Daily Inspiration: Meet Caleb Straus

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Straus.

Hi Caleb , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I have worked extensively in multiple artistic disciplines; I have a background and education in Theatre as a director and actor, a background in independent film, and producing and releasing music independently. I’ve also taught theatre, music, and other kinds of art and multimedia, and have been working in these hemispheres for the better part of 25 years.

I was born and raised in Abilene, TX. I left when I graduated college in 2006. I went to work at a small theater (plays, not movies!) in Kerrville, TX for a bit, then headed to Austin to work in the theatre and film scene, there.

While growing up in Abilene, my best friend and I started an industrial metal hybrid band called EMZY ENZY. This eventually morphed into a multimedia company called Snout Productions. We produced or helped produce a number of independent films under that moniker and continued to release and evolve our music as EMZY ENZY. In 2008 we became a live band by adding a live bassist and began playing shows. We released several records, did a remix for KMFDM (one of our biggest influences) and made a name for ourselves in the industrial underground as an outfit of sonic anarchy. The music for that band isn’t on streaming anymore, but you can find it all on Bandcamp.

In 2015, during the filming of our final film and recording of our second album, Dustin, my best friend who I started the band with, unexpectedly passed away. The band and company limped on for a few years so we could release everything Dustin had worked on, and EMZY ENZY briefly tried to regroup with a revamped line up and continue as tribute, but that was put to bed in 2022. (https://emzyenzy42.bandcamp.com)

A selection of Snout Productions’ independent film work can be found at this archive channel – https://www.youtube.com/@SnoutProductions

In 2021 (bit of overlap), Daiza Gonzales came to me with the idea of starting a label. I was transitioning from EMZY ENZY to my new project, The Death of Zenith, and I was also writing a script for a film I’d been planning since I was 19 years old; a thriller, driven by music, called Overnight.

Taking autobiography and mixing it with abstract spiritual horror, we created the film, and an accompanying soundtrack compilation album that spanned two volumes and included artists and bands from all over the country, and in at least one case, even an international act.

The film takes influence from filmmakers like David Lynch and Mike Flannegan, and it’s been our flagship project. The premiere was a successful fundraiser for the label, and the soundtrack album is still our best seller on Bandcamp. (https://www.solunarrecords.com/overnight)

Today the label has five acts signed, including my project, The Death of Zenith. We also promote As I Speak, Silhouette Death, Blood of the Beloved, and The Antihero. All these artists, plus more, can be found on the Overnight Soundtrack albums.
Part 1: https://solunarrec.bandcamp.com/album/overnight-the-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-side-a-sun
Part 2: https://solunarrec.bandcamp.com/album/overnight-official-motion-picture-soundtrack-side-b-moon

Since then, we’ve run a number of different album releases and merch campaigns for our roster and have been quietly and slowly building in the background, and organically, ever since. Overnight allowed us to do things like invest in the live show needs for one of our artist, Silhouette Death, who is based outside of Denver, and has been killing it with live shows in CO all year. Our idea is that art feeds art. Silhouette Death’s mastermind, DeadDreamz is now also one of our staff members, and serves the label not only as an artist, but in the area of media and video creation, mixing, mastering, and mentorship and image branding. He’s worked really closely with our artist, The Antihero on rebranding and upping sonics and visuals. He’s been a godsend and he’s our primary member of the CO branch of the label.

One of the really fulfilling things about my path has been the opportunity to mix my education background with everything else. I’ve premiered films at Universities I’ve attended and/or taught at, and been able to work with students and ex students directly on real world projects, through both Snout Productions and Solunar Records. It’s been an exciting and winding ride.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has definitely not been smooth. Of course in 2015, when involved with Snout Productions we lost our founder, leader, and my best friend from childhood, Dustin Johnson. We were recording and finalizing a pair of albums with EMZY ENZY and we were working on the third film of a trilogy of films we had conceptualized together, called “It’s Over”. It dealt with the end of days, and the battle between Heaven and Hell. Ambitious for an indie trilogy, to be sure. The first two films were done with little to no knowledge or professional resources, but the third one bridged that gap. A company called Looknow Productions swooped in and gave us the proper materials to work with to make a much more professional looking product, but it was at this point we lost Dusty. The films were “finished” as well as could be done without him, but they exist now as sort of a history lesson behind the story’s final form, and that’s a novel titled “It’s Over” by author C. Dennis Moore – https://www.amazon.com/Its-Over-complete-Dennis-Moore

Dennis had professionally reviewed all three films upon their completion and was in love with the story. The third film was picked up by a distributor and put on Amazon VOD for a time, but it was not well received by mainstream audiences. Without the first two films in the series, and without the context of Dusty’s rise and fall behind and with the project, it didn’t particularly stand on it’s own.

