What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?
Basically, we are considered a Detroit band and have been since we started this journey. In
the beginning, we opened up for such classic rock acts as Bob Seger, Foghat, Nazareth,
Steppenwolf and many more before finding our true path into the Christian music field.
The name of the band SWEET CRYSTAL reflects the message of our music and mission
referring to passages in the Book Of Revelation that describe a river of sweet water flowing
out from the throne of God, clear as crystal. Sounded like an amazing sight to see and place
to be…so we adopted it and never looked back!
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to
explore when you start off?
The band (Marq Andrew Speck – lead vocals, anything with keys; Bill Blatter – backup
vocals, anything with 6 strings; Steve Wieser – anything hit with sticks; Martin Kuchar –
anything with 4 or 5 strings) gets together every week to rehearse and record and have been
doing that for over 4 decades. We play a lot of freeform jams at our rehearsals and out of
those jams, we pick melodies, chord patterns and themes that just seem to be…sweeter to
our ears. I (keyboardist/lead singer Marq Andrew Speck) take those ideas and do the
arrangements, add the melodies and lyrics and present the rough songs to the guys where
they each bring their own expertise to make the final products. It really is a full band thing on
each song.
Being a Christian progressive rock band, of course the Bible is a huge inspiration for lyrics
and themes, but more than that – we try and write songs that offer hope, inspiration and
always a light at the end of every dark tunnel in life. Chances are, whatever the listener is
going through, one of us has also struggled with it as well, If we can point them in the same
direction that got us through, maybe that will be all they need to triumph as well.
How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to
explore when you start off?
The band (Marq Andrew Speck – lead vocals, anything with keys; Bill Blatter – backup
vocals, anything with 6 strings; Steve Wieser – anything hit with sticks; Martin Kuchar –
anything with 4 or 5 strings) gets together every week to rehearse and record and have been
doing that for over 4 decades. We play a lot of freeform jams at our rehearsals and out of
those jams, we pick melodies, chord patterns and themes that just seem to be…sweeter to
our ears. I (keyboardist/lead singer Marq Andrew Speck) take those ideas and do the
arrangements, add the melodies and lyrics and present the rough songs to the guys where
they each bring their own expertise to make the final products. It really is a full band thing on
each song.
Being a Christian progressive rock band, of course the Bible is a huge inspiration for lyrics
and themes, but more than that – we try and write songs that offer hope, inspiration and
always a light at the end of every dark tunnel in life. Chances are, whatever the listener is
going through, one of us has also struggled with it as well, If we can point them in the same
direction that got us through, maybe that will be all they need to triumph as well.
Why do you write the sort of music that you do?
We started out totally influenced by the progressive rock English music scene of the 60’s
and 70’s: bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Atomic Rooster, Uriah Heep all left their
musical marks on our writing and playing. We also listened to a lot of American bands like
Kansas, Journey, Rush and Spock’s Beard to keep our creative juices flowing. These were
defining influences in our formative years and remain so to this day. This new album ‘7TH
HEAVEN’ continues where last year’s ‘Got Your Six’ left off: songs of hope and inspiration
featuring our signature guitar sounds, synth melodies, straight ahead drumming with just a
few chanting monks thrown in for good measure.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them
into that live setting?
We have quite a catalogue of original material so picking the right songs for the venue,
anticipated crowd type or event is a very liquid procedure. I decide which songs will best fit
the event, put them into either a sequenced order for the biggest shows or just call them out
in our smaller “SWEET CRYSTAL LITE” shows (our acoustic based shows) depending on
how I read the crowd. Besides our originals, we also do a few cover songs that we
‘Crystalize’ (our name for how we cover covers) making some classic rock tracks into our
own.
How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them
into that live setting?
We have quite a catalogue of original material so picking the right songs for the venue,
anticipated crowd type or event is a very liquid procedure. I decide which songs will best fit
the event, put them into either a sequenced order for the biggest shows or just call them out
in our smaller “SWEET CRYSTAL LITE” shows (our acoustic based shows) depending on
how I read the crowd. Besides our originals, we also do a few cover songs that we
‘Crystalize’ (our name for how we cover covers) making some classic rock tracks into our
own.
What plans do you have for the future?
Booking shows and benefit concerts to play again as we all get back to normal. New songs
already being recorded for our next release ‘8’ this time around featuring more lead vocals
from (guitarist) Bill. A new promotion company for us (Rogue PR) will be taking the reins for
a while to get the Sweet Crystal brand into more markets.
We won’t chase current mainstream music trends but will stay true to our progressive arena
rock beginnings and inspirational themes. The songs will be new and fresh but the sound will
remain classic Crystal, which our fans appreciate.
Basically we plan to remain exactly who we are for as long as can.
As our trademarked slogan puts it, we will continue to keep:
“Reaching The World, One Song At A Time”™