PirateCrab

This month, we are commemorating PirateCrab, a musician who worked on several of our Harmony albums, including Harmony of a Hunter Returns. PirateCrab sadly passed away a few months ago, in April. Our hearts are with his family and loved ones, and we hope this Community Spotlight will spread his legacy to the Metroid community. Here are a few words from Darren, founder of Shinesparkers and director of the Harmony albums, as well as Step, who worked with us on the Shinesparkers Podcast and the albums.

PirateCrab

Darren

I had the pleasure of working with PirateCrab on three of our albums. I believe we first met around ten years ago in 2013 when I approached him to work on Harmony of Heroes, where he covered two themes that featured in the Super Smash Bros. series, Pirate’s Road (Victory Road, Pokémon Ruby & Sapphire Versions) and There’s No Metal on Zebes (Brinstar, Metroid).

I was incredibly impressed by his talent, and went on to work with him on a further track for the Harmony of Heroes expansion: Final Smash. On this album, he covered Shadow of the Core (Master Core, Super Smash Bros.) which wasn’t the most well known track, yet that didn’t deter him from delivering the final product back to me in a few short weeks in late 2014.

The final time I had the opportunity to work with him was for Harmony of a Hunter: Final Smash, where he produced a track called Kraidosaurus (Vs Kraid, Super Metroid, Metroid: Zero Mission). I recall him struggling with the length of the track, and trying to keep it interesting. There was even a point where he was considering giving up, suggesting it sounded like a mess, but I encouraged him to keep going. Eventually, he pulled it out of the bag, and created a track we were both happy with. I made it clear that I valued his determination not to throw in the towel, and how much I appreciated him. Knowing that he knew that, means even more to me now that he’s no longer here.

Another fun fact is that the track was going to be called “The Tyrant’s Lair” and his reason for it was (and I quote) “I usually take something from the backstory or environment to name tracks but this is a tough one”. Originally I wasn’t that thrilled on the idea, but over time and due to his commitment to the track, I felt he had earned the right to call it whatever he wanted, so I let him name it Kraidosaurus. It was a silly name, but that was reflective of his sense of humour.

I wouldn’t say that we were close outside of projects, but I feel like I spoke to him enough to get an idea of the sort of person he was. We would talk about the most dumb things, and joke about all kinds of things. He never failed to put a smile on my face, but equally he could offer an ear when I needed to be serious about personal problems that had been affecting me. I will always value those chats, and I have found myself reading back over them again since learning of his death.

I knew that he had invested in his studio and planned to make lots more great music, and when I heard the news of his passing, I was quite upset. It was so sad and unfair that he died so young at just thirty years old, with so much more to give. However, as the months have gone by, I have reflected on this, and rather than feel sadness in the projects he didn’t create, I am thankful for the ones that he did. I truly hope that people will continue to keep his memory alive by listening to his music and sharing it with their friends, because through music, PirateCrab will always live on.

Step

As a fellow musician, I met PirateCrab through the vibrant musician community of Newgrounds back in 2012, which is where most of my interaction with him outside of the Harmony albums took place. He started off as just another forum user to me, until he started joining the yearly music contests I was involved in organising within that community. These were massive contests with hundreds of musicians from all over the world signing up. He went on to participate as a contestant in multiple of these contests throughout the following few years and even joined once as a part of the team of judges (which I am still thankful for — it’s a lot of work!).

Despite the odds of going up against hundreds of other musicians spanning an assortment of genres and backgrounds, he still landed third place in the 2014 contest, which serves as another mark (among many) of what a skilled musician PirateCrab was — not that you would need anything more than a cursory listen of any of his tracks to garner that! The addicting rhythmic force of his percussion and riffs is matched only by his impressive technical prowess on guitar. I would like to give a shout-out here to one of my favourite original tracks from him, Zen, which he submitted for the second round of the 2015 yearly music contest. It very much shows off his capability.

I would be remiss to talk about just his music and not speak anything of his character. Fun-loving and easy-going instantly come to mind when I think of him. I pulled up some old messages we shared with each other from that time and felt a sort of bittersweet fondness reading through our interactions. He had a certain energy to him of just living in the moment, having a laugh, and being positive in the face of stress that I, and I’m sure many of the people that knew him better, found infectiously endearing. That energy instils a strong sense of certainty in me that he lived a fulfilling and happy life, which makes me both upset that it was cut so unfairly short but also cheerful as I look back at my memories of him.

The world lost a man of talent, exuberance, and passion, but as Darren so eloquently put it, through his phenomenal music and the positive impressions he’s left on those around him, he will continue to be a force of positivity and enjoyment.