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Josh Yelle

Dungeon Crawler

San Antonio’s monolithic ambient-doom project Crawl lurks in the shadows

BY ENRIQUE BONILLA

Iwant to create an immersive experience and instill an image in people when they’re digesting the band,” said Michael Engle, the San Antonio solo artist known as Crawl.

“Crawl is basically my a empt to put you in a space like a dungeon, where you’re slowly exploring the environment. Every step is very cautious, and every corner has a ton of anxiety. You’re afraid to take that next step or afraid to open a door.”

The necrotic world of Crawl begins where Diablo II, the dungeon-crawling video game released in 2000, leaves off. Engle says the atmosphere of the dungeon-crawling game captures the essence of what he’s trying to do with the musical project.

He actualizes that vision by using drums, bass, sample pads and vocals to lull the listener into a trance. Hints of funeral doom, black metal noise and dark ambient bubble up from the genre-defying music, sometimes comparable to cavernous-sounding ambient metal act Lurker of Chalice or sludgy Japanese doom metal band Corrupted.

The dark sound that Crawl creates isn’t exactly mainstream listening, but it challenges willing audiences to gaze into the void.

Bone, sludge and harmony

Witnessing Crawl in a live se ing truly showcases the dark and tortured atmosphere the artist strives to create.

Actual human bones — ulnas, radii, humeri and mandibles — line Engle’s drum kit. His face is obscured by a “vocal mask” composed of small bones, elastic material and a microphone. A bovine vertebrate hangs adjacent to a two-string bass overhead which he plays with a drumstick — all while maintaining the pummeling beats the drive the proceedings.

The experience is jarring to the senses. And entirely in keeping with the musician’s aim to create a complete aesthetic package.

“For a while I was ge ing the bones from a private seller, but then they ended up going to prison for selling illegal human remains overseas,” Engle said, recounting stories of his gradual thematic masking and ever-growing collection of remains.

The musical project’s Diablo II inspiration came about while Engle was working at a cyber cafe in the early 2000s. The game, combined with his love for cavernous synth sounds, helped incubate the project. But, he acknowledges, it also stemmed from a necessity to play heavy music.

“In 2010, I had a two-piece band that broke up,” he said. “It was pre y frustrating, because I was wanting to book tours and play shows. And I couldn’t find anyone to commit, so I said, ‘Fuck it, I’m just going to replace the guitarist.’ It was completely out of necessity to play the music I wanted to play.”

Since that time, Crawl has put out eight releases, including a split with solo black metal legend Leviathan. Engle has also undertaken numerous tours across the United States and Canada and landed slots at notable heavy music festivals including Eternal Warfare, 71Grind and Psycho Las Vegas.

Lonesome road

Along the way, Engle has performed not just as Crawl but also as a session drummer for New Yorkbased noise rockers Uniform for a 2019 U.S. tour with Japanese avant-metal act Boris and a short run with British doom metal band Conan.

Coupled with his own touring, those jaunts make him one of San Antonio’s best-traveled underground rock musicians.

While being a one-man act might suggest that Engle faces an easy load-in at venues, that’s not the case. Crawl is powered by four refrigerator-sized speaker cabinets that help drive the pummeling sound.

“I don’t feel like it’s that much. It’s only two full stacks, which is kind of normal for a band,” he explains. “It only looks weird because it’s one person and it’s all right behind me. It’s definitely a bit of an illusion there.”

Illusion or not, it’s highly advised to bring hearing protection to a Crawl performance, although it is not clear when the artist plans to perform again. He’s taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to determining whether the worst of the pandemic is really behind us.

“I am waiting until after this summer’s batch of festivals before I decide on what I want to do as far as live performances,” he said.

Engle recently posted photos of himself in the recording studio on his social media feeds, but he’s reluctant to say whether that means a new release is in the works. “Being a heavy band in San Antonio is one of the many reasons I do this by myself,” he said. “There’s not a lot of people in San Antonio that play heavy music, and there’s even less people that want to do it with noise involved.”

