Born and raised on steady diet of classical music and classic horror flicks, Craig Rosenthal is a mostly self-taught, or should we say rebelious keyboard player, who has spent a fair amount of his life writing and performing. Free of the chains of performing somebody else’s music he’s now fully dedicated to his own solo musical outlet CMR. It’s his means to channel his own emotions into music that is meant to make people feel, experience and truly listen. Enjoy this inspiring interview with the man himself!

Hello! Tell the world about yourself. How did you grow up to become the musician you are today?

Hello аnd thank you and the Drooble community for taking the time to present me and my odd projects. I have been playing the keyboards for about 25 years now. I started as a pianist when I was a teenager, but might have been one of the worst students at the time. So I am mostly self taught with some mild classical influences. As a child, I was very lucky to have a mother with a background in the fine arts as her father worked both as a musician and acting booker out in California. From my birth I was raised to appreciate going to the symphony, opera and ballet. My mother also shared her love for horror films. I’m talking classics such as ‘The Haunting’. I became an odd concoction from my love of those genres.

Not only do I take a huge influence from Tchaikovsky and Mozart, but also from modern cinematic song-writers such as Frizzi and Simonetti. My influences, however, reach further into the darker arts as well. I have always had a love for extreme arts, probably from my fascination with horror and shock. So, I also take huge influence from bands such as Bathory, Negura Bunget and Skinny Puppy. My music tends to be a smorgasbord of many elements which I love and grew up with.

Introduce your current musical projects. What makes each one special for you?

Well, at this time in my life I mainly stay in the studio to record and release material using my initials CMR. But over the last 20 years I have been a part of quite a few projects. In the late 1990s, I played in a band called Pcyst. It started as a freeform industrial band with numerous members coming in and out of the fray. That project spawned into an ambient, extreme metal project by the late 2000s and officially dissolved by 2011. In the late 2000s, as well, I played keyboards and performed backing vocals for a progressive rock/metal band called Midnight Sunrise. We played numerous shows on the East Coast, but during the official recording of what would have been our first studio album, the band fell apart and we all separated.

Then I jumped around from projects before I finally decided to build my own studio and record as a solo artist. My current project, CMR, is my most personal and professional alias. What makes it special to me is that I have allowed myself a complete free range of genres and allowed my own emotions to pour freely into the music. I have always been restrained by others writing and have not been allowed to pour myself into my own work. This project gives me the freedom I’ve always need.

You have been playing music for a long while! How do you find the drive and inspiration to keep going all this time?

I can tell you it isn’t always easy! Whenever a project ends, I always feel exhausted by the experience. Both mentally and physically. I keep going forward by giving myself time to relax. It takes me about a year, sometimes longer to release an album. And that is because of the amount of detail I try to bring to my music. The inspirations always come as life is presented to me. My next album is a reflection of what my life has been over the course of two years. Life is an inspiration.

How is your local music scene in your perspective? Do you feel like you belong there?

My local music scene used to be really amazing. And as far as I know, it still is. I have not been involved in it for a few years now. Not that I don’t show support. It is just that it is hard to find musicians in my area that share the same interests when it comes to writing music. Many people think, because I play metal, that I only listen to metal. And as such, an expectation comes that I am not always able to live up to. I like all music. As far as feeling like I belong, that’s a hard one. I feel like I do, though. I love hearing new musicians and I still actively support the bands I played with that are still playing to this day.

What is your all-time favorite record and how did it change you as an artist?

That is a very difficult question! But after thinking about it, I would have to say the album that has shaped me the most as a musician is Bathory’s 1990 album “Hammerheart”. Within this incredible album is some of the most honest writing I have ever heard from a musician. Its concepts of vikings and Valhalla, its simple yet epic song structures, its underlying operatic vocal work and the lead vocals. This is an album that still gives me goosebumps to this day. It’s deeply impactful and full of emotion. I can’t imagine being an artist without this album in my life.

What are your favorite software and hardware tools for music production?

This is a good question! But to be honest, I like to look at music, or maybe at least at my own music, as being deeper than just hardware. I don’t like to give too many details about how I mix and record my music as I believe that’s where some of the magic is and when you reveal how it was created some of it gets lost. However, I will say that I have been a long time user of Roland products. Such as keyboards and drum machines.

What is your songwriting process like?

Exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time! Writing and recording music for me is an intense and involving process. It usually starts with a thought. A melody that plays in my head. I interpret that onto my keyboard and start from there. I build a structure around that basic melody and then record. I listen back and then record again. Writing a single song could take upwards of a year as I really like to perfect just about every aspect of the material. Sometimes I will go for a few weeks before I am ready to re-record as I am just listening back to the earlier recording over and over again, making mental notes as to what to do next. It is a chaotic process, but it works for me and where I am now in my life.

Out of all the live shows you played, which one was the most memorable, and why?

When I played in Midnight Sunrise, we played a show at a great venue in Springfield, VA formally known as Jaxx. We were almost always the opening act wherever we played, and as such, our own turn out was never as good as the main act. But when we played at Jaxx, the turn out for us, before the main act, was better then the one during the main act. Most people left before the main act came on. I guess we were a hard one to follow. People loved us that night and we never sounded better live. That was probably one of my more fond memories of playing a live show.

What is your biggest musical goal?

Very simple. I want people to feel. When it comes to my art I don’t care about making money. Which is why I tend to release my work for free. I want everyone to feel the deep emotions that lead me to writing that material. That is not an easy feat, but that is my goal – feeling.

How has being on Drooble helped you as a musician?

I can say that this website features and showcases some real musicianship. Artists from all over the world will take the time to listen to your work. Many websites claim to be friendly for musicians, but I have found that is not the case. When I am giving away my music for free, I don’t want to have to pay an arm and a leg to get my name out there. On Drooble all one has to do is be a real part of the community and the people will listen. The Karma points are a huge bonus because as long as you are active you will always be able to promote your music without the need to spend actual money. For me, this is the best service there is for artists and musicians. I can’t stress enough the importance of a site like this. Every musician that is serious about their work should sign up to this site.

Thank you very much for you meaningful and thought provoking questions. I hope all that read has a better idea of who I am and why I love music and being a musician. Thank you all very much for reading!