Q&A: CRYSTAL
Wellington born & raised alternative pop artist and producer CRYSTAL has featured on Spotify’s iconic playlists “New Music Friday AU & NZ”, “Pop n Fresh” and “Women of AU & NZ” with her single “The Chase”, which now has almost 50K plays on Spotify alone! She tells us about the making of this infectious track, her latest single “One Dollar Pizza” celebrating her love for New York City and more.
We’d love to know a little bit about your musical journey so far from when you first started singing and producing!
My parents always used to say that when I was little I used to sing the James Bond theme song “Gold Finger” around the house all the time. During primary and intermediate I did choir, Kapa Haka and lunchtime Gamelan, and also sang at a few talent shows at school and the mall. When I got to high school I took music as a subject till I graduated but the course was based in theory, not creativity and I hated it. I started producing in my final year because I was sick of trying to write music on Sibelius (music notation programme) for assignments because I struggled to articulate my ideas which killed my creativity and made me feel like I could never be good at music. I downloaded a free trial of Ableton (digital audio workstation) because I’d seen a few DIY artists on Instagram use it, and bought myself a MIDI controller and that’s how it all started. After high school, I got into the commercial music course at Massey University (which is cool because I failed music in high school), and continued to develop in performance and production.
We’re loving your new track “One Dollar Pizza”! Can you tell us a little bit about the concept of this song and what inspired you to write it?
I’m so happy to hear that, thank you! “One Dollar Pizza” was written after a family holiday to New York City a few years ago – it was the first time I had visited as an adult (I’d visited before when I was 16 months old). I was obsessed with Gossip Girl for a long time, and seeing NYC in real life felt like a dream; overwhelming but in the most exciting way. Once we returned back from the trip, it hit me how huge NYC was in comparison to my hometown of Wellington. It was hard not to feel like my life was super small and mundane.
At the time, I had just finished up my first year studying commercial music and was starting to get serious about music production. I spent my summer writing lyrics and producing demos about my holiday experiences and how they made me feel because I felt so inspired. I needed to document everything while it was still so vivid.
“One Dollar Pizza” is a celebration of my love for New York City, and my yearning for escape from my hometown to something bigger.
What was your main highlight working on “One Dollar Pizza”?
I started performing “One Dollar Pizza” live when it was a really rough demo, so experiencing and hearing the sonic development of the song overtime and connecting that to my own progression as a producer has been super rewarding.
Plus, congrats on the success of your sophomore single “The Chase”! Can you tell us about the meaning behind this song and what the writing process was like?
Thank you so much, I’m so proud of that song! With “The Chase”, that was a super cool collaboration I did with my friend Nik Brinkman. He’s amazing at playing the guitar, and the song was written around one of the riffs he was messing around with. With this song, I knew I wanted to write about my hometown, and have it be something my friends and I could relate too; op-shopping on Cuba Street, wearing whatever and not caring, living for the weekends to go out and do something. While I was trying to write the chorus, I was still trying to figure out what the song meant. Then, “the chase” just came out and summed up all these loose ideas throughout the song perfectly.
We are always chasing after something, even if we don’t realise it - for happiness, for love, for success, for something new etc. Life is a chase, and it never stops. We’re all on the chase haha!
What’s next for you - do you have an EP/album on the way soon? 👀
I’m working towards an EP! I’m producing the last couple of tracks on my own so it’s taking a bit longer but it’s something I’ve always wanted to do so I’m really excited about that aspect of it.
Who are your biggest inspirations in music?
I draw so much inspiration from my friends but outside of them I have admired The Japanese House, Lorde, James Blake and King Krule for a long time. Lorde was a huge influence when I was younger and made me realise that actually, being from NZ isn’t a barrier in being successful and being heard in music.
If there’s anything you could change about the current music industry, what would it be and why?
Promoters and festival organisers need to be a lot more aware of diversity and inclusion in line-ups. It would be great if there was more BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ representation because we just aren’t doing enough as a whole. Additionally, it would be great if there was more support for female producers and engineers or those starting out and wanting to learn. The music scene in NZ is super male dominated so creating the space, and the opportunities is super important in empowering women, changing the culture which exists currently, and creating a more inclusive environment for future generations.
Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you love or connect with?
FABLE - “298”
Livia O - “i don’t write songs for boys”
imugi 이무기 (ft. Hans) - “Swimming”
deryk - “one star” (saw her live recently and cried 3 times, beautiful performer)
LBFRmikey - “Planet Breaking”
What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?
I love (but sometimes hate) that it is so small. You can go to one city and meet someone totally new who has like 5 mutual friends. There’s this comforting sense of familiarity everywhere you go. I’ve lived in central Wellington my whole life and love visiting the observatory in Kelburn and driving around the south coast during summer. The Foxton Beach sand dunes north of Wellington are gorgeous too.
What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt as an artist so far?
Never seek validation from other people, if you believe in your art and you love it, then that’s all that matters! Also take your time to develop, to grow, to figure out what you want to say - there’s no need to rush. I’ve done that for myself and it’s given me a lot more confidence and direction.
Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
Treat people with kindness and never take anything for granted. Show love, and never give up on your dreams EVER :’)
Thanks so much CRYSTAL! Make sure to keep up with her on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music.
