In 2001, Owens joined Bradley Bell, Pat McManaman, Jason Hale, Matt Goddard and Derrick Frost to form a band in Davison, Michigan. Originally named "Chiodos Bros." in tribute to special effects trio the Chiodo Brothers, the band recorded its first demo in June 2002. Following several years of national touring and independent recording, they were signed by Equal Vision Records in 2004 and, under the name Chiodos, released their first full-length album, All's Well That Ends Well in 2005. They continued thereafter, recording and touring.
Even after his separation from his first band, Owens continued to have an interest in working with them and, after being asked by his management about what project he most wanted to pursue, he made overtures about a possible return to Chiodos. On April 26, 2012, Owens announced his return to Chiodos. Subsequently, on April 27, the remaining members of D.R.U.G.S. revealed their intention to disband. Chiodos' first live appearance after their reunion took place on August 9, 2012 in a sold-out performance at Flint Local 432 in Michigan. As of that date, the members had tentative plans for a new album, on which they have been working separately but not yet begun to coordinate.
On November 1, 2016 in an interview with Billboard, vocalist Craig Owens stated in regards to Chiodos that, "It's done, it just couldn't stay afloat. There were just kind of, not necessarily bad vibes, but we came to the realization that we can't do it full-time. I think it just stopped becoming a passion for most of us so we said, 'Alright, let's stop." Thus bringing an end to Chiodos' fifteen-year career.
Owens featured as vocalist in the supergroup, The Sound of Animals Fighting. Owens featured on the album Lover, the Lord Has Left Us.. released in 2006. The group consisted of project members of Circa Survive, Finch, Rx Bandits, Days Away each member of the group wore an animal mask to hide their personas to influence the groups creativeness, Owens is identified in the group as the Ram. Owens appeared in the groups live line up We Must Become the Change We Want to See in 2006 along with 11 other members.
During this work with Chiodos, Owens and Bell formed the side project Cinematic Sunrise as a place to perform music that didn't fit Chiodos' style. When the band signed with Equal Vision, in March 2008, its line-up had included Owens, Bell, Bryan Beeler, Marcus Vankirk and Dave Shapiro. Cinematic Sunrise released an EP later that Spring, A Coloring Storybook and Long Playing Record.
In September 2008, Owens revealed to fans on his journal that in addition to several guest vocalist appearances, he was working on another side project with Jonny Craig of Emarosa/Dance Gavin Dance, Vic Fuentes of Pierce the Veil and Nick Martin of Underminded/Cinematic Sunrise. When the Isles & Glaciers supergroup was officially announced in December, it also included Owens' bandmate Matt Goddard, Fuentes' brother and bandmate Mike Fuentes and Brian Southall from the band The Receiving End of Sirens.
The supergroup premiered their first songs during a radio interview on January 18, 2009.The band's EP, The Hearts of Lonely People, was released on March 9, 2010.
Asked in March 2012 if Isles & Glaciers would consider further collaboration, Owens indicated that the possibility had been discussed among various members of the group but not established; "we've tossed the idea around to see if we could put it back together, but that was just to see if we could do anything...there's no set plans right now."
On September 15, 2009, Owens released a solo EP, "Με την αγάπη (With Love)", through Equal Vision Records. Nine days later, on September 24, 2009, Chiodos announced that they had parted ways with Craig Owens, announcing that the decision to "let Craig Owens go as the singer of Chiodos...was a necessary one", but refusing to disclose details "[o]ut of respect for all of the hard work that we have put in together for all of these years". For the next several months, Owens maintained a low profile, taking personal time and writing songs.
In June 2010, at the time he discussed his upcoming project with Alternative Press, he had written or co-written 30 songs for a not-yet-completed supergroup signed to Decaydance featuring Nick Martin of Cinematic Sunrise and Aaron Stern of Matchbook Romance. On August 17, Owens announced via Twitter that the new band would be named D.R.U.G.S. (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows). On February 21, 2011, with the completed band lineup including Matt Good of From First to Last and Adam Russell of Story of the Year and production by John Feldmann, D.R.U.G.S. released their eponymous debut. The album reached No. 29 on Billboard 200 and higher on some of Billboard's specialized lists, including hitting No. 6 on Top Rock Albums, No. 5 on Modern Rock/Alternative Albums and No. 1 on Hard Rock Albums. D.R.U.G.S. coheadlined the 2011 Alternative Press Tour.
In March 2020, Owens confirmed the possibility of upcoming D.R.U.G.S. tour dates on his Twitter account the following day new single was shared dubbed "King I Am" demo was released following a Forbes Magazine Q&A. In February 2021 the band announced they have signed to Velocity Records with a planned 2021 album release. On February 2, 2022, the band released their first new song featuring Owens, Weinhofen and Patrick titled "Destiny". The song was released through Velocity Records.
