Artist description Cloud Cult is Craig Minowa. Craig Minowa is 6'1". He wears clothes and eats food. His favorite color is NOT white, because that's not really a color. Craig is an Environmental Scientist currently working for the Organic Consumers Association, a nonprofit watchdog organization focused on the environment and consumer rights. He is also the founder and Director of Earthology, an environmental nonprofit recording studio and entertainment company that, records, produces and promotes artists with environmental/political/social messages. Earthology also organizes eco-festivals around the nation (http://www.earthology.net). Craig lives on a small organic farm near Sandstone, MN, where he is working to get off the power grid and grow all of his own food. He has been working in the environmental field for more than a decade with groups like Clean Water Action, Citizens for a Better Environment, MN Department of Natural Resources, the City of St. Paul, and the Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education. His career highlights include working with the United Nations on Indigenous rights, being interviewed by National Geographic for his work on fighting Great Lakes water privatization, and international rave reviews of the original music he writes and records. His band, Cloud Cult, of which he is the singer/song writer, has recently been offered a number of record deals and will be touring for much of the second half of 2003. On a personal level, Craig is rather eccentric. But he's the kind of positive-weirdo folks really seem to dig hanging out with, as his organic farm has become the stomping ground of a seemingly endless flow of visiting friends. Recently, he's been on what he calls a "spiritual mission into the hermitic unknown", spending weeks alone on his organic farm "to let the natural world and my creativity help me find new parts of myself. Human society has defined me for 30 years, now its nature's turn". His farm neighbors down the road reported that they've seen him running around naked in hail storms with safety goggles on. Minowa says he just tries to enjoy everything to its fullest. Part of Minowa's oddness stems from the fact that his two year old son, Kaidin, unexpectedly passed away in 2002. "He was my best friend. I like being alone and creative a lot right now, because the process of writing songs and poetry feels like a prayer or conversation with Kaidin. It keeps us connected." Craig's wife left him shortly after Kaidin's death, saying that Craig reminded her too much of their son. Craig says despite the pain, it has been very good for them to be apart, "We've both grown as quick as zucchini over the last year."

Music Style Predominantly Emo, but also alternative, some electronica, some folk, some punk.

Musical Influences Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead, Pedro the Lion,Janes Addiction, old Cure,Beck, Art of Noise, Devo, Yello, Fat Boys, classical

Similar Artists Sunny Day Real Estate, Radiohead, Pedro the Lion, Janes Addiction, Cure,Beck,

Group Members Craig Minowa- Singer, songwriter, guitar, piano and some drums. Sarah Young - Cello, backup vocals, rhythm guitar Dan Greenwood - Percussion and some guitar.

Instruments anything and everything

Albums "Who Killed Puck?" & "They Live on the Sun"

