Jonny Craig


Jonathan Monroe Craig is an American-Canadian singer, widely recognised for his tenure as the former lead vocalist of renowned post-hardcore bands such as Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa, and then Slaves, as well as his role as co-lead vocalist in the short-lived supergroup Isles & Glaciers. Presently, he serves as the lead vocalist for the American post-hardcore band Old Flame. As a solo artist, Craig has released two studio albums, two EPs, and a live album, garnering acclaim for his distinctive soul-based singing style.

Early life

Jonathan Monroe Craig was born in Minot, North Dakota, but grew up mostly in Canada and moved back to the United States when he became an adult. In a further interview with the music blog Eat Yo Beats, Craig said "my mom made me listen to tons of shit when I was kid, everything from Michael Bolton to some weird ass Christian rock bands" and also that it was this that became his main influence, rather than gospel music. Craig cites some of his early idols as Boyz II Men and New Found Glory.
Craig was placed into his school's choir as a default elective but was ultimately kicked out. As a child, he says that he "had a hard time keeping out of trouble" and that "high school wasn't for him." He would explain later that that was the reason he left high school and attained his G.E.D, then focused on music full-time. "I just wanted an escape from a lot of the things when I was a child I guess. I just wanted to get away from a lot of the problems that I was dealing with at home and stuff", Craig states in an interview with KLSU radio as his reason for starting his path in music.

Career

Beginnings as a musician (2000–2007)

After moving to the United States from Abbotsford, British Columbia, and attending high school in Washington state, Craig auditioned for bands but ultimately was not accepted into one. Craig then formed the band westerHALTS in 2000, a garage band from Tacoma, Washington. At age 15, Craig released his first known song with them titled "Change, Leisure, and Retirement" in 2001. In an Alternative Press Podcast he stated that the band was "...just something to help pay for weed, something I played over the weekends." He then joined as the lead vocalist for Tacoma-based pop-punk band Ghost Runner on Third in 2002. Craig said that he met the guitarist of Ghost Runner on Third in high school. He received positive reviews with this band's debut EP, Speak Your Dreams, released on January 4, 2005. AllMusic stated that Craig was, "the band's secret weapon, a passionate vocalist. There's not a bad track to be found here, but Craig tends to outshine his bandmates throughout."
Early on in his career with Ghost Runner On Third it has been cited that overwhelming drug problems led to his departure, as told by Dance Gavin Dance in an old blog post concerning Craig after he was kicked out of the band. Though Craig has denied the statements made, Dance Gavin Dance has not backed off from those remarks, which they explain was the reason for all the band's problems and partly for his former band Ghost Runner on Third. Dance Gavin Dance has also partially blamed guitarist Sean O'Sullivan's departure on Craig's behavior, although there were other contributing factors. Despite their past differences, both past and present members of Dance Gavin Dance have since become friends. Consider the Thief, was also listed in Emarosa's Relativity album on the "special thanks" section of the info-booklet.

Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa (2007–2012)

Craig's singing in Dance Gavin Dance's debut EP Whatever I Say Is Royal Ocean and debut full-length album Downtown Battle Mountain received positive reviews from critics. Allmusic stated that "co-frontman Jonny Craig's regularly hysterical yelping may change your mind forever."
In March 2007, it was explained that Craig came up with the name Dance Gavin Dance and had planned to name his previous band, "Ghost Runner On Third", by that name. After being kicked out of Dance Gavin Dance after the "Saints and Sinners Festival" in New Jersey, Craig immediately filled in for A Skylit Drive's Lead Vocalist Jordan Blake while he was ill. The band said at shows, and on their website, that he was not the new lead singer and the situation would only be temporary. It had been only two weeks since he quit Dance Gavin Dance in which he joined Emarosa who was left without a lead singer.
On August 18, 2010, Dance Gavin Dance parted ways with vocalist Kurt Travis. Craig returned to the band to record a new album, along with original vocalist Jon Mess. The reunited lineup would also embark on a headlining run the following spring. Craig was to remain in Emarosa as well.
The rapper Game and DJ Skee sampled Craig's vocals on the song "Heels & Dresses" from their Break Lights mixtape album, which comes from the song "The Robot With Human Hair Pt. 1." Rapper Bizzy Bone also sampled Craig's vocals on the song "Bottled Up Like Smoke" from his Crossover EP and Crossroads album, using portions of "I Still Feel Her pt. III" from his debut solo album, "A Dream Is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer."
On April 11, 2011, Emarosa publicly announced Craig's departure from the group. According to a statement made by the band, "This decision has been a hard one to make, but we feel it is in the best interest for the band going forward." "Jonny Craig" was the top trending topic on Twitter the day of the announcement.
On August 13, 2012, Craig was "kicked out" of Dance Gavin Dance once again after being "publicly scolded by the owner of Sumerian Records for multiple offenses". The news surfaced after Jonny released a statement on his personal Twitter.

