a living. I mix your home studio sessions. Let’s make it the best it can be. Come see ME about it. Send me a message about it here http://www.facebook.com/CrosswormMusic

Who would you most like to work with right now?

It’s a dream of mine to produce the dirtiest dingiest and darkest record of Twiztid‘s career. I would love to make that happen. I’ve reached out before, and I’ll keep reaching out until I get to do at least an EP with them. I’m in Grand Rapids, MI. I’ll walk to Detroit if I have to. lol

What is the future of Crossworm ?

There is only right now. But RIGHT NOW, I am working on a new full length Crossworm record called “Feral Tribe”, a video or two for it, and I’m looking for labels to pick the album up. Here is the first single:

[youtube width=”560″ height=”344″]http://youtu.be/k5-M8pfPzh0[/youtube]

Interviewer: Chad Thomas Carsten

Interview Date: 01/14/14

Websites:

• Crossworm @ Facebook
• DirtCoreMusic.com