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Just last friday I got the chance to hangout, shoot hoops, pop bottles and rage with Crizzly at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco, CA. The event “Cool Story Bro” put on by Vital Events was a hit when the DNA Lounge nearly sold out, allowing hundreds of fans to see Crizzly and local talent kill it. I got a chance before his set to just sit down with Chris (Crizzly) and talk to him about his life and about his music. Here is what Chris Marshall had to say:

BTR: Hey everyone this is Philipp from BE THE RAVE and I am here interviewing Crizzly!

Crizzly: Whats up!

BTR: So first question, The Bay Area! How much hype does it have when it comes to the EDM Scene? Is it as big as everyone always says, or does it still need improvements?

Crizzly: I have no idea, I mean im not from here so I can’t really judge the scene, I say the only scene I can really judge or speak, like I know what I’m talking about would be Texas. Since thats where im from you know? I can’t really say anything about any other scene because I just go in play the show and then im out.

BTR: How did this Crizzly thing start? When did you realize that the Crizzly creation was becoming something big and how did you approach that?

Crizzly: You mean when I knew?

BTR: Yeah, when did the name Crizzly first get popular, and when did people first start realizing that this guy (Crizzly) is the shit?

Crizzly: Probably when I made “Big Booty Bitches”. Cuz that got some plays from actual DJ’s that I looked up too. Id say Reid Speed was on it pretty quickly, and Zeds Dead. But yeah around that time!

BTR: How did you start getting into the music scene you are in? Coming from Texas, how did people first react to your mix between rap/hiphop and Dubstep?

Crizzly: Well in Texas it makes a lot of sense! Wait…What was the first part? How..did you first start getting into the music…scene..OH! I started by playing at Random Bars!And wherever I could basically! Not concerts, just shows. My friends where putting on, you know just being about the music. It was small bars, you know that had like 30 person capacity. Just hanging out with friends, playing all around San Antonio at rock venues along side high school bands. Uh, I was the only DJ for a while that I knew in my age, but you know, after a while I finally started finding some more people, we threw some shows actually, like me and my friends from the same town, threw some shows in the hill country of San Antonio, just a lot of random hustling in San Antonio, I don’t know how to describe it besides just playing shows. Yeah.

BTR: Do you consider yourself to be the creator of Crunkstep? Are you the founder of that Genre, is that you?

Crizzly: I mean I guess so, because I just typed it in one day…But the point isn’t really to focus on the genre, its more about focusing on the music. A genre is just like a vague description to begin with and to describe something as one thing is kind of ignorant, because a song could be multiple things and not just that one category of what a genre really is. Music can be anything, but i can deff take up styles, but as far as crunkstep goes its just a way I label my music, but it can be classified as multiple genres.

BTR: Out of all the tracks that you have created and mixed in the past few years, which track do you still drop at shows and are most excited about playing it in front of everyone?

Crizzly: Most definitely “Hard in the Paint” because that song always goes off…somehow, still always goes off. So yeah…Hard in the Paint!

BTR: Whats your say on trap? Tiesto started playing trap tunes on his tour, how do you feel about that?

Crizzly: Uhh, what that tells me is that trap is…good! It shows that people love it. And you know, if people want to listen to it, then I’m all for Tiesto playing it! He reminds me of me when I was starting up like, he has an audience in front of him that doesn’t know as much so he’s kind of just leading them along a path of new music along his set, and if he wants to play trap, then go for it thats awesome. As long as he’s introducing a new style of music then thats just a bonus for everyone who’s making trap!

BTR: What State or City do you enjoy playing in or performing the most?

Crizzly: I love Florida, I love Hawaii, I loveeee…Cali of course…It’s hard to say. I can’t pick one thats for sure,but if I did have to choose one it would be Texas. Hometown. Hell Yeah.

BTR: What goes on right before you start your set? Are you nervous? Scared? Excited? What goes on?

Crizzly: It depends on how much sleep I get! Like right now, Im pretty stoked! I haven’t played in SF in a long time so I don’t have to worry about what I need to play and what I shouldn’t play. If I play in an area too much ill start stressing out about things like “OMG” Ive already played all of this I don’t want to play the same crap every single time. I wanna change it up. But if I’m at a place I haven’t played in a long time I’m just like. Screw it! Just open up my crate and just go with it!

BTR: How do you make time for friends and family while you’re on tour or around the country?

Crizzly: Umm, well I’m really bad it…haha, thats for sure. It kind of sucks. But like keeping in touch, on Facebook, keeping up with my friends of course. Uhm I don’t see my family much but they understand what I’m doing, and they all are supporting me but yeah. I just Log on to Facebook, I like to Facebook chat actually! thats actually how I got my start, by chatting on Facebook with all my friends and just telling them about what I like to do, and I guess what I told them, got them motivated to help me and they spread the word about my music, but yeah…Just Facebook! That how I keep in touch with my friends and family.

BTR: Ok, last question! Is there anything you can tell us when it comes to some new tunes in the future?

Crizzly: Um, im trying to…branch out and be more…I don’t want to say something too….hold on let me think. Songs in the future will be more about me. They will probably be more personal in a way that Ill just be jamming out and feeling the beats, as apposed to like coming up with ideas and remixes, because as of now Ive only done remixes, but I’m defiantly working on some original work. And it just…feels good to finally getting to work on that. But as of now, I’ve just been biding my time, because the remixes are killing it, so I might as well keep doing remixes, but I’m going to stop that right now, because it would be super fulfilling for myself and just pleasing to just put out an EP! So yeah working on that. Should be fun!

Crizzly spent about 10 minutes talking with me about all these topics, and gave us a glimpse of where he has been and where he is headed!

Crizzly gave me a name of a track that should be out in a few weeks, but due to respect we will not share this yet. Keep following Be The Rave to find out what Crizzly has in store for us, just a short time away!