Claude VonStroke: “No Festival Mainstage Agenda Here Anymore”

4 days ago 17

**Claude VonStroke talks Wrong Number, how one “wrong path” led to the creation of Dirtybird, the one record he wishes he hadn’t signed, and more!**

Claude VonStroke is widely known as the Dirtybird label boss, but who is he now that he’s sold his beloved imprint? It turns out there’s more to him than BBQs, Campouts, and CampINNs.

Over time, the direction of Dirtybird no longer aligned with his vision, so he decided to migrate. Tired of conforming to everyone else’s expectations, he walked away from the world he built to form a new one where “wrong” choices are welcome.

After a two-year break while touring under his birth name, Barclay Crenshaw, Claude VonStroke came back more in his element than ever. At the start of 2026, he launched his new label, Wrong Number Records, with the promise of big things to come — or, perhaps, something more intimate?

Alongside the announcement of his album, Wrong Number, he remarked: “I’m only playing special rooms for people who love music, intimate spaces that can appreciate the sound and the camaraderie of being together.”

The cool thing about starting fresh after establishing yourself in the scene is that you get to rewrite the rules how you want. In Claude’s case, that means forgoing big payouts to stay true to his artistic vision by playing shows in small, hole-in-the-wall locations.

A lot of them are in cities he’s never visited before, like Tokyo, Amsterdam, Berlin, and London. With his European tour finally coming to a close, Claude will be flying back to the States for a three-day hometown run around Movement Detroit, where attendees will experience the first live debut of Wrong Number on North American grounds.

Since there have been countless new developments in Claude VonStroke’s life, we thought it would be the perfect time to tap in with him about it all. Read on to find out more about the creative process behind Wrong Number, what artist’s record he regrets signing the most, why he chose to sell Dirtybird, and much more!

**Pre-save Wrong Number on your favorite platform so you can get your hands on it asap when it drops tomorrow, May 22!**

This is your first full record since stepping back into your Claude VonStroke persona. What do you think your longtime listeners will notice first about this new chapter?

I have a little bit more patience. If you’ve been with me since Beware of the Bird or Bird Brain, you’ll actually recognize this energy more than anything I’ve done in the last ten years. It’s closer to what I was feeling when I first fell in love with labels like Playhouse, Pokerflat, and Planet E. Deep, odd, slightly off-center stuff. This album is also more dusty and vibey and not so up front in your face. I’m not 28 trying to figure out who I am. There’s no festival main stage agenda here anymore.

Focusing solely on your Barclay Crenshaw moniker for a couple of years must have changed your creative brain chemistry a bit. Do you think Wrong Number expresses more Barclay energy than previous Claude records, or does it feel like an entirely new evolution for you?

At the end of the day, Barclay and Claude are the same guy, same brain, same hands on the mixer. But the Barclay project in 2024 kind of ended up not really where I wanted to go. I started as a dusty ’90s hip-hop future bass experimenter, and then I ended up playing a bunch of dubstep tracks in my sets, mostly because of the USA festival audience and what they wanted to hear. I think this Claude record is almost a rebound back into the old, quirky house sound, and there ins’t a ton of bass influence. But production wise, working on bass music made me a better producer, so we can thank Barclay for that!

Wrong Number is unique in many ways, but the fact that you included your son, Jasper, and daughter, Ella, is truly special. Do you remember the first moment you realized your kids were genuinely interested in music? What has it been like watching that passion evolve?

For me, I can say the moments when I’ve been truly happy (like, nothing-else-matters-level happy) are watching my kids sing. Having them on this album was important to me because fundamentally I’m very lazy, and they are both great artists who live here. So why bother going anywhere but here for vocals? Okay, I’m not so lazy that I would do AI vocals, but I am so lazy that I would bug my son to come record with me after dinner. Both of my kids have been into music since they were very little. Jasper has always been a soul singer and Ella is a pure songwriter (who can also sing!) So it was a no-brainer to include them.

Let’s touch on the elephant in the room: the sale of Dirtybird. You built one of the most influential brands in dance music completely from the ground up, so stepping away from it couldn’t have been an easy decision. After 20 years, what made you feel it was the right time to move on from something that was essentially your baby?

Dirtybird had grown so successful and huge, and it was no longer aligned with my my core values of being counterculture and weird and subversive and underground — and that was why I sold it. I had been ready for a while, and I did not really have a lot of trouble leaving. There was a period, maybe a year, where I lacked an identity or a club that I belonged to, and that was very strange. But then I realized that my true identity was this creator person who is always pushing the underground, and I just powered forward starting Wrong Number Records.

Letting go of something you spent half of your life building is deeply personal. What was that transition period actually like for you behind the scenes?

You would think it would be brutal but I was very ready to exit. I had to work there for a year per the contract, so I tried to give some advice and help out, but I was mentally checked out. Subconsciously, I think thats why I just stopped doing house for a couple years: to give myself some space and try out a different style of music.

This is the first time you’ve had the opportunity to publicly comment on the sale of Dirtybird. Is there anything you’d like to say to your flock, or any unspoken words on the matter you’d like to share?

Actually there’s a whole YouTube video where I explain exactly what happened step by step to the fans. Go check it out on my channel if you get a few minutes and are interested. It’s not really explainable in a few sentences. The answer is layered and complex. To all my fans, Dirtybird or Wrong Number era, I really appreciate you riding with me now or whenever you did. And if you have moved on, thats great. Enjoy life!!

The overall essence of Wrong Number and your project’s new motto is that being wrong can lead to so much right. What has been one of your life’s favorite “wrongs” that eventually turned into a right for you?

Around 2000, I moved to Oakland from Detroit and started making this DVD documentary about electronic music. I interviewed 50 artists, from Derrick Carter to Orbital. The whole project eventually ran out of money and I couldn’t afford to license any of the music from the artists I’d interviewed. So I had to learn how to produce my own tracks that sounded like the music they made.

I was broke, making music I had no business making for a project that was going nowhere. Everyone told me to quit and that I was heading down the wrong path. But teaching myself to produce for that documentary is literally the reason I became Claude VonStroke. Every single thing in my career traces back to that “wrong path.”

After everything you know now, if you could text your 2005 self one message before starting Dirtybird, what would it say?

Don’t sign the FISHER record. There’s no turning back from that one.

Now that your Wrong Number label and album have landed, what’s next?

Im doing a classic remix for someone that I’m really excited about. I also have a new collab with Rebuke coming out in one month that is more bangerish and also very creative!