CVNW February 2013

The faces of Frontman Markus Allen Christopher sits with CV NorthWest Magazine M!SS CRAZY has gone through a few lineup changes, let’s first ask who’s is in the band right now...

Markus Allen Christopher: Guitar,Lead Vocals Chris Jordan: Drums,Vocals Chris Stringari: Bass,Vocals Craig Launer: Lead Guitar,Vocals CVNW: Tell us about the journey to get to this lineup over the years.

I feel really good about our current lineup, I think it’s the best musically we’ve ever had – Stringari and I have been friends since junior high (so it was a no brainer to have him) – Chris Jordan and I did M!SS CRAZY II together and we’ve kept in touch through time – and we brought Launer into the mix. I feel that Jordan and I are the nucleus, and that’s not to say anything against the other guys, but Jordan is the drummer I wish we had from day one; had Jordan been around, we would have been a better band from the start, and frankly, I didn’t want to continue M!SS CRAZY without Jordan, because he lit the fire under me big time when I thought it was all going to end (after the first album & tour); he came in and really just fired me up.

We bounce off each other so well that it makes me excited to write new music and do another album.

CVNW: What would Chris have brought to the band? <INTERJECTION: Sherry Keith orders a “red headed slut”> Well, not so much to be a better drummer, the work we had done was exceptional, but it was to be a better bandmate; Jordan and I have such a good hard rock connection on M!SS CRAZY II that just shows – the chemistry makes me feel that M!SS CRAZY II really rewrote rock at that time, there weren’t really a log of band putting out good new rock albums then. Jordan and I believe in the same things, we fit like a glove, we are totally on the same page musically and personally – outside of the band we are friends, we laugh at the same stuff, like the same actors, like the same movies – I’ve been looking for this bandmate and friend my entire life.

CVNW: Talk about the synergy of the band – how do you think you complement each other?

We’re like Lars and Jaymz of Metallica…we have the core connection - Stringari comes in and lays down tracks he knows our influences should produce (since we grew up in the Bay area together, we had the same influences) - Jordan understands me, he knows what we need and because of this I know I wanted him in my most successful project Launer is from the Bay area too, so musically we are in sync because we grew up with the same quality influences around us – these guys are committed to the band, too, because the influences in Northern CA are TOO good for you to slack and not make the grade and be as good as those huge acts.

CVNW: The makeup is KISS-ish, the theatrical influence is evident, was about your musical influences?

The makeup came from Tommy Lee (reunion tour of Motley Crue), how he painted his face very Brandon Lee like, and I’m a HUGE fan of Brandon Lee and that tie in to Bruce Lee who, next to God and Jesus, is the most important thing in my life; his teachings, his manners, his personality, his being, his discipline, the way he established himself are everything I want my music to represent, I want it to be as bad ass as him, and that’s why I wrote the “Hail Bruce Lee” tribute to him on GR!P. I my heart I know he knows I wrote it, and Brandon knows I wrote it too – I went to their graves and it meant SO MUCH to me, more than many things in my life (and I’ve visited Graceland) and the photos I took are timeless to me – it encouraged me to be, as a musician, what Brandon wanted to be, and I went and did it.