Will Kraus (born 1994/1995) is an American shoegaze music producer.

Background

Kraus grew up in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. As a kid, he listened to

Good Charlotte Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 2005, the band's lineup has consisted of twin brothers Joel Madden (lead vocals) and Benji Madden (guitar and vocals), Paul Thomas (bass), Billy Mart ...

, and the Linkin Park fandom encouraged him to produce music, initially in hip-hop and electronic beats. Around 2010, he was introduced to Sigur Rós, "broadening his aesthetic scope", and he later discovered

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF, was an American hip-hop music collective formed in Los Angeles County, California in 2007. The original members were Tyler, the Creator, Casey Veggies, ...

Danny Brown Daniel Dewan Sewell (born March 16, 1981), better known by his stage name Danny Brown, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He has been described by MTV as "one of rap's most unique figures in recent memory". In 2010, after amassing ...

, and A$AP Rocky. Around 2012, Kraus decided he wanted to pursue music as a career. He got an acceptance letter from the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at New York University.

Career

Kraus started working on his first album, ''End Tomorrow'', in early 2016. After finishing it, he emailed several labels and music writers. Brian Justie from

Terrible Records Terrible (formerly Terrible Records) is a Los Angeles-based record label and artist management company founded by Chris Taylor and Ethan Silverman in 2009. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York, the label operated as a joint venture imprint ...

accepted to release the album. ''End Tomorrow'' was released on September 9. On September 28, a music video for the song "Pitch Fucker" was premiered by '' Stereogum''. Kraus released "Reach" as a single of his second album ''

Path A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

'' on February 7, 2018. The album's second single, "Bum", was released eleven days later. ''Path'' released on March 9. Ian Cohen of ''Pitchfork'' gave a 7.3/10 review. ''Chicago Reader'' Leor Galil also talked positively about the album. He released a music video for "Bum" on June 6. On the 28th, he released the single "More". On July 8, 2021, Kraus released "Glass Valley" as a single of his upcoming third album, ''View No Country''. He also released the singles "VNC", "Given" and "Redshift". The full album was released on October 22nd. On March 5, 2022, Kraus released ''Eye Escapes'', a collection of recordings from 2016 to 2021, mostly from a lost album between ''Path'' and ''View No Country''.

Musical style and legacy

Kraus has been described as a

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, artists indulge in extre ...

noise pop Noise pop is a subgenre of alternative and indie rock that developed in the mid-1980s in the United Kingdom and United States. It is defined by its mixture of dissonant noise or feedback with the songcraft more often found in pop music. Shoega ...

dream pop Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...

and shoegaze musician and has been compared to My Bloody Valentine. Chris DeValle of ''Stereogum'' said that ''End Tomorrow'' is "a bombastic technicolor headfuck built from insane drums, celestial dreampop surges, and heavily processed vocals." ''Far Out Magazine'' Carly Wu elected ''Path'' as the 18th best shoegaze album of all time, declaring that it is "unfailingly one of the most brilliant contemporary shoegaze albums ever" and that it ascends "to pure perfection".

Discography

;Studio albums *''End Tomorrow'' (2016) *''

'' (2018) *''View No Country'' (2021) ;Compilation albums *''Eye Escapes'' (2022) ;Singles *"Reach" (2018) *"Bum" (2018) *"More" (2018) *"Glass Valley" (2021) *"VNC" (2021) *"Given" (2021) *"Redshift" (2021)

Notes

References

External links

Kraus
on

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

{{authority control Shoegaze musicians American noise musicians 1990s births Living people