Meet Caleb Straus

We had the good fortune of connecting with Caleb Straus and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Caleb, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
It was to cultivate a community for underground artists in heavy music that were also misfits in some way; meaning they had an original sound that stood out, that wasn’t run of the mill. And make it artist-friendly so that they could trust the team behind them and beside them. We’re a very collaborative label, and the artist is ultimately in charge of, and therefore accountable for, their own career. Our job is to assist them. Our contracts are very transparent; we’re built off the business models of underground labels like Wax Trax and Ipecac Recordings.

Daiza Gonzales, our CEO and co-founder, came to me with the idea to start a metal label in early 2021, and I had had it in my mind to start a label on those ethos for years. It was just something I never got around to. She provided the opportunity and the platform and has trusted me with building our business model in a way that’s fair and artist-friendly.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My dad was a theatre artist; a multidisciplinary one. He acted, directed, wrote and produced plays, and taught theatre for over 20 years. He was actually my first high school director. So I grew up doing my homework in the green room. I was surrounded by creativity. And he was a very present, dad, too. So the whole cliche about a detached artist who ignores his kid for his career really passed me by, and quite frankly, always confused me, because it just wasn’t my experience. It’s what made me want to be a dad AND be a creative, because he showed me it was possible.

In 2006, I graduated from college with a theatre degree, and by that time, my first band Emzy Enzy, a really heavy industrial band, had just released it’s first self-produced album. So even in college, I was a multi-disciplinary type. Call it ADHD, but I couldn’t settle. I was so fascinated by how one medium informed the other. What actually made me want to sing was being involved in musical theatre. I got a little light training in order to do some roles in school and I realized I loved all kinds of music, not just heavy music. I got into artists like Bowie and Mike Patton and other singers who used genre as a paintbrush and I realized I didn’t have to limit myself.

When I graduated I started writing and recording my first album as a solo artist, Wurmhole. I wrote, recorded, and produced everything, and played all the instruments/did all the programming. I also started working professionally as a technical assistant in community theatres, acting in shows while I worked at them. Started teaching theatre, music, art, and a variety of other things at a private school after getting my first Masters in Directing, and then went back for a terminal MFA in Directing a couple years later. During this time, I lived in Austin. My co-founder in Emzy Enzy, Dustin Johnson, had expanded our creative leisure into a film/multimedia company called Snout Productions. We directed/wrote/produced and collaborated on a number of independent horror films, and sci-fi/cyber punk mash-ups, most notably, the It’s Over Trilogy; a trio of apocalyptic indie flicks that Dustin died sadly during the production of. As a tribute to the goal, his life, and his vision, the trilogy was adapted into series of novellas by Horror Author C. Dennis Moore; and are collected in a hardback collected edition with bonus features that enrich and add detail the wild and wacky world I was privileged to created with Dustin.

Since his death, I’ve transitioned to the world of Solunar Records and The Death of Zenith. My final film, Overnight, was released and produced through the label. We curated and co-produced a two-volume compilation soundtrack sold exclusively on our bandcamp featuring underground metal and alternative artists from all over the country, and even some international work. The Death of Zenith was originally founded as a revolving-door collective to help bind that project together, and it’s since evolved into it’s own beast. Today I work for Solunar Records promoting the wonderful bands/artists on our label, and I’m working with many of them, as well as some of my Overnight collaborators on a debut album for The Death of Zenith, called Planeta Vocum. It’s been a wild journey, but I’ve been blessed for the last twenty five years or so to live a very creatively fulfilled life, and I get to help raise two wonderful humans while I do it (my kids are actually both in Overnight!)

I love the arts, because I love the community behind it. The family-bonding behind the world-building. It’s been a really enriching experience working with Solunar and with DeadDreamz and Daiza.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Buckee’s. I suppose that ‘s a little outside of Denver, but as someone who travels a lot for family and business, and sees a LOT of Buckee’s, the one just north of Denver is absolutely the biggest and the baddest. I make a point of breakfast there, every time I pass it.

Being the Texas branch of the label (we exist in three states lol), I only make it that way once a year or so, but I love that Buckee’s. There’s also a fast food joint Dead always takes me to; it’s killing me I can’t remember the name of it, but I know Texas doesn’t have it!

I’m always thinking about food though. There’s tons of stuff to do in Denver, I know, but other than dispensaries and food I’m sort of a shut in!

Get downtown during Christmas, though. I will say that. It’s incredible.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
That’s honestly a pretty endless list, and once I start, it would be impossible to stop and be totally fair/not forget someone. The truth is, it takes a village, but we wouldn’t be anywhere without the artists on our label and their fans, so shout out to As I Speak, Silhouette Death, Blood of the Beloved, The Antihero, and my band/project, The Death of Zenith. Daiza and Dead are my partners at Solunar Records as well, and we are a three-headed beast. To every curator, press outlet, playlister, blogger, podcaster, beatmaker, composer, guest artist, and any other entity we’ve worked with. That’s the beauty of all this; it’s a community-based project. The hands of many make incredible things happen.

Website: https://www.solunarrecords.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solunarrecords/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/solunarrecords

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@solunarrecords

Other: For more about our film, Overnight, and it’s soundtrack, DEFINITELY check this page out!

For fans of The Crow, Mike Flannegan (Haunting of Hillhouse, Fall of the House of Usher) and David Lynch (Lost Highway, Twin Peaks) – https://www.solunarrecords.com/overnight

Image Credits
Picture of Caleb Straus (The Death of Zenith) self-taken and self-edited
Cover of the film “Overnight” designed and photographed by Caleb Straus
Blood of the Beloved Press Photo -self taken and self-edited
Photo of Zach Cunningham (As I Speak) by Benjamin Hull
Photo of Silhouette Death self-taken and edited.
Photo of The Antihero taken by Shanna Green