Isles & Glaciers (2008–2010)

In early September 2008, Chiodos and Cinematic Sunrise vocalist Craig Owens, announced that both he and Jonny Craig would be recording an EP record by the end of the year, also mentioning Vic Fuentes and others.
On December 15, 2008, Alternative Press officially announced and revealed the name and lineup of this new project, Isles & Glaciers. The band's first EP, The Hearts of Lonely People, was produced by Casey Bates in Seattle, Washington, was reworked in April 2009 in Michigan and was released March 9, 2010.
A tweet reading in part "...and people wonder why we won't do another I & G record." was posted by Craig Owens in 2011, as the MacBook scandal was breaking.

Solo work (2009–present)

Craig released his debut solo album A Dream Is a Question You Don't Know How to Answer on August 18, 2009, through Rise Records. This is the first individual artist on the label. For promotional purposes he took press photos for the release in late 2009 with photographer Gage Young in Orlando, Florida. He further released three songs on his Myspace profile from the solo album, titled; "Istillfeelher III", "Children of Divorce" and "7 AM, 2 Bottles And The Wrong Road". Craig went on his first solo tour from November through December, supporting acts AFI, Cinematic Sunrise, and then headlining with support from Tides of Man and Sleeping With Sirens. He was headlining a tour with support from Tides of Man and Eye Alaska and will be playing The Bamboozle festival and SXSW.
Craig headlined the "White Boys With Soul" tour with Fight Fair, Breathe Electric, Mod Sun, and The Divine. Craig has also recently revealed that he is recording another solo album. In an interview at Warped Tour with MindEqualsBlown.net, Craig revealed he's attempting to work with Alex Deleon of The Cab on a B-side from his solo album. Craig announced on January 16, 2011, that he would be taking an indefinite hiatus to "pursue the filming of his documentary", stating that all his currently planned records and tours would be canceled. He later added that he would play out the tours with Dance Gavin Dance and Emarosa. On January 21, 2011, Craig announced that he would not actually be taking this hiatus, stating: "hate me all you want people I love what i do and im great at it. IM NEVER GONNA STOP. " He later stated that he was going to quit because he had been touring and recording "NON STOP" for seven years, and stated "Now i know there's nothing out in the world for me".
Craig was featured in Alternative Press's issue #288 that was released June 5, 2012.
In November 2012, Craig's personal e-mail was hacked. The hack resulted in some leaked demos circulating on the internet; Craig stated the leaked material would not be on his upcoming solo EP. From Craig's personal Twitter page: "don't trip the songs that leaked are not what my album is going to sound like. that was me just fucking around with some stuff."
Craig set up an account on Indiegogo where fans donated money to produce his upcoming EP. He also confirmed in a recent interview that he had bought out his contract with Rise Records. He released his solo EP, Find What You Love and Let It Kill You, on September 24, 2013, as an independent release.
On November 26, 2013, Craig released the special edition of Find What You Love And Let It Kill You. The special edition included a new song, featuring two top backers from his earlier Indiegogo campaign. On the same day, he released the song "Dirty Christmas".
In September 2021, Craig released his second and most recent solo album, "The Places We'll Never Be".

Slaves (2014–2019)

Artery Recordings have announced the signing of Craig's new band, Slaves, which also features members Alex Lyman and Christopher Kim with Tai Wright. The band have released their debut album in the summer of 2014 via Artery. They've released a short video trailer, which features clips of the new music. The band's debut album entitled Through Art We Are All Equals, was released June 24, 2014, via Artery Recordings. The album features guest vocals from Kyle Lucas, Tyler Carter of Issues and Vic Fuentes of Pierce The Veil. Its lead single "The Fire Down Below" premiered April 22, 2014.
In early 2015, Craig released the albums The Blueprint For Going In Circles, in collaboration with singer-songwriter Kyle Lucas, and The Le Cube Sessions, respectively.
In 2017, Slaves released a new single entitled "I'd Rather See Your Star Explode" along with an accompanying music video. The group's third studio album, Beautiful Death was released on February 16, 2018. An acoustic EP called "Revision" was released on January 18, 2019.
The following Thursday, January 24, 2019, in a message posted on the band's official Twitter account, Slaves announced that they had removed Craig from the band.
During his solo tours in the US and UK in 2022, Craig announced that Slaves would reform consisting of a new line up and future music releases.