On September 25th 2017, I received this first piece of recording equipment, in the form of a Neewer condenser microphone kit.
It might not have been much to some, but it was the beginning of, what I thought, would be the greatest hobby-turned-pro adventure that I could expect from my $13-an-hour income, at the time.
Prior to this initial investment, I came to the realization that I could bring in my best friend at the time, Charles Crowson, who I had been singing slapstick comedy with since the 90s, and put my work into digital form, which could be shared with the world.
After hours of research, trial and error, I purchased a Behringer 2-channel audio interface that, when combined with my laptop and free digital audio workstation software, could put me within arm’s reach of my goal.
Living in a trailer, I had a shed in the back. This shed would become my first recording studio.
I could only afford one mic at the time, so we shared the one, swinging it back and forth as I created new tracks and learned how to use the DAW, simultaneously.
I bought two new metal folding chairs and a window AC unit to battle those south Texas temps. Later came a portable heater that I had to borrow from a friend.
The summers were hot, the winters were cold, and the fuses popped. These were the greatest times I ever had, making music.
Up to this point, I referred to our efforts as “Skull & Lugnutt” which was the name we used for each other in the 90s, informally, with “Skull” being Charles and “Lugnutt” being myself (Matt). Some of my first works used that original name:
As time went by, I got a better job, bought a house, financed a PC, upgraded the audio interface and dedicated the formal dining room to my new studio.
In November 2020, and after much deliberation, we agreed to my band name idea of “The Blanched Corinthians” so I registered this domain, created the Facebook page and got busy with new music. Soon after, I produced and released the first self-titled album promo video (below) and continued to record, master, create album art, choreograph/edit/produce videos, and upload/edit albums, track-by-track, up until 2023.
Shortly after the band name agreement, I realized that Charles was proving to cost me more work than progression. 80% of his vocals had to be autotuned, which required more editing, and waiting for him to find a proper lead was very time-consuming, which ended up with me taking over and doing the work instead. It was admitted that he never practiced at home.
This was no different than the very beginning and I was tiring, but my goals kept the fires burning.
My increasing investments into this project, which included paying for promotions, without any other benefactor, raised the overall standards and demanded more productivity or in the very least, effort on his part, but the more work I did, the less he showed up.
He went straight home, right after the video, below. I knew that I had to do something quick and productive, while I had him over, so I taped my phone to the celling fan and…
July 12th, 2022 I began construction of CDs. The initial production cost was outside of my budget, so the project was scrapped.
Time went by, as time does, and after I produced 2 LPs, an EP and a single, “studio time” ended up being nothing but he and I drinking in my garage, reminiscing and video-chatting women.
Then, one summer night, in 2023, I was followed by Charles and his wife while I went to run an errand…
The scandal:
In the summer of 2023 and due to his personal reasons that had nothing to do with the music or the band, Charles removed me from the music distribution website, DistroKid, and the Facebook page.
After my repeated requests for a sit-down with all parties involved, in an attempt to clear up any misunderstandings, only to have Charles deny them all, I fired him for abusing trust and began the recovery of as much of my material that I could.
In my opinion, tempers are flared because I exposed infidelity. Perhaps it was because the women, that kept coming over, were distracting from work and I had to put a stop to it. I have yet to be corrected by him or anybody else.
The Facebook page was mine to begin with:
I got control back of the Facebook page, and the denials and lies have been spewing from him ever since, so now, the reader has the truth.
There was no “hijack” by me and there was no TBC before I breathed life into it and maintained it.
His lies are ongoing and he actually believes his own rhetoric.
Currently, Charles Crowson is in breach of fiduciary duty and misappropriation of a business name.
As of 12/31/2025, I still have yet to receive any kind of reimbursement or royalties.
See you in Big-Boy Court.
