For a decade, The Crosses were the ultimate tribute to the Die Kreuzen legacy. Fronted by original vocalist Daniel Kubinski, the band brought legendary intensity back to the stage. Now, the era of nostalgia is over.
With a powerhouse lineup featuring members of Dr. Shrinker and Big Laugh, The Crosses have evolved. They are no longer looking back; they are pushing forward with original material that carries the same raw DNA. This is the first time in decades that fresh recordings feature the iconic voice of Die Kreuzen.
In this exclusive interview, we talk with Daniel Kubinski about the band’s evolution, their new recordings, and the future of their sound.
Hello, thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. How have you been?
I am always happy to talk / write about music and all that encompasses my work, my bands work and other music that I might listen to. Music is one of the few pleasures that we all still have that can take us out of our ordinary existence. I think everyone that truly loves music feels the same way. For instance, I could be having a bad day, for whatever reason and popping on music can completely take me out of my own head or current undesirable situation and transform me to a better and more pleasurable state of mind. So that being said the past year has been a whirl wind of band activity which has been great for me and my perspective on my surroundings and current situations, which of course can flux greatly from day to day. At the moment I am feeling great about my band, my current living situation and my very limited but also very good friends. This at ease feeling is truly wonderful in contrast to when I start thinking about the current world events and also the state of the country I live in. I am grateful to have my music, my band mates, my friends and family all in a healthy state.
For a decade, The Crosses functioned primarily as the custodians of the Die Kreuzen legacy, bringing those classic records back to the stage. What was the specific catalyst that made you realize it was time to step beyond revisiting the past and start writing original material?
The Crosses have been around for just over ten years in various states. During the first incarnation of the band we immediately started writing songs. We had eight very cool and different sounding tunes that we would play at the end our of Die Kreuzen set. One of those songs is Hate Market which the latest version of The Crosses has recorded and released as a CD single and now an even newer and may I say more intense version has been recorded for the Outlier record. So writing new music is something that has always been in the forefront of our minds and something that we continually work at. I think it is only natural for a group of musicians that get together regularly, even if I is to work on a very specific thing, to start jamming and creating without much thought to it even, it just happens. I would also ad that with an exceptional group of musicians that gather on a regular basis that I would expect nothing less than the desire to jam and create or let out sonically the tensions, the love, the thoughts and dreams in a musical format. I have always been and continue to be grateful for the loose jams and preformed ideas that the individual band members bring to rehearsals.
Integrating musicians from diverse musical backgrounds, such as Jim Potter from Dr. Shrinker and Jesse Sieren from Big Laugh, must bring a unique dynamic to the rehearsal room. How did this specific lineup coalesce into a cohesive creative unit capable of writing your own material?
Well, as in the previous question and answer, it is only natural for creatives to create. I believe creativity happens as a natural outlet to other elements in the individuals lives and daily routines. We all listen to a wide variety of music and all of our different influences meet at rehearsals when we create. One player might have a riff or two that he likes and wants to contribute and in a way offers up to rewrite, restructure and the individual parts reexamined by the other players in the group and for myself it is always fascinating to see and hear how these different musical ideas change and morph to form what I believe is our sound. You have to have an open mind and be willing to listen to others and possibly change your ideas either on a small scale or even have the ideas completely transformed by the way the other players are hearing or feeling the music. The current and best line up of The Crosses is very very good at all these things and new music is flowing fast. All The Crosses musicians are severely creative and so accomplished at their different instruments that I can see a new group of songs coming that will not only stand apart from what we have created previously but will also coalesce in an entire LPs worth of music and more in a very short period of time. Of course I believe and I know the other guys in the band believe that the songs need to breathe and grow after they have been written. The songs, to me, follow a particular road map and over the course of time the map gently changes from getting point A to point B and C. Simply working the songs into our set transforms them, they mutate. The way the individual players work together changes the ideas, the way the bass player might follow the drums becomes more and more ingrained, tighter and again transform. The guitar will start to expand on the original idea, parts will change completely, ideas for more vocals or instrumental parts will come to life and therefor change the structure of the song. I love all these things and I believe it is unvocalized and merely a part of being involved in a creative process that The Crosses have collectively. The current line up has come together as we all have a want or need to create and it is simple evolution of any band or creative project. When our previous drummer didn’t want to be part of this operation we found someone who did want to do this. I had met Jesse Sieren at a local record store a few years back and his wide taste in music was astounding and his accomplishments at such a young age told me that he would be an amazing talent to play with, so when a new drummer was needed he was my go to guy and lucky for us he accepted and moved into position with barely a glitch on the bands radar. With Jim Potter it was suggested to me by a good friend that he was more than capable of playing the Die Kreuzen material and also simply being a good and easy going person, both qualities needed for a good and positive band structure. Jim has toured the United Staes and Europe, recorded and released many records over the years and is a well rounded player and creator, it was a very simple task to ask Jim to play with us and of course we are grateful he accepted the challenge. Bassist Chris Ortiz has only recently joined the group and also has great experience in touring, writing and being a bander in general. He continually creates with his group Magnetic Minds and was an integral part of the punk combo The Speed Freaks. We’ve known each other for years, Jim and Chris have made music together in the past and so again it seemed like a natural progression to ask Chris to join us when a new bassist was needed. Chris has already brought in several great ideas for new songs and I have begun putting lyrics and or melodies to his rough ideas so new songs are coming with speed and it all feels very organic and smooth as a process.