Artist in Residence

New documentary Juanito’s Lab chronicles the growth and struggles of a San Antonio musical prodigy

BY SANFORD NOWLIN

It’s a wave; that’s the way my music comes when we play,” San Antonio musician Juanito Castillo says at the opening of Juanito’s Lab, a new fi lm documenting 15 years of his life. “It’s a wave when we jam. It hits you, and it keeps hi ing you.”

As viewers watch the nearly two-hour documentary unfold, they’re likely to experience a similar feeling. Blind nearly from birth, the 32-year-old Castillo got his start as a conjunto child prodigy, but the fi lm chronicles his eff ort to chart a new musical course — a quest that’s at once restless, invigorating and unrelenting.

A labor of love for married fi lmmakers Guillermina Zabala and Enrique Lopetegui — the la er of whom once worked as the Current’s fi lm and music editor — Juanito’s Lab will make its debut next month at San Antonio’s Guadalupe Film Festival. (See the Calendar section for more details.)

Castillo was born prematurely, his retinas burned after he was placed in an incubator. Despite that disability, his parents demanded his independence and encouraged him to pursue his early gift with music.

After singing in front of crowds at Market Square while in elementary school, Castillo went on to master more than a dozen instruments, including the accordion, guitar, bass, bajo sexto and drums. The fi lm’s titular lab is a casita behind the Castillo family home where the musician continuously toiled to unlock the next stages in his artistic evolution.

Early in the fi lm, it becomes clear that Castillo struggles with societal expectations. His aspirations and abilities extend to jazz and other music, so he feels constrained as others urge him to stick with Tejano and conjunto. In a telling moment, a teenaged Castillo vents to the camera about the matching “cowboy clothes” he’s forced to wear onstage.

As a young adult, Castillo also bristles against expectations that he carry on the legacy of the late Esteban Jordan, the revered accordion pioneer who mentored him along the way. Castillo spent two years playing drums for Jordan, who was also severely visually impaired.

Even a later opportunity for Castillo to cut an album with Grammy-winning bajo sexto player Max Baca doesn’t quite off er the musical freedom the young musician is after. He confi des to Lopetegui on camera that the still-unreleased project feels too much like Baca’s baby.

Because Juanito’s Lab follows a subject still spreading his artistic wings, its narrative arc deviates from that of the standard long-form music documentary. More often, fi lmmakers turn their cameras on musicians who have already formed their sound and achieved some degree of success.

The less-charted path taken by the makers of Juanito’s Lab may prove frustrating for viewers looking for a tidy story about an artist’s climb to success. Without inserting spoilers, the fi lm’s climax and conclusion suggest that one of Castillo’s biggest wins so far in life may, in fact, lie outside of music.

Even so, the directors’ organic approach brings a sense of authenticity to the project. Castillo’s creative restlessness is on full display, and in the end, the viewer is unsure whether he’ll ever be fully satisfi ed.

Juanito’s Lab works best when it lets the music speak for itself — as in a dumbfounding clip from an outdoor performance in which Castillo unleashes a freewheeling jazz improvisation on a bajo sexto, scat-singing along with his own spontaneous creation.

In perhaps the documentary’s most powerful moment, Castillo gets the opportunity to travel to LA to jam with prolifi c Argentine producer and composer Gustavo Santaolalla. If that name sounds familiar, it’s likely because Santaolalla won back-to-back Grammy Awards for his scores to Brokeback Mountain and Babel.

The viewer is set up for low expectations when one of Santaolalla’s associates warns the fi lmmakers that if the maestro isn’t feeling the session, they’ll know within fi ve minutes. Instead, joy lights up Santaolalla’s face as he and the young accordionist trade licks. Their jam session stretched on for four hours, according to the fi lmmakers.

For longtime San Antonio music fans, the documentary is likely to inspire fi ts of nostalgia. The footage includes multiple clips from Saluté International Bar, the long-gone St. Mary’s Strip venue that played host to Jordan and other Tejano greats. Saluté’s former owner, Azeneth Dominguez, even weighs in on Castillo’s artistry.

