The film is an interview-style documentary series of short conversations with 45 DJ producers who cover a gamut of styles, from house and techno to trance and jungle.
It begins with legendary DJ-producer Juan Atkins, who makes the grand opening statement: “I came up with my first record in 1981. It was called 'Alleys of Your Mind,' a totally electronic dance record, 100% electronic, for that time, that was very unheard of, especially in the United States. I called this music techno music.”
Next is Derrick Carter, who Crenshaw says offered some of the best advice and insight to him. Carter told Crenshaw, “You have to do everything, you have to do it all.”
By his own admission, Crenshaw made the film for personal and professional reasons. The goal of the project was to learn from people who had made it, and it worked. Crenshaw spent the next 20 years building Dirtybird Records into a full-on lifestyle brand with the Campout events, a massive catalog of house and techno music and merchandise ranging from hoodies to dog leashes and stickers to let people know you’re a proud Dirtybird Camper and part of the Dirtybird Family.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” Crenshaw says. “I just did everything like we were on a warpath. Everything was about getting bigger and better. It was just a natural progression, and then in 2022, I sold it.”
Crenshaw took two years off after the sale (for an undisclosed price) and resurfaced on April 25 with the release of a canine-themed two-track EP with “I Was the Wolf” and “Move With the Pack,” The A-side, “I Was the Wolf” offers a dark, cinematic approach to his signature style, balancing Berlin-influenced minimal grooves with his sly, quirky personality. And it has what a lot of quality dance tracks possess – a smashing snare and an escalating, tension-building sound at its peak moment, which will surely send the dance floor into a frenzy.
The B-side is more a setup track and likely a vehicle to get to the evening’s peak moment. "Move With the Pack" is more humble and uses jazzy, immersive textures.
He also announced the Life of Leisure Tour and put the It’ll Do Club on the schedule, where he will be on Friday, May 9, to perform a three-hour set.
“I love It’ll Do Club in Dallas. I don’t even look at other venues in the city,” Crenshaw adds.
The new music is ideal for dark dance floors, and it makes sense that Crenshaw is such an advocate for It’ll Do Club—it’s a match made in Deep Ellum heaven. The new music is squeezed concentrate from the best moments of early 2000s minimal house with the lush, quirky eccentricity that VonStroke is known for.
The press photo for the tour is Crenshaw in pajamas, in a bathtub with an old rotary phone draped around his neck. Perhaps it’s symbolism to imply that he’s living a comfortable life on his terms, and on the rare occasion that he takes a business call – he might very well be still in his pajamas.
This tour is a celebration of proper underground music culture with a heavy emphasis on the dance floor and beats – nothing else. The tour is a symbol of the pure and simple reasons why Crenshaw fell in love with music in the first place.
As VonStroke himself puts it, “This isn’t a status flex, it’s a vacation on the dancefloor. The ravers are the heroes; I’m the guide. Let’s leave the stress behind and live the Life of Leisure together, even if it’s just for a few hours in the club.”
In addition to Dallas, the tour will cruise through more than 20 cities, including Phoenix, Austin, Miami, Atlanta, Denver, Montreal, and Detroit, his hometown, for the Movement Festival, which will certainly be a special full-circle moment.
There is a great lesson to be learned from Crenshaw, who did what so many people dream of doing: build and sell a successful lifestyle music brand. Turns out that step one is to make a documentary.
Claude VonStroke will perform on Friday, May 9, at 9 p.m. at It'll Do Club, 4322 Elm St. Tickets start at $30 here.
