After a full summer, culminating in a sold-out label party in New York City, ‘Daddy Dirty Bird,’ a.k.a. Claude VonStroke, isn’t letting up. With his label seeing the success it at long-last deserves, the Dirty Bird label head, born Barclay Crenshaw, is gearing up to go straight into the fall concert season with his own signature tour centered around his Claude VonStroke project.
Vibe Magazine caught up with Crenshaw earlier this summer to talk details about his Urban Animals Tour (which kicks off on October 4th), as well as his evolving sound and where he plans to take his music. Although much of his following is embedded in the success of Dirtybird, Crenshaw is making moves to bring his own personal sound to new levels.
“I love house music. It’s the best. I live it, I breathe it everyday … but there is life beyond house music.”
As for his new tour, which kicks off this fall in his home base of San Francisco, VonStroke says, “it’s gonna be more of an album based experience … We’re gonna have some visuals, and it’s just me and Jessica [J. Phlip]. And we’re gonna get tight, it’s gonna be more of a show.”
Most recently, the DJ-producer has enjoyed a residency in Sankey’s Ibiza all summer where he’s honed his philosophy of curating music while pushing the best beats to the savviest of crowds. “The summer is really kind of special. It may never happen again,” adding about his upcoming album which releases mid-September, “This is way more of a Claude VonStroke project.”
Fans in the past who have come out to see a ‘Dirtybird’ performance may be surprised by a rare form of Claude VonStroke for the Urban Animals tour. Crenshaw emphasized that this tour will exhibit a moment of establishing himself apart from the Dirtybird family.
In addition to setting up a tour that will showcase a more performative experience, Crenshaw has decided to take a different approach with his promotion as well.
“In terms of the promotion aspect of it, it is different than any other project I did before. Before we would try to be number 1 on Beatport. This time, we don’t give a shit about that. We want to get a ton of emails, play shows … and expand the fanbase.”
Many artists will approach an album launch with promotions heavily centered around the tracks, which can buy them a few weeks of exposure max, whereas a tour lasts considerably longer. Crenshaw wants to put the focus of his efforts into the fall tour, playing out the longevity of his album release.
There have been 18 shows announced so far, with more on the way. Find tickets at wantickets.com.
10/4/2013 San Francisco CA The Regency Ballroom
10/5/2013 Los Angeles CA Exchange
10/12/2013 Boston MA The Sinclair
10/13/2013 Burlington VT Club Metronome
10/17/2013 Miami FL Grand Central
10/18/2013 Toronto ON The Hoxton
10/19/2013 Montreal QC SAT
10/24/2013 Austin TX Kingdom
10/25/2013 Asheville NC Mountain Oasis **
10/30/2013 Phoenix AZ Monarch Theater
10/31/2013 Royal Oak MI Royal Oak Music Theater
11/1/2013 Buffalo NY Rendezvous
11/7/2013 Eugene OR WOW Hall
11/8/2013 Portland OR Branx
11/9/2013 Denver CO City Hall
11/13/2013 Washington DC U Street Music Hall
11/14/2013 Tampa FL The Kennedy
11/15/2013 Philadelphia PA Union Transfer
** date without J.Phlip