Introducing Kristian Crone – L.A. Based Musician Ready To Rock

Introducing Kristian Crone – L.A. Based Musician Ready To Rock

I got the chance to sit down with Kristian Crone, a Los Angeles based drummer | producer | guitarist | bassist who has had the opportunity to perform with various musicians.  He has a true passion for performing, and loves igniting fire on the drum kit. Our interview is below.

What drew you to music?
There has always been music around my childhood house. My dad is a well-known guitarist back in my home country, which is Denmark. But music really kicked in when I discovered TOTO. My very first drum lesson I had my teacher pulled me aside and he took some of his spare time after work to show me this band called TOTO. We sat down in front of this old school TV with the glass window, and he showed me TOTO live in Paris 1990. I immediately froze to the point where my teacher stopped pausing the TV and he asked if I was okay. From that very moment I knew I was gonna be a drummer. Lightning has struck. I was 7 years old and still to this day that is the clearest memory I have of my childhood.

Biggest musical influences.
Toto… No question. That band changed my life. They are the reason why I picked up the drums, they are the reason why I have a music career today, the friends that I have, and they are the reason why I pulled up my roots and moved from Copenhagen Denmark to Los Angeles. I owe them SO MUCH.

Jeff Porcaro, the original drummer from TOTO, is the one hero I never got to meet, and I actually feel very sad about it cause later in life I became good friends with Steve Lukather and Shannon Forrest. If somebody told me when I was 7 years old that one day Luke and Shannon will become your friends, I would tell them that they were lying to me.

Besides TOTO I am a big, big fan of Steely Dan… Yes i am old school I know haha

How long have I been playing
I have been playing for 25 years this year and 12 years as a professional. I did my first European tour when I was 18 years old with my own band Audio Project.

Any career goal for the next 5 years.
I would like to form my own band playing the music that I love with people I like to be around. I would like to start doing some serious studio sessions and of course I would like to travel some more. I did a small tour in the Midwest last year (2024) that was super fun. I am a sub drummer in Blank Space Tribute, which is one of the major Taylor Swift tribute bands in America.

What do I enjoy most about being a musician.
I enjoy playing with different musicians in different styles of music. I get to see the world through music. I am making new lifelong friends. I am playing music for a living and of course I get to be creative through music. Those are the things I like the most about being a working musician. I feel very blessed, and I am very thankful that my childhood dream became true.

How do you deal with negative feedback from fans?
Honestly, I don’t deal with it. I actually don’t care. I am playing and making music for ME and not for anybody else. If people like what I do, that makes me very happy and grateful. If not… I’m sorry you bought a ticket to my show… See ya.

I am here to inspire people, to make them feel good, to have a great time during one of my shows or at home listening to my music. That is what drives me.

How do you feel the internet has impact the business
UUUUUH this is a fragile question hahaha. We are our own boss these days because of the internet which is too stressful for many musicians. These days you need to be your own booking agent, your own SoMe manager, our own producer etc. Basically, we have to do everything ourselves and on top of that we still gotta be creative, write songs, rehearse with the band, practice etc. But a good thing is the internet is global which means it has become so easy to spread your music all over the world just by releasing it which to me is kinda cool, but we pay a cruel price for it which is major stress.

If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I would get rid of all the streaming and have people buy physical CD’s and Vinyl’s like the good old days where people actually appreciated music in a whole different way. There is no business in making music anymore. The business is in live shows and merchandise. I would love to hear more analog recordings/albums made in a real studio played by real musicians and not in cheap home studios. I would also bring back the real song writing again instead of today’s three chord pop songs. To me that is cheap music.

What advice would you give to people that want to follow your footsteps.
Follow your heart. Follow your passion and if you really fight for it then your dreams will become true one day…. Easier said than done.

You gotta be patient and you gotta practice and study like crazy but everything in life is possible as long as you fight for it and don’t give up.

Dare to take some chances in life and get out of your comfort zone. It can get super uncomfortable but that is where you really learn not only your craft but also yourself as a person.

(Interview by Denise Johnson)