Press Reviews Cloud Cult - "They Live on the Sun" ( Release date 7/14/2003 - - Until then, this album is only available directly from Earthology) Review by Thomas Rehbein of Clear Channel and http://www.kangaroo-attack.com 5/30/2003 Cloud Cult is the brainchild of one Craig Minowa w/ the help of his friends. Musically, it's difficult to define because it borrows the best elements of several genres that have little to do with each other. Yet, Cloud Cult marries them almost flawlessly. The songs are quirky and strange, though infectiously catchy. Starts and stops w/ bizarre interludes and suprises abound. There are acoustic guitars, cello, clunky piano, electric guitars w/ strange tones, electronics, drums, drum loops, whistles, hand drums, and all sorts of stuff used on this. Lyrically, They Live on the Sun is joyful in it's fairytale-like images and settings and also extremely mournful; Minowa lost his 2-year-old son and this album is where he unleashes his demons. I sense that this work was quite a catharsis for Minowa and the others involved. This is a solid release because out of 21 songs, only a few i'd consider to be filler. And "Estupido" didn't seem to fit the album at all. Oh well. I think this album would please fans of quirky indie groups like The Flaming Lips or Modest Mouse, though Cloud Cult in no way rips those groups off. This cd was the best surprise i've gotten in a while. Check them out: www.earthology.net (tommy) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "They Live on the Sun" Review by Josh Lukkes - Blue Skunk Companion 05/07/2003 I've heard of people crying when they've seen masterpieces. I was never one of them until Saturday. A CD popped into my mailbox that I couldn't wait to hear. It was the newest release by Cloud Cult, entitled "They Live on the Sun." Never in the history of Rock and Roll has an album's title been such a direct contrast to its content - they may live on the sun, but the album is all moonlight with candles, booze and a piano, dark beyond description, beautiful, intricate, wailing with grief, sometimes guttural, sometimes a sweet windchime on a spring night in May. "They Live on the Sun" is an extended epitaph to Craig Minowa's son, Kaidin, who died Feb. 23, 2002. Every song deals with this in some way or another, providing a gut-wrenching look into death and its corresponding anger, grief, fear, blackhole vortex of anguish. It is not an easy album to listen to. But upon listening to it, there is much to love. The music is inescapably catchy, hooks piled on hooks piled on tempo shifts, melodies, atonal cacaphony, all blended with a healthy dose of fuck you and love. The album is as complex as any contemporary piece of classical music without compromising its integrity as a great Rock and Roll album or seeming trite. Particularly harrowing are the songs "Took You for Granted" and "Sleeping Days PT 2." "Took You for Granted" is a beautiful string and drum arrangement overlaid with Kaidin speaking I love you's and goodbyes, Minowa's lyrics pleading, angry, crying out and sniffles, a cry for help with one hand in heaven and the other on his heart, "I can't help but say they've taken away the biggest think I care for. I live in the black. It's a simple fact, I'm here but I'm not aware." In "Sleeping Days PT 2," Minowa scratches out his wavering lyrics encompanied by an old, out of tune piano. The original "Sleeping Days" is a shimmering, gushy love song to his exwife written ten years ago that skirts the fine line of kitsch with its flowery imagery of tree nymphs and daisies. Not so with Part 2, a grounded, hard look at the death of Kaidin and its aftershocks of emotion and the desire for an afterlife more beautiful than this world, more perfect than any tree bough or blue sky, "I'd like to think your sleeping in a safe little bluebird's nest and I'll protect your memories with the dragons in my head." Not easy, not fluffed, but more honest than a drunk cowboy song or a preacher on Sunday. In all, "They Live On the Sun" is a must have album, the musical equivalent of hanging a Picasso in your living room. The music is as complicated as its subject matter, garbled into a pile of bones and voices at times, at others you can almost feel the clarity rip through you. I can now say I've joined the ranks of those that have wept openly at a pure product of creative genius and raw human emotion. Thanks Craig Minowa, your ability to craft simple elegance makes your pain my pain, your loss my loss, your hopes and fears my hopes and fears. I pray that your player piano doesn't stop anytime soon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "Who Killed Puck?" Review by Barret Chase of Ripsaw News 5/16/2001 Who Killed Puck? is a concept album, in the tradition of the 1970s pseudo-progressive bands Pink Floyd, Rush and Styx, owing something to Supertramp and Kansas as well. And although Cloud Cult may stand on the shoulders of those bands, it manages to update their sound while eschewing most of their silly pretentiousness. Who Killed Puck? starts off powerfully with the ultra-catchy “Where it Starts,” a sort of mind-clearing radio single which sets the listener up for the heavy-duty angst to come. The song is initially surprising, due to singer (and just about everything else, for that matter—Cloud Cult is basically a one-man band) Craig Minowa’s shockingly clear, almost feminine voice. The lyrics are also surprising, weaving in and out with dexterous wit: “I found God in the back of my head, too scared to even talk to you but dreaming you would marry me. I found God in the words of Steve Miller: ‘I really like your peaches, wanna shake your tree.’” After “Where it Starts,” the album quickly moves into familiar concept-rock territory, telling the life story of a lone prophet who cannot fit in with others, eventually discovering that fitting in is evil. Making use of retro samples and mucho studio magic, the songs mainly attack the brainwashing that we all suffer through advertising and social conditioning. Individual standout tracks include the acoustic ballads “Pretty (She Can Save You)” and “Sane as Can Be,” which showcase Minowa’s voice, and “6 Days to Madness,” a phatly beated electronic groove reminiscent of the Orb’s “S.A.L.T.