#30 Deeper Into Outer Space | Shit and Shine
Come with us and clamber inside the deranged sonic wreckage of punk noise monster, Shit and Shine…
Incongruous connections and clamours pulsate at the core of the weird, wonderful and loud world of Shit and Shine.
Aka as Craig Clouse, there’s a savage energy in the bleeps, guitars, and fucked up noises of his music that has led to more than 38 vinyl releases (plus EPs, remixes and hours of digital-only albums) over the course of his musical life. Located in the hinterland between Texas and London, Craig has not just carved out his own genre but smashed anything that has come within its orbit into smithereens
“I don’t want to make music that people stand there analysing trying to decide if it’s cool or sophisticated or complex enough!” says Craig. “I want primal feelings - like yeah, that’s a good rhythm, I feel like moving and not giving a fuck. That’s the vibe that’s important.”
We’re late converts to Craig’s grimy, irregular, genre-breaking music. We came across him at last year’s Convenanza festival in the south of France, initially spotted at the airport as the only arrival stalking the pavement outside in a cowboy hat. We next clocked him on the main stage as he pummelled the party into submission with his machines.
Alongside the likes of David Holmes, A Love From Outer Space and Roman Flugel, it was one of many inspiring sets of the weekend, particularly within the suitably crazy setting of Carcassonne’s medieval castle. There’s nowhere like it for a knees up.
“It was fucking incredible, possibly the highlight of my ‘career’,” Craig states.
“Big shout and love to Bernie for having enough faith in my fucked up music to put me on that stage at Convenanza. I’m still buzzing about that show. It was overwhelming and I want to go back desperately.”
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Music making
Craig began his dalliances with music as a young kid, initially with the guitar which lent him some self-belief when growing up.
“I was a super shy, awkward nerd (I still am) and playing guitar was the only thing that gave me some confidence since I was so shit at school and sports and everything else,” he laughs.
Craig was 18 when he decided to up sticks from London and move to Austin, Texas. He completed his schooling, spent a summer working at Hampton Court Palace as a gardener, and saved up enough money for a one-way ticket. The decision to move was a life-changing moment for him.
“It was the best thing I ever did as a musician looking for direction,” Craig explains. “Rent was cheap and I quickly met like minded weirdos and started playing in bands. The sense of optimism and freedom was such a huge change from suburban London life where people seemed so much more miserable, conservative and fucking judgy (nothing’s changed). Fuck that.”
His trip to Austin was supposed to be a part of a longer road trip. But Craig loved it and set up home there, then returned to London and has flitted between the two places ever since. It was London’s spirit of counter culture that helped bend Shit and Shine into multiple different shapes.
“I used to skate at the under the Royal Festival Hall all the way back in the eighties before all the trendy graffiti and crowds of tourists,” Craig says. “The street skaters I hung out with down there opened me up to an exciting world of skate culture, music, and fashion. And Rough Trade’s shops in Neal’s Yard and Talbot Road were where I was constantly discovering new music. It was a hugely important influential resource for me growing up.”
London is also where Shit and Shine first started to attract some attention, with Craig beginning to make connections with fellow noise-heads and play his first shows.
“I eventually started communicating with UK based record labels like Riot Season , Diagonal, Rocket Recordings, State 51 Conspiracy and getting releases,” he says. “Then started getting invited to play festivals and touring pretty much every year for the past 20 plus years or so. London has been amazing to Shit and Shine.”
‘Please Bring Cool Friends’
Craig has built up a huge catalogue of music (“vast and dizzying” as some of his Bandcamp notes describe) with albums constantly being worked on, often simultaneously, then emerging, seemingly out of nowhere.
Between this interview taking place and the writing of it, new album ‘Please Bring Cool Friends’ was unveiled, a 3 hour 13 minute, 35 track opus. On Bandcamp, he describes it as a “Shit ton of super catchy groovy AF long minimal repetitive songs that nicely draw you in bliss you out … not hippy drone shit that takes itself too seriously (ffs)”. With song titles including ‘usss333’ and ‘unogoat’, it’s full of obtuse rhythm and sounds underpinned by a nonchalant humour.
“It’s just a collection of recordings I thought were worthy of putting out in the world,” Craig says. “I’m recording all the time, most of it gets deleted, some I keep to work on later or go back to later to decide if it sounds finished.”
“Some tracks I leave unfinished because it sounds just fine. It’s good to dare myself to keep it really minimal and repetitive - just leave it.”
‘Mannheim HBF’ is the previous album he worked on and released, a record he spent two years putting together as part of a deliberate endeavour to take more time over the recording.
“I’m super proud of ‘Mannheim HBF’, I worked so hard on that damn thing. It was maddening to be honest,” he says. “But it was like the album I’d been trying to make for years and finally got there. The process? Throw a bunch of shit at the wall and see what sticks.”
Recording and creative
Rudimentary elements are poured into the music of Shit and Shine. Effects, drum machines and a whole heap of attitude are at its foundations. It’s a creative process that stems from his infatuation with hardware.
“I don’t take much influence from other music, I just mostly listen to underground harsh death metal bands and classical music,” Craig says on what kickstarts his imagination.
“What inspires me most is gear. Weird gear. Synths that make odd sounds, drum machines through weird effects pedals, mangling sounds in cheap samplers and trying to twist something into some kind of musical form that shouldn’t make sense but somehow does to me.”
Craig’s equipment is packed in a little studio room in his house with his recording process kept deliberately simple.
“I have the shittest, most basic version of GarageBand on my awful 14 year old computer,” he says. “With software I’m useless. But I go through hardware like crazy. Always selling and buying gear, trying new stuff. I like drum machines.”
Independence
What defines Shit and Shine? From the music, it’s the energy and the lack of giving a fuck about what anyone thinks. It’s a freedom that allows Craig to operate totally independently, at least when it comes to his music and his abrasive sounds. But, like many of us, he is disparaging about his over use of Instagram.
“The internet has made me rely on it too much, which I fucking hate,” he says. “But that’s the only way I’m able to book tours since I don’t use an agent.”
Still, it’s led to some of his proudest moments, with sold out shows at London’s Cafe Oto in Dalston, Hackney. It’s a bastion of experimental electronics and a suitable fit for Craig’s music and energy.
“I never even imagined getting booked there,” Craig says. “I thought it was WAY out of my league but I’ve sold it out several times now and that blows my mind and is such a fucking big deal to me. Amazing place, amazing staff and amazing sound. Huge respect.”
He’s due back in February 2026 for a two-night residency alongside a short European tour too. Alongside that, you’ll find him beavering away in the studio and collecting music for his NTS and Noods Radio shows.
“It’s been a lifelong dream to have a radio show and Noods/NTS are world class online stations,” he says. ‘I’m very proud of my radio shows, the variety of music I get to play. Then the rest of the time? Working on new music every day.”
Connect with Shit and Shine and check out his new album, ‘Please Bring Cool Friends’. If you want him to come play your party, hit him up on Instagram.
For more on club and rave culture, you can order a copy of my book, ‘Out of Space: How UK Cities Shaped Rave Culture’ via the Velocity Press website now.