“CRAWL” by Spellslinger: A Song About Longing To Feel Seen
Written by: Annie Schlottman
My first experience with Spellslinger was Saturday, August 1st at The V Spot bar in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I was attending an event called Knights At The Tavern, a Renaissance-themed show featuring four rock and pop punk bands from Northeastern Pennsylvania. I wasn't exactly sure how the night was going to be, because it was my first time at that particular venue, and I wasn't planning on wearing a costume or anything like that, which I was worried would be odd. Well, it didn't matter. It was a great night. I saw four awesome bands, hung out with some wonderful friends, and made some new ones also. The costumes were a sight to behold, especially the “Knights” in their suits of armour. Overall, it was a really cool vibe!
To be honest, my primary reason for attending the show was to see my good friends in No Take Backs. I was also excited to see Delaware Ave again, a band I had actually first seen back in April, ironically with No Take Backs. The other bands that night at The V Spot were two that I wasn't super familiar with, Broken Alibi and Spellslinger. They were both great!
When Spellslinger took the stage, there was something about their aura that struck me. They were poised and confident, and commanded the audience’s attention. Their performance was fun and energetic. They played a brand new song, which they said they would soon be releasing. That gave me an idea.
After Spellslinger's set I approached their lead vocalist, Sasha Lumanauw. I wanted to tell her how much I enjoyed the band’s performance. I also brought up the possibility of me writing about the band. She seemed genuinely thrilled and took me to meet some of her bandmates, including rhythm guitarist Jesse Thorpe. They were all really nice, and I told them I would be in touch with them. I also had a really nice conversation before I left that night with the band’s drummer, Brandon Ciabatoni.
Spellslinger released their latest single, "CRAWL", August 14th, and I was able to connect with the band and interview Jesse for this story. I enjoyed getting to know more about the band!
Band members of Spellslinger are: Sasha; Jesse; Brandon; Gino Serafini (lead guitar); and James Baker (bass). Most of the bandmates are scattered around Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania, other than Brandon, who is in Tobyhanna in Monroe County. But the band basically came together in Scranton, so they consider that their home base.
The members of Spellslinger like to think of June 30th, 2024 as their first official day as a band. It was the first day they were in the studio when they started recording “the Chase”, their debut single.
The band started with Jesse, Gino, and Sasha. They were already friends at the time and would get together weekly to play Dungeons and Dragons, which is an important part of the lore. Eventually they found out that each one of them played an instrument, and they would occasionally jam with just the guitars and Sasha freestyle singing. They did that for a few months and then threw out ideas of how cool it would be to start actually recording music and playing shows.
James was a friend of Gino’s who they saw played bass online. They immediately roped him in because he was also a big fan of DnD and he didn’t live too far away.
The final missing piece was Brandon because every band is centered around drums. Everyone in the group had a different inspiration when it came to their favorite artists and music styles, so Jesse knew a versatile drummer would be ideal. They joined a few local artist groups on Facebook and eventually connected with Brandon. They found that he had a great playing ability and energy, so they brought him in and immediately started demoing “The Chase”.
It should be no surprise that the band’s name is based on Dungeons and Dragons. As mentioned earlier, even before the band began Gino, Sasha, and Jesse would all get together and play DnD. They were all into Renaissance and dark fantasy, so after they found out they were all interested in playing music and started doing that together, they went through some ideas for band names and came down to “The Spellslingers” and “Spellslinger”. Ultimately, it was the latter of the two they decided to go with.
Jesse and Sasha write all of the lyrics to Spellslinger’s songs. It typically starts out with an already written song, maybe just the bones of an idea or a riff and then everyone puts in what they want over the track using their own creative inspirations to bring it to life. The band has been blessed to have a great producer and friend, Matt Jenkins, who lets them use his space to create demos as well, which Gino utilizes to flush out a lot of instrumental song ideas and then Jesse and Sasha come in and write over it. Their song “LOST” is probably the most collaborative track, being the first one Sasha and Jesse co-wrote over an instrumental that Gino created.
The aforementioned Matt Jenkins has been a great person to work with behind the scenes creating Spellslinger’s music. The band brings him demos that they scratch record on their phones or at Jesse’s home studio. Matt takes the demos and uses his talent and skills to make them sound absolutely incredible. The band will always recommend him to anyone looking to get their music professionally recorded.
Spellslinger’s art covers and merch designs are designed by their bassist James. Jesse said that his creativity and artistic background are invaluable because it’s a big part of helping to fund their project.
Ideas for Spellslinger songs come from various places. The band’s first EP, Beyond Realms, which won Album Of The Year at the 2025 Steamtown Music Awards, was centered around the idea of wanting something you probably shouldn’t, and then spending a lot of your time chasing it, waking up to the understanding that it’s not what you thought, regretting those decisions, and then letting go.
Jesse told me he feels that a lot of times the band writes songs about personal experiences or moments they experience through other people. As far as inspiration for their sound, each member in the band has such a different music taste, which Jesse thinks benefits them. They don’t sound like any other bands in particular because they have so many different elements blending to create something new and unique.
I asked Jesse specifically about the band’s latest single, “CRAWL”, which came out August 14th. He said “CRAWL” was written from a freestyle clip he recorded with his acoustic and built around the line in the chorus “All this time you’d just hold my hand/But you could never hold my whole heart instead”.
Jesse expanded on his explanation.
“From there it was made to reflect the idea of feeling like it’s too much to be understood and seen which makes a lot of people uncomfortable. It explores the feeling of digging yourself a hole for someone and once they pull their ropes out (like in the first verse) you’re left there alone with who you are, who you’ve become, and how you feel about it. That pressure to give so much and never feel like you’re completely seen for who you are makes your skin crawl (pun intended lol).”
Jesse told me that Spellslinger will have a lot more music coming out in the future. So far they have preferred to not drop a whole album because they work so hard on their music and want to give each song its moment to shine. But fans can expect more new music soon!
Spellslinger has several upcomnig live performances scheduled. This Friday, September 4th, they’ll be appearing in the Jump The Gap Festival at The Ritz Theater in Scranton. “JTG” is a multi-genre event featuring local and regional music acts ranging from pop punk to metalcore to slam to hip hop and beyond. You can get tickets for $15 in advance by clicking HERE. They’re also available at the door for $25.
The band will be performing at the Steamtown Music Awards at The V Spot in Scranton Thursday September 10th. Spellslinger is actually nominated in two awards categories, for Rock/Alternative Act of the Year and for Song of the Year (“VIVIANITE”). Fans can vote on the awards through September 7th by clicking HERE. You can buy tickets for the awards show HERE.
The next night, Friday, September 11th, Spellslinger will be at EMO Night at The Ritz Theater. You can purchase tickets for EMO Night HERE.
Finally, SpellFest is Saturday, September 19th. This is Spellslinger’s very own festival. They hosted it for the first time last year. It’s a Wiccan-themed music festival at McDade Park in Scranton from 12:00 noon to 6:00pm. Admission is free, and attendees are encouraged to dress up in their best Renaissance outfits. This year’s lineup includes Safe Sermon, Sweetnest, Into Sunday, Spellslinger, and Drowning Kelly. There will be face painting, crafts for kids, a ton of vendors, food trucks, and raffle baskets, and all proceeds benefit Saint Joseph’s Center!
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