Die Kreuzen’s influence on bands like Soundgarden and Sonic Youth is well-documented. Now that The Crosses are writing original music, do you feel a sense of pressure to live up to that foundational legacy, or does it feel like a completely clean slate?
Personally I do not feel that we, The Crosses, have anything to live up to especially anything that Die Kreuzen ever did. Even though we play a ton of Die Kreuzen material we do not envision or create in Die Kreuzens image. We do live by some of the same rules Die Kreuzen lived by such as, anything goes and is fair game for our song writing and we try to continually move forward in writing and not write and rewrite the same songs time and again. Whatever the individual players are feeling and listening to that shape their new ideas is where we start from and once we’ve started who knows where we’ll travel as a song writing team. I think, for me at least, that this is one the best feelings as a creative and these things truly propel me forward, excites and continually motivates me on as a bander. I am truly excited for this coming year and what transpires with our new material.
The new EP, Outlier, bridges traditional hardcore with an angular, progressive metallic edge. How did you balance capturing the raw energy of your early days with the more complex, dissonant textures present on this new release?
All the players in The Crosses have a love of punk and hardcore running through their blood. We also have different elements of metal, jazz, alt/American and simply rock n roll in general that every one of us has inside of us as a music lover. Variety, it has been said, is the spice of life and I think we all see that and live by it either consciously or unconsciously. There really isn’t much thought that goes into what type of music are we going to write. Its more of a feeling or an idea that one guy might have that he interprets though his instrument and when communicating that idea to the rest of us. We, in turn, take that idea, internalize it, twist it and turn it and give it back as a new interpretation, again intentionally or by simple interpretation the parts move and change. I believe this is where an original sound is developed and nurtured. The more these ideas are toyed with the more they develop and change into our sound as a collective. Its such a wonderful thing to be a part of, for myself and it really does fill my mind with wonder and thought to be part of such a process.
Alongside the new original tracks, Outlier features a reworked Die Kreuzen song. What went into the decision-making process of selecting that specific track, and how does this modern arrangement recontextualize it for 2026?
