30
Nearly three decades creating music
Composition, songwriting, recording, performance, production, and experimentation across an evolving body of work.
The man behind the mayhem
Crafting worlds through sound.
Chad is a composer, songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, and creative ringleader whose work is driven by one constant: storytelling.
His music has appeared in film, television, immersive events, and other media. As a songwriter and lyrical wordsmith, Chad describes music as a sonic journal—a place for healing, self-expression, imagination, and the experiences that shape a life.
Today, “Mad” Chad Canfield leads Vardo as its Maestro of Madness. He is also the founder of Kenebula Records and the former frontman of The Richard Cranium Sideshow, which ran from 2002 through 2014.
“Still just a kid from Wisconsin with a guitar and a big dream.”
A life in sound
Roles, milestones & creative territory
Chad’s work refuses to stay in one lane. The same career has moved through bands, scoring, recording, theatrical performance, production, engineering, voice work, and independent music publishing.
2016
Independent composer & label founder
Founder of Kenebula Records and an independent composer working across soundtrack, media, and original music projects.
∞
More than one job title
Composer, sound designer, songwriter, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer, engineer, publisher, label owner, and voiceover performer.
V
Maestro of Vardo
Leader of the shape-shifting world-folk and steampunk ensemble where music, theater, spectacle, and curiosity collide.
RC
Richard Cranium Sideshow
Former frontman of the theatrical project from 2002–2014—an early home for the mischief and stagecraft still present in Chad’s work.
AV
Music for pictures, places & stories
Work spanning film, television, games, conventions, immersive events, sound design, and other media experiences.
Current worlds
One artist. Many doors.
Some projects are bands. Some are scores. Some are experiments that become something else entirely.
Vardo
The World’s Greatest Circus Steampunk Orchestra and World Folk Ensemble—a musical caravan of folk traditions, cinematic storytelling, and theatrical invention.
Enter Vardo →
Soundtracks & Scores
Original music for film, conventions, immersive experiences, and other story-driven worlds—written, performed, recorded, produced, and engineered across Chad’s catalog.
Explore the catalog →
Selected recorded work
From the stage to the soundtrack.
Chad’s Bandcamp catalog stretches across solo releases, original soundtracks, convention scores, cinematic work, and music connected to his larger creative projects.
TeslaCon: War of the Worlds
Official soundtrack
Official soundtrack
The ExpectoCon Soundtracks
Original event and cinematic music
Original event and cinematic music
Dolly Deadly 1.5
Original film soundtrack
Original film soundtrack
The Official StoneRow Soundtrack
Original soundtrack release
Original soundtrack release
Cobwebs • Jingle-Janky! • De-Con • For the Love
Original releases and creative experiments
Original releases and creative experiments
The goal is not simply to write a song—it is to build a place the listener can step into.
Work, booking & collaboration
Have a story that needs a sound?
For performance inquiries, composing and sound work, collaborations, press, or general questions, send a note through Madness & Moore.
Contact Chad / Madness & Moore