In the end, the documentary is a fascinating portrayal of a questing artist and a largely undiscovered musical genius. There’s no guarantee Castillo will fully realize what he hears inside his head, or that he’ll fi nally be recognized for his brilliance.

But, with any luck, Juanito’s Lab could help with the la er.

Yulelé Media LLC

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Free Music

New release collects the works of one-of-a-kind San Antonio composer ‘Blue’ Gene Tyranny

BY BILL BAIRD

San Antonio native “Blue” Gene Tyranny, a 20th century musical genius, died in December 2020, leaving behind a legacy of work alongside artists including the Stooges, Carla Bley and, most signifi cantly, Robert Ashley, with whom he created the monumental TV opera Perfect Lives.

For many, though, his fi nest solo work was his 1977 album Out of the Blue, which assimilated pop, prog, jazz, spoken word, gospel and electronica into a delicious post-modern masterpiece.

Tyranny’s music spanned decades, though, and it’s fi nally been properly collected in the recently released Degrees of Freedom Found, a six-disc box set available from Unseen Worlds Records. The collection covers material from 1963 through 2019 and gives equal emphasis to the musician’s virtuosic live performances as to his imaginative and brilliant recordings.

It’s clear from Degrees’ fi rst few seconds — and all the way through its diverse and profoundly accomplished 46 tracks — that Tyranny has absolute faith in the music and a willingness to let silence hang, to not noisily clu er up spaces. “Music is the space between the notes,” composer Claude Debussy once said — a sentiment later echoed by Miles Davis.

The collection makes it clear that Tyranny’s is a selfl ess music, overfl owing with generosity, heart and an infectious joy. He found the titular “freedom” in its creation and trusts the listener to do the same, and with an absolute faith in the compositions themselves.

The work is a complete surrender. The listener can come or go. Tyranny creates a suspended world, an “imaginary landscape” in the words of John Cage. All Tyranny asks of the listener is the same complete surrender that he himself has given as performer.

Fortunately, as these compositions reveal, it’s a joyous surrender — an embrace of life.

Degrees’ tracks spread over Tyranny’s entire career, from an early concert at the McNay Art Museum to recent live performances at New York City art space Roule e. Each composition is a dot in a pointillistic self-portrait. His compositional and keyboard technique exude sublimated knowledge — a lifetime of experience and training, eff ortlessly distilled into moments of musical freedom.

Certain pieces in the collection fi rst appear in a stripped-down form, only to reappear later in more fully fl eshedout versions. This approach gives the release a feeling of closure and familiarity after just one listen. Of particular note is “The Driver’s Son,” an ambitious song cycle and one of Tyranny’s great works. It fi rst appears as a live, stripped-down piano improvisation, only to later emerge as a full band performance. Both are impressive in their unforced harmonic ambition.

Elsewhere, the piece “Spirit” fl oats dissonances in and out of chords, a masterful blend of natural and artifi cial harmonics. The “Dreamtime” trilogy, meanwhile, delves into synthesizers and drone. “Driving Music” is an electronic masterpiece. “Daylight Savings” is American music at its best. Think Randy Newman reimagined as a new-age guru.

Taken together, the experience is beyond moving. It’s a full encapsulation of an extraordinary life.

There may be other piano virtuosos, other spiritually minded composers, other students of the avant garde, but there will never be another “Blue” Gene Tyranny.

Unseen Worlds

music listings

Thursday, July 1

Steve Earle

The hardcore troubadour and Townes Van Zandt acolyte will bring his extensive catalog to the New Braunfels stage. Earle, who grew up in Schertz, has led a troubled life in the tradition of old school “outlaw” country, including drugs, an armed stando with police and a prison stint. The singer-songwriter’s music includes not just elements of country, but also ’70s rock and bluegrass. He even had a brush with mainstream notoriety via his post9/11 ditty “John Walker’s Blues.” $49.50, 7 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, New Braunfels, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall. com. — Mike McMahan

