Early life Krusen was born in
Tacoma, Washington and grew up in the town of
Gig Harbor along with his two brothers and sister. He was into
Elvis Presley and
Chuck Berry when he was young, Krusen began playing locally in the
Seattle area in 1979 while he was in high school. His first band, Outrigger, was formed with his friends from high school. Throughout the 1980s, Krusen had several stints playing with Seattle area musical acts, including Boibs, Agent Boy, Gary Williams, Tramps of Panic,
Liar's Club, Hard Time, and WarmDrive. Krusen was replaced by
Matt Chamberlain. On May 16, 2022, at the
Fresno, California, show of
Gigaton Tour, Krusen played with Pearl Jam for the second time since leaving the band (the first being Pearl Jam’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction).
Hovercraft In the mid-1990s, Krusen joined
Beth Liebling and Ryan Shinn in the band
Hovercraft under the stage name "Karl 3‒30". Krusen replaced previous drummer Bobby Tamkin. With a more technically proficient drummer, the band was now free to play beyond the lo-fidelity noise experiments of its debut release, and play proper shows with structured improvisation and avant experimentalism. While a member of Hovercraft Krusen toured with the band and recorded the album
Akathisia (1997).
Diamond Star Halo In 1994 Krusen co-founded Diamond Star Halo with former Candlebox bass player Aaron Seravo. The two were introduced by a mutual friend and discovered they had exactly the same vision for a band. The band was completed by Singer Bo Bligh and bassist Steve Martin the band released their first record in 1995 tilted
In The Rough on Regal Recordings. The album was produced by Cristopher Thorne of Blind Melon and Kevin Martin of Candlebox & was mixed by Kelly Grey. The band enjoyed moderate success but not to the level of their former bands Candlebox and Pearl Jam. After much conflict centering on singer Bo Bligh's drug addictions the band dissolved. There was a later version of the band reformed by Seravo in 2000. Aaron Seravo died of cancer January 9, 2011, surrounded by friends and loved ones, at Stanford University Hospital. Steve Martin died very early in 2011 as well (committing suicide) a few days before Seravo's passing.
Candlebox Krusen was the second drummer for
Candlebox, replacing previous drummer
Scott Mercado. Krusen joined in 1997 and recorded the album
Happy Pills (1998) while as a member of the band. Krusen left the band in 1999 and was replaced by
Shannon Larkin of
Ugly Kid Joe. Krusen completed eight tracks on the Candlebox record,
Into the Sun, which was released in July 2008 and nine tracks on the latest Candlebox record,
Love Stories & Other Musings, which was released in April 2012. As of 2015 he has rejoined the band.
Unified Theory Krusen played drums with the band
Unified Theory on its
self-titled album, issued in August 2000. The band was made up of two ex-
Blind Melon members (bassist Brad Smith and guitarist Christopher Thorn) and newcomer Chris Shinn on vocals/guitar. Unified Theory began to form in early 1998. After the first plan to carry on Blind Melon with a new singer didn't work out, Smith and Thorn decided to start a new band and came across vocalist Chris Shinn after moving to Los Angeles. Krusen was already friends with Thorn and Smith. While working on tracks for a second album, delays set the band back, and Krusen grew somewhat frustrated and left. This eventually led to Unified Theory's break-up.
The Hung White Ponies Krusen played drums with
The Hung White Ponies which also included
Rick Rosas on bass,
Ryan Kralik on guitar and vocals and Michael G. Ronstadt on Cello. Formed in 2011 by Ryan Kralik, the band released the album
No Agenda in 2011 along with a cover single of
CSNY's Neil Young penned classic protest tune
Ohio which also featured Iraq War vet Josh Hisle. In 2012 the concept audio/film album CRAZYTOWN A Visual Music Album was released as both an audio album and a feature film. In 2013, after a west-coast tour, the band released the live concert CD/DVD
The Hung White Ponies Live at the High Dive which documented one of the tours Seattle, WA concerts. Krusen is credited as co-producer on many of the Hung White Ponies releases. ==Other musical projects==