When The Crosses went in to the studio a year ago to record what would become Outlier we also recorded a handful of Die Kreuzen songs. The Die Kreuzen songs we recorded were simply meant to be used as promotional vehicles to show that we could not only play Die Kreuzens Cows and Beer record or the S/T Die Kreuzen LP in its entirety but that we could also play Die Kreuzens October File material with the same ferocity and expertise. We recorded a handful of October File songs; Man in the Trees, Uncontrolled Passion, Its Been so Long, Cool Breeze and Melt. As we were listening to these recordings we all knew that at least one of these songs should be included on Outlier. It came down to either The Crosses version of Man in the Trees or Melt as they both fit in to the soundscape that Outlier already has in its DNA. The other cover song included on Outlier is Husker Dus I’ll Never Forget You which we started jamming when Jesse joined the group a few years back. Jesse suggested it and I immediately was like, yes man, that is one of my favorite songs by the Huskers as well! The rest of the guys also recognized it as a song that would fit into our set, again, it seemed natural. On a side note, at one time we had a handful of cover songs that we’d play intermittently which included; Crucifixes Annihilation, The Grems Land of Treason, Drivin N Cryins Powerhouse, Wires Pink Flag and Sir Lord Baltimores Hard Rain Falling.There was a time when we considered recording and releasing an LPs worth of cover tunes but I think I speak for everyone in the group when I say that we’d rather move forward with original music. Sure we’ll play these cover songs from time to time as they are fun to play and a lot of work went in to learning the songs but again, moving forward with new music is where it is at for us. The version of Man in the Trees on Outlier is fairly straight forward and is maybe us paying tribute to where we started as a band and how we will move forward as a band. What I’m saying is, Man in the Trees was a different sound coming from Die Kreuzen and that underlying suggestion of change is something that runs through The Crosses as well so again, it seems appropriate to include the song and of course we think Die Kreuzen fans as well as Crosses fans will enjoy it. From my perspective they guys play it brilliantly and its just damn fun for us to play. Maybe this hanse been talked about before but I think it is probably assumed and maybe obvious that all the players in The Crosses are also Die Kreuzen fans to some extent so there is joy in playing Die Kreuzen material.
Could you walk us through the songwriting process for The Crosses? Does the music stem from collaborative room jams, or do individual members bring fully formed instrumental skeletons for you to build upon?
The new ideas come in several different forms. The song Nails for instance was brought in by guitarist Jim as nearly a complete tune. Of course the lengths of the parts had to be reworked to fit the vocal structure and of course the drummer and bass player wrote their own parts putting their unique touches on the song. Everything we work on wether an almost fully realized song or that come into the rehearsal room as Merlyns parts to jam on are all internalized and spit back out as the individuals personal interpretations. Sometimes that might be a bit uneasy for the player who brought in the nearly complete idea but again as the song moves forward over time it naturally reshapes itself, transforms and becomes something almost completely different from the original idea. This is something that again inspires me and fills me with wonder as a music lover and I am so thrilled to watch and listen to ideas as they change, morph and move forward to become our original songs. Other songs like Natronium were once two different songs or two different ideas for songs but the merged over time, re worked, rewritten and eventually born as a single song with many different facets and again I am so proud of what we can accomplish as a song writing unit! Currently there are several parts that are floating around us at rehearsal as well as one or two more formed ideas for songs that we are playing that are changing and developing into fresh Crosses songs. It really doesn’t matter if there are fully formed ideas or a couple of loose ideas floating around, in the end they will be transformed and rewritten and transformed yet again until we have a fully realized Crosses song. Anything goes!
The new material features tension-filled, dissonant guitar work paired with a tightly controlled rhythm section. How do you approach finding your vocal pockets and rhythmic cadence within such mathematically and sonically dense structures?
I’ve always written lyrics or simply words down in not the books, words and phrases that I find fascinating or interesting in one way or another. So I’ve loads of small poems or words to start with. Looking up definitions also helps to inspire me to use new and different words, pr sentences that I might not have used before. Reading has always been a catalyst for lyrics as is other music that I listen to. When reading I tend to keep a notebook, pen or pencil handy to write down words I like or to look up definitions, these most always inspire me to use them or move them around within songs to creat different meanings or even double meanings of how one listener my interpret a song or lyrics. Keeping a listener on their toes is something I like to do and hidden meanings and suggestions are everywhere within my lyrics. If I feel that I could use another section of music to make my melody or phrasing work to benefit the song or lyrics I’ll simply ask the guys to extend a certain part or shorten a part as needed. Again, nothing comes in fully formed either as a song or as lyrical ideas. The number of lines that might get crossed out as unnecessary or rewritten often astounds me and is also very satisfying at the same time. My direly also changes over time. Sometimes from what we call a beautiful accident or sometimes as a conscience choice as I may find a better word or phrase to express the thought in what I think is better or more conducive to a good sounding song. Everything in flux, everything changes and I love those challenges and welcome them continuously.
Looking back at the evolution of your voice from Cows and Beer through Century Days, how have your vocal technique and your approach to phrasing adapted to the demanding new material, such as Outlier?