Dennis loved it though, and came with the offer to adapt all three of my screenplays for the trilogy into novellas. Then when all three were done, we would compile all three, as well as some of the multimedia tie-ins into one huge hardback, and so that’s the link I shared above.

The films in their final forms are not cannon, but the Youtube links exist at the back of that book, and all three are on the archive channel. I’m happy that they seem to have found a second life on Youtube and have built a small audience, but I’m fairly certain those are folks who’ve read the book. The book is the canon story, and stands as the tale’s final form.

That was one of the hardest blows, if not the hardest blow, since I began working in these fields. To have what was supposed to be the film of our lifetime barely finished because one of us died, and to be torn apart in the Amazon review pit the way it was. Dennis saved the day essentially with the book. It’s a testament to…a lot, that it even exists.

None of the bigger projects I’ve undertaken were challenge-free, though. Overnight was a far more successful film for me, but it was definitely not without it’s challenges.

This past year I lost my dad, which slowed down an album I’m working on. Life happens no matter what we choose to fill our time with. My creative output has been somewhat dependent on my hardships though, as it leads to the types of stories I end up telling.

I’m in a much better place today. I’m far better at pacing myself, not taking on too much at once, and I’m working far more in service to things that are bigger than me, and it’s far healthier and more fulfilling. Challenges still happen, but I’m more likely to pause and take care of myself when they do, instead of trying to trudge on through grief, rather than facing it.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I think the thing that sets me apart, if anything, is I never could pick one lane. I have a BFA in acting, an MFA in Directing (both in theatre), and the bulk of my creative output over the past 25 years or so has really been in that world, or at least connected to it. The film work and music work were always happening in tandem, though. I appreciate bringing disparate worlds together, like heavy metal music and higher education! Overnight was made at a time I was teaching a directing class at a University in my hometown (one of my alma maters), and so many of the younger cast members were also students in that Theatre Department. The film premiered in the University’s theater, and the announcement for the premiere happened in Texas Metal Connection; an online magazine based in Dallas known for primarily covering Death Metal.

We joked that this is probably the first and last time that a horror film debuted at a private Christian University on the buckle of the bible belt and was announced in a death metal publication. It was a good laugh! But it was also a cool way to see worlds collide. I think that’s what got me into education in the first place. Education is the pursuit of knowledge, and that means getting out of your comfort zone. I don’t teach anymore; time doesn’t really permit. But that’s just one example of how I was able to bring the different parts of my career full circle.

I’m known for having been involved with Snout and EMZY ENZY, as well as my current work with The Death of Zenith and Solunar, but I think more than anything, I just cant’ stay in one medium. I bounce around, no matter how hard I try not to. ADHD, maybe. These last couple of years, however, since the release of Overnight, my primary focus has been on music.

Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
I’m not sure if it’s been luck, but the connections I’ve made over the last two decades or so have always seemed to happen when they were meant to happen.

I think the best advice I can give is don’t wait until you have connections or mentors. Get started. Fail forward. Do the thing. If you have an idea, just chase it, and realize it. Do it badly at first, if you have to. In fact, that’s preferable, because you’ll learn far more.

I think the connections and networking happens as a result of just rolling up your sleeves and getting busy, because then you’re inevitably put in the same room as other people who are doing the same thing as you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.solunarrecords.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solunarrecords/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/solunarrecords
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@solunarrecords
• Other: https://solunarrec.bandcamp.com/

Image Credits
As I Speak in the studio (Selfie by Zach Cunningham)
Blood of the Beloved Graphic – (made by bandmember “Skeptik”)
The Antihero Graphic – created by The Antihero from a photo taken by Shanna Green.
The Death of Zenith Graphic – self-created from a selfie taken by Caleb Straus
Overnight, Side A: Sun Album Cover – by Joe Creetin, Photo by Caleb Straus
Overnight, Side B: Moon Album Cover -created by Caleb Straus, Photo of Boy’s face by Caleb Straus
Silhouette Death live image – by EtchedEternal Photography
Photograph of Caleb Straus and Daiza Gonzales (Solunar Co-founders and best friends) at Overnight Premiere taken by Mindy Morris of Mindy Morris Studios.