You probably know him already, he's been in a slew of bands, touring all over Australia and the world, has a screaming voice like a panther on fire, is a qualified remedial massage therapist, grows a mean-ass beard and is now realising a longterm goal of quitting his day job to pursue a career in Krav Maga instruction, how fucking rad is that. On top of all his accomplishments he is one of most down to earth and genuine people you will ever meet, always down to lend a hand or have a chat, or answer a whole pile of stupid questions in the blink of an eye. Cheers dude.
F.W.T.B.T. Alright first up the basic stuff - Who are you and what do you do?
Jarrod Krafczyk Age 32, in Sydney. What do I do? Haha where to start? I sing in At Dark, I teach civilians Krav Maga (Israeli Military Self-Defence), I do Crossfit, I run, jump, crawl and bound through obstacle courses of mud, am a parent, and I’m a remedial massage therapist. I have played in various bands over the past 13 years, haven’t touched alcohol in almost 10 years and I enjoy having a beard.
F.W.T.B.T. How do you typically work, with the bands and or Krav Maga? Do you have any specific processes or routines or do you try and switch it up?
J.K. Krav Maga I have routine. Set classes each day that I take, with the occasional private client session. Work with At Dark is very few and far between. Writing with at dark is a fairly simple process. Presto and Mark write the riffs, record them, email the song to us all. I put lyrics to it and we jam it out. I have written the lyrics to a song on the way to a gig without any rehearsal on more than 1 occasion too.
F.W.T.B.T. Why do you do all those things? It seems like you have a very full plate, by that I mean what about playing in bands/training/teaching etc interests you and keeps you psyched?
J.K. If I’m not 100% busy, then I go crazy, get bored, get depressed, get anxious and generally don’t know what to do with myself. I love being active and having something to work on, or work towards. I’m not the kind of person that can waste their life sitting in front of a computer game or at a bar drinking my life and money away. It’s a catch 22 though. I run myself into the ground a lot. burning the candle at both ends etc, but if I stop then I don’t know what to do with my time.
F.W.T.B.T. With everything going on how do you balance everything in your life? Is it hard to keep committed to it all?
J.K. Yes and no. At Dark is really good. Everyone in the band has a lot on their plate, be it work, life, other bands etc..so this band isn’t the #1 priority for anyone. If someone needs a few months off for something, then we just take a few months off. We were a band for 18 months before our first show! This is a hobby for us, nothing more. There’s no rock star delusions or dreams of trying to make it big. We just write some songs whenever, play some shows whenever and keep it fun. So commitment isn’t an issue since there’s no pressure behind it. We just hail the doom when required.
I’m really fortunate having such an understanding and supportive girlfriend. I spend a lot of time either training, teaching, studying or on music, and she knows how much it all (especially the Krav Maga side of it) means to me, and continues to stick by me.
F.W.T.B.T. Would you want to do any or all of your interests as a full time thing like playing in a constantly touring/recording band? I know you're teaching Krav Maga now, is that a good back up?
J.K. Krav Maga is my fulltime gig as of Feb this year. I’ll be teaching and helping run the business. I have zero interest in doing music fulltime, or for that matter any more than I’m currently doing it. I do enjoy being in the studio and recordings music, so if someone wanted to pay me for session work then I’m up for it, but there’s no way I’m going back to touring or playing more than 2-3 shows in a row. Maybe I’ve lost the passion and drive for it. I love making music, but just on a very casual basis.
F.W.T.B.T. How do you get and stay motivated to continue tackling everything you've got going? I'm guessing it takes a lot of time effort and energy to stay on top of everything.
J.K. Totally does take a lot of time and energy, and as much of a health nut I might sound like saying it, I try to get a good nights sleep, I eat well, I exercise frequently. Keeping a positive mental outlook the best I can and realise that my life is pretty fucking rad, and I’m constantly on the path to making it radder. Soon as I feel stagnant and like I’m in a rut, I push harder and try to get to where I want to be.
F.W.T.B.T. Do you have any inspirations? Creative or otherwise? Anything or anyone that gets you psyched to kick asses and take names?
J.K. Inspirations for me come from seeing people I know and respect go out and do things they love doing. People that make shit happen. Rob Allen from Encircling Sea is a personal hero of mine (he’ll be too modest to accept that, which is even better). He’s a musical genius and one of the most earthed people I know, which is a rare and beautiful thing. Shannon Kempster (who has been an older brother to me since I was 19) is a big inspiration for too many reasons to list. These are people that follow their dreams and to me that’s the most inspiring thing. Fuck fake famous people for inspiration. I don’t understand how you can be inspired by someone you don’t know, because you only see their results, not their path.
F.W.T.B.T. Where do you want to take it with everything you've got going? Is there a long term goal you're aiming for? Are there things you still want to accomplish?
J.K. So much I still want to do.
Musically I would like to set up a home studio (which I guess consists of a laptop and an m-box these days) and create some atmospheric black metal like Wormlust, Vaiya, Blood of the Black Owl. I’d like to do a country acoustic album like the White buffalo, Rocky Votalato etc... I’d like to do some Electronic Aphex Twin style stuff. I have a lot left in me musically, I just need the time/money to make it happen.
With Krav Maga I hope to go to Israel in 2013 to train with the best in the world. Continue pushing myself and going up in grades. Teach children self defence (which starts in Feb), get fitter, faster & stronger. Maybe get to a point to compete in a Crossfit competition.
What else?. Who knows. I will do a handstand in front of Mount Everest in October, and do throat singing with a Nepali Sherpa.
I’m sure I’ll constantly think of new things to strive for.
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Check out Jarrod's steez or be damned:
Cheers
Roh
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