I haven’t ever thought too much about my delivery. What I hear in my head when the song is being played is how I interpret my delivery. Songs from the Cows and Beer era may have a bit of youth, angst and down right anger to them and thusly delivered as such. As time goes by and new songs are developed so are my vocal deliveries. Some songs simply scream in my head and so the lines come out that way, as a scream. Other songs obviously need a more laidback interpretation on my part. Sometimes songs will require many different variations of vocalization and you’ll find all of them in one song. It all depends on the lyrics, the immediate feel, vibe and notes of the song that will make me hear and feel how to let the lyrics out, at what speed, at what measure of intensity and again this is part of what I love about being a bander, a writer and singer. I can take anything, any word and sentence that strikes me as being cool or as moving and do what my mind sees fit to do with it. Theres never any preconceived notion of how to deliver the lyrics. The lyrics arrive and then start to come out into the structure of the song, then change in degrees either this way or that way depending upon how the song is moving. Things are always changing, things are always moving forward and rearranging themselves and I love it.
Lyrically, what are the primary themes and narratives driving the original songs on this material? Are you drawing more from personal introspection or broader societal observations?
As with most all of my lyrics I tend to draw from personal experiences, conversations and traveling. I do love reading and doing so always inspires me with new or fresh words, new ideas on old themes and once I get going on writing its usually a giant drop of emotion and thoughts. I should probably try to write more without a specific topic or goal in mind which I do but maybe not as often as I should. Being a singer in a punk band I like to try and write / sing about things outside the world of love songs. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still write and sing about love on a more personal level but theres more to my world and the world in general than being in love. There is at least one song on Outlier that deals with a lost love as I was just in a relationship that ended after 8 years and the ending of this relationship has affected me greatly, as I assume it would to any human being that has a heart and feelings. Was truly in love and it helps me to write about it and put things in there place and try to come up with a better understanding of what happened and why I feel the way I do. I also write about things, places and people that I find interesting in one way or another. It can be very satisfying and cathartic for me to work out a subject in the written word. Both Hate Market and Nails are more on a political level and describe my personal disillusion with the current state of affairs and / or the way I see things. So there isn’t anything thats off the table as far as writing. I keep a note book with me almost all the time where I write down words, sentences or anything I may find interesting so that I won’t forget them and can go back later and study the word or subject more in depth. So much information passes by us all everyday, were almost bombarded with words and images and I feel a need to sort them out to some extent, at least the ones that I find interesting for whatever reason.
Its funny to look back at the s/t Die Kreuzen LP and read those lyrics, they were written by a 17 or 18 year old kid fresh out of high school. Its not that I am embarrassed by them but it is a look inside the mind of a young person who is out on their own for the first time in their life and writing from somewhat of a narrow perspective. I did write about things that affected me though, from being bullied in school and in my younger years in general to what images and stories passed by me from television and newspapers. In some respects the lyrics correlate to today but because of the passage of so much time my vision is wider, of course and my love for writing has caused me to get more in depth and not write in such simple terms and phrases. Of course reading helps too, The introduction of new and interesting words is always something that inspires and motivates me to be more creative and knowledgeable. Sometimes an entire sentence will stop me and I’ll have to ponder how the author thought of this and in turn I’ll be inspired. To be more direct to your question I think the themes could be somewhat interchangeable although I do try not to repeat myself but I am who I am and I am also a work in progress as we all are and I feel that I am always getting better at writing and expressing myself lyrically. Again, I write about things that are mostly in my direct field of vision, that being said, with social media, a million choices on television and books I’ve plenty to keep my interest and curiosity on point. So things are somewhat the same but different in the ways that I have grown personally and with my perspective widened with a more worldly view.
While you’ve spent years shaping the sound of underground heavy music, what bands or artists are currently inspiring The Crosses? Are there specific acts, past or present, that helped inform the metallic, forward-thinking direction of the new EP?