Jackopierce

This long-running folk-slash-alt-rock duo began performing together in the late ’80s at Dallas’s Southern Methodist University before adding a rhythm section. Since then, they’ve shared the stage with luminaries including the Wallfl owers, the Dave Matthews Band and Alanis Morissette. Jackopierce took a fi ve-year break in the late ’90s before reforming in the early aughts. $30-$250, 7 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — MM

at its self-described “Festival of Freedom” gig is of the Willie Nelson variety. And you’d be correct. You also might guess that this SA-area act has a sense of humor. After all, its Facebook bio sets the bar pretty damn low: “We have songs.” Smoke and jokes aside, the band takes a kitchen sink approach to its sound, throwing in elements of funk, rock, country and more in a way that evokes early Faith No More. $12, 8 p.m., River Road Ice House, 1791 Hueco Springs Loop Road, New Braunfels, (830) 626-1335, riverroadicehouse.com. — MM

Snoop Dogg vs. DJ Snoopadelic

Are the kids still saying “fo shizzle?” Maybe you can fi nd out when the man himself, hiphop legend Snoop Dogg, comes to Alamo Town for a pre-Independence Day shindig. Expect the hits, of course, but also listen for some cuts from his latest LP From Tha Streets 2 Tha Suites! Snoop has spent years of his career pushing himself in new directions, as exemplifi ed by his alter ego, DJ Snoopadelic, who is hangin’ on the current outing. In other words: expect the unexpected. After all, when Snoop hit the scene in the early ’90s, no one expected he’d end up on TV with Martha Stewart. $55, 6 p.m., Sunken Garden Theater, 3875 N. St. Mary’s St., (210) 735-0663, tobincenter.org. — MM

Friday, July 2 Saturday, July 3

Ammo for My Arsenal, Scream at the Sky, Let Her Burn + More

Metal, metal, and, um, more metal makes up this stacked bill. San Antonio favorites Ammo for My Arsenal may be just the bone-snapping heaviness that Star Wars fans have been waiting for — if the song “Execute Order 66” is any indication. Scream at the Sky, hailing from Houston, brings an industrial fl avor to its brand of ear punch. $10, 8 p.m., Bonds 007 Rock Bar, 450 Soledad St., (210) 225-0007, bonds007rockbar. com. — MM

Whiskey Myers

With a name invoking Southern and country rock, Whiskey Myers unsurprisingly cites Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams Jr. as key infl uences. Hailing from Palestine, Texas, the band released its self-titled, fi fth album in 2019. It fi rst cracked the Billboard Country Music chart in 2011 and subsequently appeared on several episodes of Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner. $25-$500, 8 p.m., John T. Floore’s Country Store, 14492 Old Bandera Road, (210) 695-8827, liveatfl oores. com. — MM

Skunkweed

Given the name of this band, you might guess that the “freedom” being celebrated

Money Man + Maxo Cream

After hitting the scene with the Black Circle mixtape trilogy, Money Man became a liated with Cash Money Records and Republic Records, where he continued to drop mixtapes that hit the Billboard charts. Most recently, he dropped State of Emergency, a release so topical that it referenced the pandemic despite its March 2020 street date. Maxo Cream, a man with a moniker that seems tailor made for pop-art merch, was born in Houston. His debut Brandon Banks hit in 2019. $49-$84, 7 p.m., Aztec Theatre, 104 N. St. Mary’s, theaztectheatre. com. — MM

Parker McCollum

Born and raised in Conroe, singer-songwriter McCollum has his feet fi rmly planted in the Third Coast country scene, citing infl uences from Pat Green and Steve Earle to Bob Dylan. McCollum has been involved in music for much of his life, including stints in school orchestras as a kid and indie-rock bands as a teen. He released his debut album The Limestone Kid in 2015. While the show is sold out, the venue says it may release additional tickets prior to the concert. Sold Out, 8 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM 306, New Braunfels, (830) 964-3800, fl oattheguadalupe.com. — MM

Sunday, July 4

I Love Freestyle

This package tour featuring acts such as Trinere, Jonny Z and Jocelyn Enriquez will celebrate both freedom and grooving ’80s tunes. Reminisce about the days of freestyle music, along with all the devastating high school break ups, lost relationships and eternal promises of young love you experienced back in the day. $50-$150, 7 p.m., Cowboys Dancehall, 3030 NE Loop 410, (210) 6469378, cowboysdancehall.com. — Brianna

