# Crack Cloud

Crack Cloud are a Canadian musical and multimedia collective currently based in Calgary, Alberta, formed by drummer and frontman Zach Choy. Alongside the group's core musical members who perform live as a band, a large number of multimedia artists are also associated and operate simultaneously as an in-house production studio within the group, due to the project's strong focus on visual storytelling.
To date, they have released three studio albums: Pain Olympics (2020), Tough Baby (2022) and their third album Red Mile, which was released at 26 July 2024, via American independent label Jagjaguwar.

## History

Formed in 2015, Crack Cloud started as the solo project of lead vocalist and drummer Zach Choy while he was living in Calgary, Alberta. Soon after, the project moved to Vancouver, British Columbia in 2018, where most of its members met through various addiction recovery and mental health programmes both as participants and as support workers. Choy stated that the purpose of Crack Cloud is a "healing mechanism" The group's logo is also notable as an appropriation of the exclamation mark used by Concerned Children's Advertisers, a series of public service-announcements aimed towards children on various topics (drug abuse, peer pressure, exercise, etc.) that were broadcast on Canadian television during 1990s until the mid-2000s.
Crack Cloud released their first self-titled EP, in 2016, followed by another the next year called Anchoring Point in 2017. These two EP's were re-released as a self-titled compilation via Deranged and Tin Angel/Meat Machine Records on 1 June 2018. Following those releases, the group toured internationally and featured at several music festivals including Levitation, End of the Road, and Roskilde which garnered the group considerable exposure between North America, the United Kingdom and Europe respectively.
Crack Cloud released their debut studio album, Pain Olympics, via Meat Machine Records on 17 July 2020, preceded by four singles, The Next Fix, Ouster Stew, Tunnel Vision and Favour Your Fortune, released between May 2019 until October 2020. The record was received favourably, based on the album receiving an average score of 87 from 8 reviews on Metacritic, indicating "universal acclaim".
On 8 July 2021, the group were named as the winners of the Hi-Fidelity Award, a prize for Canadian recording artists use of innovation within their music videos at the 2021 Prism Prize.
On 11 May 2022, Crack Cloud announced their second album, Tough Baby, released 16 September 2022, via Meat Machine, with the release of the album's first single, Please Yourself. The album's self-titled second single was released on 8 July 2022. Costly Engineered Illusion, the album's third single was released 1 September. 2022.
On 15 May 2024, the group revealed they had signed to American independent label, Jagjaguwar, and announced their third studio album, Red Mile, set to be released 26 July. 2024. The announcement was in-tandem with the album's first single, "Blue Kite". Follow-up single, "The Medium" was released soon after on 18 June. 2024.

## Members

Current
* Zach Choy – lead vocals, drums, synthesizer, film editor, producer, songwriter, percussion (2015–present)
* Will Choy – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals (2017–present)
* Bryce Cloghesy – saxophone, lead guitar, sampler (2018–present)
* Jesse Atkey – saxophone, sampler, backing vocals (2018–2022; 2024–present)
* Eve Adams – vocals (2024–present; associate 2018–2024)
* Mackenzie Cruse – singer, vocals, graphic design (2024–present; associate 2018–2024)
* Aleem Khan – keyboards, synthesizers, bongos, backing vocals (2021–present) guitar, bass, organ (2023–present)
* Nat Philipps – saxophone (2022–present)
* Aidan Pontarini – production, creative director, film editor (2023–present)
* Emma Acs – vocals (2024–present)
Former
* Patrick Seager – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2016–2017)
* Jon Reynolds – lead guitar, saxophone, backing vocals (2016–2017)
* Will Johnson – lead guitar, bass, backing vocals (2016–2017)
* Henry Hsieh – rhythm guitar (2016–2017)
* Jon Varley – lead guitar, backing vocals (2017–2019)
* Noah Varley – bass, saxophone (2017–2019)
* Kelsie Hjorleifson – bass (2018)
* Daniel Robertson – keyboards, synthesizers, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2018–2021)
* Megan Magdalena – bass, backing vocals (2020–2021)
* Mohammad "Mo" Ali Sharar – rhythm guitar, bass, keyboards, sampler, backing vocals, production, graphic design, film editor (2016–2022)
* Garnet Aroynk Muhammad – rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals (2019–2022)
* Camryn Sproule – keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals (2022)
* David Proctor – lead guitar, bass, backing vocals (2022)
* Mikhail Oreshkov – guitar, bass, backing vocals (2022)
* Jared Drake – bass, backing vocals (2016–2017; 2023–2024)
Associates
* Alex Burke – choir, percussion
* Nicolas Dirksen – engineering, mixing, strings, additional percussion, additional synths
* Missy Donaldson – singer, vocals
* Silvia Fioretti – choir, percussion
* Richard Guy – production
* Oliver Hamilton – violin
* Victoria Hamblett – choir, percussion
* Wei Huang – graphic design, lettering
* Annalisa Iembo – sound engineer
* Syd Kemp – choir, percussion, mixing
* Amy Lowe – graphic design, assistant choreography
* Jennilee Marigomen – photography
* Magdalena McLean – violin
* Sage Aronyk Muhammad – percussion, vocals
* David Novotny – guitar, lap steel, flute
* Eris Nyx – artist, activist, community organizer
* Arthur Sajas – flute, choir, percussion
* Eden Solomon – dancer, choreography
* John Paul Stewart – engineering, mixing, processing
* Joseph Stone – saxophone, percussion
* Gam Traynor – cello
* Aga Ujma – harp, vocals
* Jing Wang – photography, graphic design, assistant choreography

## Discography
### Studio Albums

* Pain Olympics (2020)
* Tough Baby (2022)
* Red Mile (2024)

### Live Albums

* Crackin Up: Live In London (2023)

### EPs

* Crack Cloud (2016)
* Anchoring Point (2017)

### Compilations

* Crack Cloud (2018)
* Live Leak (2020)

## Music videos
### As "Crack Cloud"

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Image Craft" | 2016 | Anchoring Point |
| "Swish Swash" | 2017 | Anchoring Point |
| "Uncanny Valley" | 2018 | Non-album single |
| "The Next Fix" | 2019 | Pain Olympics |
| "Crackin Up" | 2019 | Non-album single |
| "Ouster Stew" | 2020 | Pain Olympics |
| "Tunnel Vision" | 2020 | Pain Olympics |
| "Favour Your Fortune" | 2020 | Pain Olympics |
| "Please Yourself" | 2022 | Tough Baby |
| "Tough Baby" | 2022 | Tough Baby |
| "Costly Engineered Illusion" | 2022 | Tough Baby |
| "Blue Kite" | 2024 | Red Mile |
| "The Medium" | 2024 | Red Mile |

### As "Crack Cloud Media Studio"

| Title | Year | Album |
| "Elastic" (ZDBT & Slim Media Player featuring Prado) | 2021 | ELASTIC |
| "Preoccupation" Black Marble | 2021 | Fast Idol |

## Recognition
### Prism Prize

The Prism Prize is a national, juried award established to recognize outstanding artistry in the Canadian music video production community. The Hi-Fidelity Award is presented to a recording artist (band or musician) who has used video art to represent their work in a consistently creative and innovative way.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
| 2021 | Crack Cloud | Hi-Fidelity Award | Won |