I can only speak for myself on being inspired but I do know a few things about some of the players in The Crosses that could be described as influences. For instance at our guitarists (Jim Potter / DR Shrinker) suggested we play a song by Sir Lord Baltimore named Hard Rain Falling. From the outside it might seem like an awkward song to do but as I listened to the song and took in the lyrics I could see us doing a killer version of it and we do! Also, our drummer Jesse Sieren suggested doing a cover of Husker Dus I’ll Never Forget You which was always a favorite song of mine from the Huskers Zen Arcade LP. So when Jesse suggested it I know it would fit perfectly, that we could and would do a great job of playing it and that it would also fit in our set nicely, which it does. These things being said there are far too many other artists we are all inspired by to mention. As in Die Kreuzen you have four music lovers and now that we are somewhat older there are so many bands and styles of music that we all listen to that its almost impossible to suggest any direct inspirations. All four of us have very diverse and thick tastes in music. Personally I go back to my punk roots a lot for example I recently got out my Fartz World Full of Hate LP, it seems to fit the times but at the same time I’ve been listening to a lot of early Birthday Party and later Nick Cave records. There was recently a Mecht Mensch LP released and I loved them so much back in the day yet so little was available to listen to, so That LP has spent some serious time on my turn table as do this newer punk band from Cleveland Attaxia. I just love their brash and unfiltered take on the subjects they write about and live the go off like a fucking bomb and they are so refreshing and also reassuring that punk isn’t becoming complacent. I also dig this band from California called The Dark, I just love the guitar sound and their songs are a bit longer and have a groove that hits me in the right way. I still listen to some classics like the Clash, howI wish Joe Strummer was here today, I know he’d have some brilliant songs and lyrics about the state of things today. I miss him terribly. I love Tom Waits and I am a complete and total nut for anything David Bowie. I think Bowie is one of thee most creative people to have ever walked the planet and I find myself lucky to have lived and shared the same era and realm that he walked in. I count myself so very fortunate to have had the chance to see him play live, it was life changing as was seeing The Clash on their Pearl Harbor Tour (London Calling) back in the late ‘70s. That Clash concert made me realize that punk could be whatever you wanted it to be. About half way through their set Joe and Mick set down their telecasters and Les Pauls and donned acoustic guitars. I couldn’t believe it. We had all been dancing and singing along and that didn’t change with the addition of acoustic guitars, we went right on singing and dancing at the same ferocity and it was glorious, I’ll never forget that and how inspiring it was. My dad, much to his chagrin bought me the ticket to see the Cash and I told him that he was responsible for me doing things the way I do and living my life the way I do as I never wanted to do anything more than be creative and be in a band. I always did want to do that, my entire life but after seeing The Clash I knew it was the only thing for me. I have recently been turned on to Marc Ribot, I was brought to one of his shows without knowing anything about him and he was so fantastic, just blew my mind. It was just Marc and his guitar and it was so beautiful. His latest recording Map of a Blue City is terrific! I loved The Effigies from Chicago back in the day and their new LPBurn is so very very good. It is thoughtful lyrically and creative musically yet contains the original fire I loved about them back in the 8
‘80s. I am so glad they decided to continue on after the loss of their singer John Kezdy just a year or so ago. I’ve seen them live a few times in the past year and they are so good and new singer Geoff Sabin is a great front man and is able to display that same intensity that John put forth. I am so happy for them and that they chose to continue on. You can tell they are really enjoying themselves and I look forward to their next recording. Sparks is a band I discovered back in the ‘70s and I love them to this day, I finally had a chance to see them live a few times a couple of years ago and I couldn’t stop smiling and singing along, so damn good! I am a bug Swans guy, I find them so creative and inspiring, they always seem to tread new ground yet contain the same fierceness of their early recordings. Yes there are some quieter moments but I enjoy those too. Cheap Trick is a band I grew up on as they were from my hometown of Rockford IL and I still love them to this day. Their newest record All Washed Up is really good and I will miss them when they decide to hang it up, they’ve been with me for so long they are almost a part of me. They were considered a punk band back in the day as their first LP is so brash and violent, filled with loud guitars, pounding drums and lyrical themes that were very off kilter for the time it was released. So those are some of my favorite artist but there are many many more and my bandmates are just as diverse in their tastes yet we all have a love for heavy music and punk! Maybe thats where we meet, a cross roads of sorts within our various musical tastes.
How much of that influence is a conscious homage to the bands you respect, versus a natural byproduct of the specific musicians involved in this project?
