Mark your calendars—Saturday, July 12th is when Headnod Entertainment and Crawdad Sniper unleash their BALTIMORE CRAWBOIL. This one-day street festival event will be a sweaty, sonic swarm of swampy bass featuring the DMV’s own: Crawdad Sniper! This event spotlights some beautiful event support, from Ooga, Des McMahon, Bandito Jones, and a hype B2B from Baltimore locals, Antgn and Dnny Phntm. This all-day banger at Checkerspot Brewing Company is about to crack both shells and speakers alike!
The best part? The music doesn’t end there. Headnod and Crawdad have prepared an exquisite after-party meal when the sun goes down that is nothing short of spectacular. The After-Dark event features a DMV Two Guys premiere (Crawdad Sniper & Chez), as well as a NEVER BEFORE SEEN B2B with Thought Process and Pretty Lights band member, Chris Karns! After-Dark will have a superb support lineup with legends like Two Swords, Neumonic, and local prodigies Ramblur and Dhananjaya. They plan to heat up the after-dark event, curating the energy from start to finish.
What Makes This More Than a Boil?
The Headnod and Crawdad Sniper BALTIMORE CRAWBOIL isn’t just a show, it’s a local statement to the power of the greater DC area’s electronic scene. Headnod and the rest of the DMV are proving there is a locally born bass language. With an event that blends community, creativity, and music, it aims to have everything: from food trucks to an espresso bar and a dunk tank!
Meet the Main Baltimore Crawboil Course: Crawdad Sniper
Photo Credit: Highdeas Productions
Maybe you’ve had the pleasure of seeing his opening sets for Tipper and Friends events. Perhaps you’ve heard the rumblings of his glory at Secret Dreams Festival. Either way, Crawdad Sniper’s style is unbound, and takes homage from an eclectic range of musical styles. Crawdad Sniper has made a name for himself since bringing his musical inclinations to the bass scene in 2021.
We now have the pleasure of sitting down with the Craw King himself to get a sneak peek into his brain. Let’s jump right into it, shall we?
Emily L, Electric Hawk: Alright Zac let’s talk origins & identity. Starting at the pond: Where did Crawdad Sniper come from—musically and name-wise?
Crawdad Sniper: Well, the name is my gamertag! A while back, it was a running bit between me and my friends of just “animal + weapon”—which is where “walrus shotgun” came from as well. Musically, I was just looking for a name that didn’t immediately cringe me out. Crawdad was something I was already rocking with for years and it just seemed to fit. I think it fits nicely in the absurdity aspects I love about bass music as well.
Photo Credit: KDub the Photographer
Emily: That’s so unique and I love the running comical sentiment behind it! So, as the Crawdad project grew, what were the first sounds or artists that made you realize, “Yep, I’m built for bass”.
Crawdad Sniper: I was a heavy dubstep kid for a while before I got into experimental bass. I went to Lost Lands for four years in a row and always had a great time. For a while when I first discovered electronic music, I really only like it live because I liked the energy. The first few artists that really spoke to me enough to make me listen outside of the club environment were people like Dirt Monkey, Boogie T, and of course, Tipper.
Emily: I relate to that! Who was your earliest co-conspirator in music?
Crawdad Sniper: Yeah! My friend Jared, aka Cope Aesthetic is actually the reason I have Ableton! We were in bands together for years in high school and he was always messing around on it.
One day I fixed a guitar he left lying around at my house because it was too nice to be collecting dust. In return, he gifted me half of his license to Ableton live 8 suite. To this day, we still share a license, [laughs]! That was probably my first “heady trade”, so to speak.
Emily: True brotherly love there. Speaking of your music production, how long have you been making music (both pre and post crawdad)?
Crawdad Sniper: I’ve been a drummer since I was 9 years old, in bands since 12, and writing music in Ableton since 15. I wrote music in Ableton before I even knew what dubstep or bass music was! One of my biggest inspirations for producing when I got Ableton at the time was when I found out ‘Gorillaz’ was only one dude.
I had spent so much time buying musical equipment, organizing friends to come over and jam, and hoping that they cared as much as I did, then I found out I could just do all of that myself in my bedroom on Ableton. It really changed everything for me musically. From there, I feel like I really started taking Ableton and bass music production seriously in 2020 when I got my first pair of studio monitors!
Crawdad Sniper is truly on a fast track trajectory from local legend to regional force. This upcoming all-day CRAWBOIL festival is the kind of moment that ignites scenes. Whether you roll in for the bass, the community, or the culinary chaos, this is where you should hang with your crew on July 12th! Rain or shine, swamp or street. See you there!
Stay plugged into Headnod Entertainment and Electric Hawk for more behind-the-scenes coverage on the Crawdad Sniper Baltimore Crawboil! Get your tickets HERE and get ready to get boiled!
Keep Up with Crawdad Sniper
Spotify | Soundcloud | Instagram
Stay in touch with Electric Hawk & all our coverage
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Twitch | Radio Show
Looking for new music? Keep up with our weekly Spotify Playlist, Fresh Hunts. Updated every Friday with all the latest releases. Whether it’s the newest drops from Crawdad Sniper, all your favorite artists, some old-school, or underground… we want you to hear it.