Claude VonStroke

Sometimes life moves in mysterious ways. Take, for instance, Barclay Crenshaw, aka super-producer and dirtybird/mothership boss Claude VonStroke. How could he, as a rap-obsessed 16 year old dreaming of an engineering job at Metroplex (Juan Atkins' studio) in Detroit, expect that someday he'd end up headlining gigs alongside Atkins" The same could be said about his days as a frustrated creative working in post-production houses, when he began creating an electronic music documentary by interviewing internationally-renowned DJs. He never could've predicted that one day, rather ironically, he'd be in the opposite chair: the world-famous DJ being interviewed. Cleveland-born, Detroit-raised, San Francisco-based Barclay Crenshaw has been fuelled by happy accidents and a contagious, happy-go-lucky attitude in general. He's living proof that everything happens for a reason, even if everything might seemingly happen at the wrong time. Ask him about his novelty rap tapes as a teenager, or his time in Hollywood that ended with his song being pulled from a blockbuster movie, or his short-lived drum & bass career that ended in a disheartening electrical disaster. There were many reasons for Barclay to think that his musical fate was doomed, but it took a "surprise" production (and the meeting of a likeminded spirit, Justin Martin) to convince him otherwise.