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "Who Killed Puck?" Review Source: Amazon.com January 2003 From the first song on the album "Where It Starts" the honesty and purity of the the singer's voice are striking. The music and the lyrics are layered and complex, but still accessible. Upon each listening, more and more messages unfold. Some tracks are about emotion, others about our relationship with the natural world, and others combine both. The album reads like stories, a slightly more wise man looking back at his childhood and teenage years, with confusion, climaxes and resolutions--however, each track can stand alone and there are no easy answers. Best tracks are "Where It Starts" -- this one combines a catchy, cool musical hook and truly clever lyrics that juxtapose the inane with the deep, like "I found God in the words of Steve Miller, really like your peaches wannna shake your tree" to "I found God on a Wednesday afternoon, drinking boxed wine and wishing you would call me." "Becoming One Of You" is a searing and angry self-reflexive remark about how his peers didn't accept him, but he is ultimately disgusted by their conformity and in retrospect is grateful to not be one of them who "rip down rainforest trees to build mahagony desks . . ." "Sane as Can Be" starts as a stripped and beautiful guitar/cello love song, but like all the tracks, it's not that simple. The track "Ready to Fight" is almost an anthem, reprising some of the earlier themes on the album. While there is no one else doing what Cloud Cult is doing, the album reminds me a bit of Heather Nova's _Oyster_ in the lyrics and moody musical changes and The Cure's _Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me_ for the same reasons. But like all works of art, it will mean different things to different people. I recommend this album highly as there is really nothing else like it out there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "Who Killed Puck?" Dan Haugen- MN Daily 08/20/2001 Four years in the making by University alum and Duluth resident Craig Minowa (a.k.a. Cloud Cult), Who Killed Puck? is an extremely ambitious and well done concept record chronicling one person’s life from conception to the afterlife. In-between is a tale of alienation, drug use and mental illness in a society of reckless consumerism. Musically, Cloud Cult’s sound ranges from melancholy, acoustic lo-fi (“Conception,” “Pretty”) to gothy-synth-pop (“Close,” “Ready to Fight”) to audio collage (“Ad Brainwash”). Minowa’s songs show a green consciousness, but generally avoid being preachy. Instead of one-dimensional fundamentalism, they have an honest human weakness (“I’m giving up my philosophy/for a six pack of beer and a bag of weed” on “Sane As Can Be”) and a sense of humor (“I found God in the words of Steve Miller/Really like your peaches/Wanna shake your tree” in “Where It Starts”) along with his progressive themes. Who Killed Puck? is strange yet familiar; introspective and universal; intelligent but human. — -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "Who Killed Puck?" Todd Newton - Reader Weekly 04/19/2001 "Who Killed Puck?", the debut release of Duluth, MN-based Cloud Cult, has revived what had become an abused and misunderstod concept (concept albums). A true rarity, each of the fourteen tracks contained herein is capable of an individual existence, while remaining an integral component. "Where It Starts" building a repetitive yet delicate vocal line provides the necessary introduction. "9 Months", a thought provoking dissection of birth on a molecular level, continues with earnest. "Ad Brainwashing" yields disturbing statistics regarding the media, aid in the creation of a clear and concise overall picture. Other standouts, including "Becoming One of You" and the title track only add to a unique and wonderful recording. In a word, stellar. Cloud Cult has captured an essence so many others have failed to grasp. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cloud Cult - "Who Killed Puck?" Kyle Eller - Duluth News Tribune 4/18/2001 Idealism is a funny thing. Lots of folks scoff at it--people calling themselves pragmatists--but without idealism, we'd have nothing to shoot for. Idealism and idealists give us direction with their passion and their commitment. Welcome to Cloud Cult's "Who Killed Puck?"-- a concept album that tells the story, from conception to death of an idealist. Puck, a character named for the care-free forest spirit in Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream doesn't fit in with the modern world. His gut tells him the consumer-driven world is wrong, that the drive for conformity is stultifying, and that the Earth is being assaulted by these values. The further one takes that, the more lonely the island becomes. In the album's liner notes, Puck writes, "I'm hitting a point where if I go any further left wing, society will banish me completely for being intolerably radical." Cloud Cult, which is environmental activist Craig Minowa, Eduardo Vaz on percussion and Sarah Young on cello, cranks out a mixed sound. Under it all pulses a strong indy rock sound with a magic mix of punk and folk influences. The album's lyrics are intense and take no prisoners, reflecting the passion of a true idealist. They rail against the pervasive, almost omnipresent influence of advertising and against the twisted priorities that make extreme actions seem "normal". All of this is punctuated by artwork, philosophical quotes and environmental essays in the liner notes. "Puck" is a provoking album instantly familiar to those who are a part of the quixotian fight to lift this world into the ideal.

Additional Info All profits from CD sales are donated to environmental charities.

Location Minneapolis, MN - USA

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