They refer to each other as ‘brothers’ rather than friends, plan to tour the world with their grandma’s red couch and recently won $10,000 as part of an Instagram Live talent show. This is Crash Adams, and they’re just getting started.

Spend any time talking with Crash Adams, and you’ll understand why their music is so packed with personality. “We’d describe our music as ‘feel good,’” Crash explains. “You can listen to it when you’re happy and just hanging out, you can listen to it if you want to dance, you can listen to it in the car. It will get stuck in your head — whether that’s a good thing or bad thing — but it’s feel-good music.”

Bouncing off each other at a rate that’s hard to keep up with, Crash and Adams (as they want to be called, for fear of people knowing their real names) say they draw from influences ranging from 50 Cent and Led Zeppelin to Prince and The 1975.

“I think it’s aesthetically pleasing and it’s a funny juxtaposition, because the world’s our living room” — Crash

The pair met when they were young. They grew up around Toronto and spent much of their early lives around music. Where Crash has an uncle who always had a recording studio, Adams has been playing in bands since the age of 12. Crash eventually started making dance music and DJing, while Adams dropped music, because, he says, “I thought I had to pursue other things.”

After a couple of years, where the duo “disconnected” for school, Crash hit up Adams with an idea: to get together and make a band. So, they got together and went into the studio to do a track. That track led to another, and, as Adams continues, “we ended up there for two years.”

Today, Crash Adams has been making a lot of noise, both musically and online. Their music videos, shot in different neighbourhoods across the city of Toronto, feature the pair in their statement suits, and they’ve made quite a commotion on social media. We talked to the duo over the phone to find out about being a band in quarantine, and what we can expect to hear in future.



Q. In your music videos you’ve been everywhere, even in Bulk Barn. How did you get permission to film there?

Adams: We had this whole idea for a music video (“Make It Last”) on the journey of all these kids who eventually end up at Canada’s Wonderland. But with Bulk Barn, we just walked in, started the candy fight, and no one really knew what was going on. We bought some candy, but it was way easier to do it and ask for forgiveness after, as long as it’s legal, with good intentions and lighthearted.

Q. Tell me about this red couch. Who picked it up, and why are you hauling it around?

Crash: So, the couch is actually my grandmother’s. She had it in her first house, when she came to Canada, so it’s got to be from the ’60s. It ended up getting moved to my uncle’s studio, so when we started Crash Adams, we decided to take some photos in front of it, and it led to us bringing the couch to different intersections. I think it’s aesthetically pleasing and it’s a funny juxtaposition, because the world’s our living room.

Q. And then you found its “Mini-Me.”

Crash: That was also there, but I didn’t know we had it until recently. It’s literally the perfect Mini-Me.

Q. So, which are you taking on the world tour? The big one, or the Mini-Me?

Adams: The big one.

Crash: We have some big plans for that one, and the couch will definitely be making appearances.

Q. How have TikTok and Instagram helped your band?

Adams: Social media, especially during the [novel] coronavirus with a lot of people being home, gave us a lot of visibility, and we popped off on TikTok at the right time. But, it’s literally put our music in front of so many people’s eyes and ears. It helped us grow the fan base, and we’ve met a lot of great people. The main thing was being entered into an Instagram Live talent show. That really helped boost our following and helped us win $10,000. That was a cool experience and wouldn’t have happened if we weren’t seen on TikTok.

Crash: And because we’ve started to gain a following, we’ve started to become friends with other influencers. They’ve been amazing and helped us so much by spreading our music, as well.

Q. You particularly took advantage of the situation with your “Caroline” video, which is a montage of videos others sent in. How was that experience?

Adams: That was pretty cool, because we put out a message asking people to send us their videos, and the video we put out on TikTok started to blow up about two weeks after, so we got a lot more videos than we previously expected. But it was definitely a cool music video.

Crash: It was different. We were in the middle of planning the music video for “Caroline” when quarantine hit, so we had to switch it up. It was a lot of editing.

Q. Is there still the rumoured EP coming out this year?

Crash: We’re debating that right now. There’s definitely more music coming out this year, and if an EP doesn’t come out this year, it will definitely come out next.

Adams: Singles have been pretty effective until we have that body of work to put out, but we’re still deciding.

Q. What’s one thing you’ve missed most in quarantine?

Adams: No. 1 is definitely playing live. No. 2 would be going out for dinner and being able to socialize.

Crash: I would say the same, but I’m pretty thankful for what’s transpired and what’s going to transpire.

Q. So, is Caroline a real person?

Crash: We’re going to say, “Yes, she’s a real person.”

Q. Is Caroline her real name?

Crash: No, it is not.

Q. What’s your definition of love?

Crash: I would say completely giving yourself to something, and when that something seems tough, it doesn’t matter, because you made the decision to give yourself to it.

Adams: I’m going to go with what he said.

Q. Can you also tell me what it’s been like promoting the band during COVID-19?

Crash: It’s challenging, but if you have great ideas and have a plan, you can get it done. There are definitely opportunities that without COVID-19 would speed up our growth, but you find other ways.

Q. Looking back over the past two years, is this what you imagined would happen?

Crash: Without a doubt. We’re not even close to what is going to happen. We’re having this conversation now, on August 19, 2020, at 2:33 p.m. In five years from now, you’re going to say, “Wow.”

www.crashadamsmusic.com
@crashadamsmusic

Shot Location At Peter Triantos Studio www.petertriantos.com

Interview by Cassandra Giammarco