Espinoza Thursday, July 8

Squeezebox Bandits

At the name suggests, an actual squeezebox is front and center with this Forth Worth band that merges Tejano and country music together — a combination that makes it hard to imagine them being from anywhere but Texas. The quartet not only plays original music but also covers Texas Tornados favorites, which could get a di erent twist during this acoustic show. $10-$75, 8:30 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — BE

Friday, July 9

Jaime Monzon

it and ’90s mustaches are your style, you might fi t in at a Tracy Lawrence concert. Beyond a chance to admire his facial hair, you’ll get to hear him play smash hits like “Sticks and Stones,” “Alibis” and “Time Marches On.” $25-$30, 8 p.m., The Roundup Outdoor Music Venue, 531 FM 3351, Boerne, (830) 428-3231, therounduptx.com. — BE

Saturday, July 10

The Delta Bombers

Las Vegas is known for all the nitty gritty that The Delta Bombers captures in its desert rockabilly sound, which also throws in hints of Americana. The band’s guitar melodies waver like heat waves rising o a hot desert highway. $13-$15, 8 p.m., The Rock Box, 223 E Houston St., (210) 677-9453, therockboxsa. com. — BE

Pat Green

If you thought you heard the last of the ubiquitous Texas country tune "Wave on Wave," think again. Its creator, Pat Green, is returning to the greater New Braunfels area for the second time in a month. This time, however, with an upgrade to a more spacious venue. $78, 8 p.m., Whitewater Amphitheater, 11860 FM306 Suite 1, New Braunfels, (830) 9643800, whitewaterrocks.com. — BE

Gary P. Nunn

Known both for the theme song for the Austin City Limits television program and a fi ve-decade career as a C&W troubadour, Nunn has defi nitely carved out a place in the Texas’ music scene. Country artists of all sorts revere Nunn for his contributions to the genre. $20, 8 p.m., Gruene Hall, 1281 Gruene Road, (830) 606-1281, gruenehall.com. — BE

Tracy Lawrence

If modern day country music doesn't cut

Sunday, July 11

Ruben V

Mix together bluesy licks, a little Latin fl air and a touch of modern rock and you’ve got San Antonio’s Ruben V. The hardworking guitar hero has released more than 20 solo and group albums and hasn’t stopped touring since he was 15 years old. $15-$65, 8 p.m., Sam’s Burger Joint, 330 E. Grayson St., (210) 223-2830, samsburgerjoint.com. — BE

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EMPLOYMENT

UC Smiles Orthodontics seeks a Business Development Specialist to work in Universal City, Texas to develop and grow the business by identifying and attracting new dental patients. Bachelor’s degree and experience required. Send resumes to drbebe@ucsmilesortho.com.

Stress Engineers, San Antonio, TX: Perform structural analysis for new aircraft development programs. Perform detail analysis of individual detail parts, assemblies & installations based on known loading conditions. Develop & run fi nite element models using Nastran, Femap, and/or Patran software. Create structural analysis reports to support aircraft certifi cation for the FAA. Send res to: MT, LC DBA SyberJet Aircraft 526 N Aviation Way Cedar City, UT 84721.

QUALITY MUFFLERS INCORPORATED d/b/a Quality Metals. San Antonio, TX. MARKETING AND PRODUCT ADVERTISING DESIGNER. Design media for metal roof panels company; design print brochures and manuals; create concepts and sample layouts based on knowledge of company's products; confer with management regarding product specifi cations to properly illustrate products in media; apply marketing and advertising skills to integrate technical specifi cations to brochures and manuals; prepare installation manuals. Min. Req: Associate's in Advertising Design and 24 months experience. Must have knowledge in metal roof panels; and ability to use Photoshop; HTML Illustrator; and AutoCad. Mail resume to: 2707 Castroville Road, San Antonio, TX 78237

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