In February 2016, Craig released a short grindcore EP entitled Empathy Is A Gift under the moniker of Bea5t, downloadable from his Bandcamp page.
After the end of Chiodos, Craig began releasing music under the moniker badXchannels.] An extended play was released at the end of 2016 with two more stand-alone songs released in early 2017. These songs were later grouped into an EP known as Transmissions, freely available to subscribers of his mailing list.
Haunted
Craig Owens Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A broken fairy tale fills this home
The only sound is my heart beating alone
Can′t keep it in time
I see you in my breath, in this cold
You follow me wherever I go
Bags under my eyes
They don't miss you at all
I'm haunted by the things that I cannot see
I'm haunted by a love that will never be
Just when I finally think I′m free
I see you standing there in front of me
I′m haunted by the ghost of your memory
Of your memory
In the dimmest of light she reappears
Feel her whisper in my ear
Shadows dance on the walls
Figures fade in and fall
You've been gone for so long but
I still live like you′re here watching me
And I still sleep like you're right next to me
And I can′t stop from seeing you around
That's why I sleep with the television on
I′m haunted by the things that I cannot see
I'm haunted by a love that will never be
Just when I finally think I'm free
I see you standing there in front of me
I′m haunted by the ghost of your memory
If we′re all dust from stars
Why do you feel so far
I scream up at the moon to tell me where you are
But we both know you're gone
I′m haunted by the things that I cannot see
I'm haunted by a love that will never be
Just when I finally think I′m free
I see you standing there in front of me
I'm haunted by the ghost of your memory
Of your memory
The lyrics of Craig Owens's song Haunted conveys a person's feelings of loneliness, heartbreak, and the inability to let go. The song starts with the singer's feeling of being exposed on the darkest of nights in a broken fairy tale-like home. The only sound the person hears is their own heart beating alone. As the song progresses, the singer speaks about their inability to forget their lost love. They see their lost love everywhere and their memories haunt them. Even after a long time of the breakup, the feeling of their lost love's presence never leaves their mind, and they continue to live like their partner is still watching them, even though they have gone.
The line "I see you in my breath, in this cold" depicts the singer's state of mind where they see their lost love even in simple things like their breath. The person relentlessly tries to forget their lost love, but their memories continue to haunt them. The singer questions the distance between them and their lost love in the line "If we are all dust from stars Why do you feel so far." The song ends with the realization that their lost love is never coming back, and they have to accept their absence from their life.
Line by Line Meaning
On the darkest of nights, feeling exposed
In the night when everything is pitch black and I feel vulnerable
A broken fairy tale fills this home
My life seems like a tragic story and it has permeated through my living space
The only sound is my heart beating alone
All I can hear is my own heart beating as I'm completely alone
Can′t keep it in time
My heart seems to beat out of sync with everything else around me
I see you in my breath, in this cold
Your presence feels like a cold draft in the air, and as I breathe I see you in my mind
You follow me wherever I go
Your memory lingers and follows me wherever I may be
Bags under my eyes
My lack of sleep due to this haunting has caused dark circles under my eyes
They don't miss you at all
These dark circles are not due to missing you
That′s why I sleep with the television on
I have to distract myself from these haunting thoughts by falling asleep to the noise of the TV
I'm haunted by the things that I cannot see
The memories and thoughts of you constantly haunt me though you're nowhere to be seen
I'm haunted by a love that will never be
I longed for a relationship that can never be
Just when I finally think I′m free
Every time I feel like I'm getting over you
I see you standing there in front of me
You appear in my thoughts and memories as if you're standing right in front of me
I′m haunted by the ghost of your memory
The mere thought of you haunts me daily even though you're no longer here
In the dimmest of light she reappears
Even in the weakest light, I can still see her appear
Feel her whisper in my ear
I can hear her voice whispering in my ear
Shadows dance on the walls
The shadows of the past seem to move and dance on the walls
Figures fade in and fall
I see faint figures appear and disappear as if they are fading away
You've been gone for so long but
Though you've been gone for so long,
I still live like you′re here watching me
I still can't shake the eerie feeling that you're here, watching over me
And I still sleep like you're right next to me
I continue to sleep with the thought that you are still next to me
And I can′t stop from seeing you around
I can't help but imagine your presence around me at all times
If we′re all dust from stars
If we all came from the same origins of stardust
Why do you feel so far
Why do you seem so out of reach
I scream up at the moon to tell me where you are
I wish for the moon to tell me where you are now
But we both know you're gone
But deep down, we both know that you're no longer here
Of your memory
The ghost of your memory continues to replay in my mind
Writer(s): Kane Churko, Craigery Owens
Contributed by Leo M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.