I think or believe that anything you listen to, read, see or are a part of is an influence. Sometimes you don’t even recognize the influence until someone says, Hey man, that kinda sounds like a Bowie thing or a Bowie reference and I’ll think on it for a second and either acknowledge it as such or recognize that my trick wasn’t quite canceled enough to cover my tracks. Everything is an influence when you love music as much as I do. I discovered music early on as my Dad would sing and play guitar to us as a family when I was very young. He also plays accordion and he had a band back in his high school years. I remember playing his records when I was young and I am eternally grateful for his love of John Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival, I still love Creedence, in fact when I heard the song Travelin Band theres a scream Fogerty does in the middle of the song and when I heard that I was covered in goosebumps and I knew thats what I wanted to do too; scream in a rock n roll traveling’ band and thank the powers that be I have been able to do so since I joined my first band at around age 15. My mom had a love for Santana and I thank her for my love of Santana and that beautiful guitar sound. She also took my sister and I to see Jesus Christ Superstar when we were young and Carl Andersons magnificent voice has been a direct inspiration on me. Again though, I think anything you take in, wether music, books or films all has direct influence on you wether you know it and recognize it or not. It all comes into you and then comes out as your interpretation wether on purpose or not, its shaped you and transformed you, especially the stuff you love.
With Outlier dropping on April 17th via Triple Eye, Spectragram, and Rushmor Records, what does the rollout and touring cycle look like? Are you planning to hit the road extensively to support the release?
The Crosses are made up of four very distinct individuals with very different lives so touring will be something that we will have to come to terms with. We have been going out mostly doing weekend shows usually in groups of two or three and sometimes longer stints of four or five dates. We recently hooked up with a very cool guy Brad Raffenaud who is a professional booking agent from The Kirby Organization or TKO. Brad is a Die Kreuzen fan so when he heard what we were doing he got a hold of us and asked if he could helps out so this is our first year and outing with Brad and TKO. So far we are doing a few festivals like Milwaukees Metal Fest, The Mile of Music Fest and The FEST in Gainesville Florida. He is also making our weekends work a little better for us and to tell you the truth I am so grateful to have him working with us. Not only is he a cool human being who loves music as much as we do but he is easy going and nice to work with. We will be doing a more proper tour this fall, we’ve given Brad the month of October to book us as many shows in a row as he can find and until them we’ll continue going out on two to three day trips. We are fully expecting things to change and get a bit busier after Outlier comes out. We’d love to go out with one of our contemporaries like Negative Approach or The Effigies if that kind of thing should come up. The Crosses are a very fierce live act (so I’ve been told) so maybe we are a hard act to follow but I think sooner or later we’ll win over our own audience which we already have to some extent but I think I speak for everyone in The Crosses when I say we would love to play to more and more people. We have so much joy being expelled in our live shows and people can see and hear that and I think that alone will win more folks over as we move forward. I think Outlier will also open eyes and ears for us as well. We put a ton of time and effort in to the record from the song writing to recording to the artwork and having a terrific label behind us in Triple Eye Industries who really do care about their artists. They are like what Touch & Go was to Die Kreuzen. The Crosses feel at home with our label and our supporters in Rush Mor Records, both groups of people are genuine and truly want us to do well. Spectrogram is my personal record label and outlet for some of my projects, I put out an acoustic punk record under the name DeadFinger a few years back on the label, mostly covers but I’ve a new DeadFinger record in the works that is 90% original tunes and I am very proud of what I’ve done with my guitar and vocal skills. I can’t wait to finish it up and get it out. I can see myself doing DeadFinger shows long after I am too old to hardcore punk rock anymore. In fact I kind of look forward to being this ancient dude dragging his acoustic guitar up on a stage and banging out my own version of punk rock!
That’s it. Thank you for your time. Is there anything you would like to say to the readers?
We would love for people to come and check us out when we come through your city. You’ll hear some Die Kreuzen music and theres no-one else throwing down Die Kreuzen tunes! The players in The Crosses are all very accomplished musicians and have great respect for Die Kreuzens music and they want to do the tunes justice. Plus the new Crosses music we are creating is very exciting for us and those that witness us live! I think that these things and the music will propel us forward for years to come and I can hardly wait!!!!
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