What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences and are they the same as when you started out?
The name of the band 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!
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. The three of us that started the band (myself – MarQ Andrew Speck, guitarist Bill Blatter and drummer Steve Wieser) have been playing together, coming up our 50th year in 2024, and to this day, we don’t “chase” current trends in mainstream music but stay true to our progressive arena rock beginnings. The new single ‘Whatever Is Needed, Whatever It Takes’ is new and fresh but the sound remains classic Crystal, which our fans appreciate.
How do you approach songwriting and why?
I am the main source of starting songs. I have musical and melodic ideas that I present to the guys at every rehearsal (and we still rehearse after all these decades pretty much every week at our private studio) and then they all add their input and expertise to make every song a real band production. We constantly
record every rehearsal and jam session because you never know when a new riff will open up the creative juices.
Even after all this years, the guys get together every week to rehearse, jam and write. There are mountains of ideas (all recorded during rehearsals) that we regularly revisit to see what riffs and chord patterns jump out to our ears. The thinking is – if it moves us musically, it should resonate well with our fans and friends. Some ideas are just throwaways… but quite often we will listen back and look at each other smiling and shaking our heads “Yup…that’s pretty good”. We take those ideas and polish them to a very Sweet Crystal sheen.
Being a 26 time Detroit Music Award winning Christian rock band here in the Motor City (Detroit, MI, USA), of course we get a lot lyric inspiration from the Bible. But we are also here to reach out to a world with songs of hope and inspiration; a musical light at the end of every dark tunnel you might be going through because chances are good – we’ve gone through those very same tunnels ourselves and definitely have found a way out. It’s those experiences in our lives that have come out successfully that give up the ideas for the songs.
This latest song ‘Whatever Is Needed, Whatever It Takes’ continues where our last release ‘’7th HEAVEN’ left off: it’s a rock anthem of hope and inspiration featuring our signature guitar sounds, synth melodies, straight ahead drumming with just a few hundred chanting fans thrown in for good measure.
How do you approach songwriting and why?
I am the main source of starting songs. I have musical and melodic ideas that I present to the guys at every rehearsal (and we still rehearse after all these decades pretty much every week at our private studio) and then they all add their input and expertise to make every song a real band production. We constantly
record every rehearsal and jam session because you never know when a new riff will open up the creative juices.
Even after all this years, the guys get together every week to rehearse, jam and write. There are mountains of ideas (all recorded during rehearsals) that we regularly revisit to see what riffs and chord patterns jump out to our ears. The thinking is – if it moves us musically, it should resonate well with our fans and friends. Some ideas are just throwaways… but quite often we will listen back and look at each other smiling and shaking our heads “Yup…that’s pretty good”. We take those ideas and polish them to a very Sweet Crystal sheen.
Being a 26 time Detroit Music Award winning Christian rock band here in the Motor City (Detroit, MI, USA), of course we get a lot lyric inspiration from the Bible. But we are also here to reach out to a world with songs of hope and inspiration; a musical light at the end of every dark tunnel you might be going through because chances are good – we’ve gone through those very same tunnels ourselves and definitely have found a way out. It’s those experiences in our lives that have come out successfully that give up the ideas for the songs.
This latest song ‘Whatever Is Needed, Whatever It Takes’ continues where our last release ‘’7th HEAVEN’ left off: it’s a rock anthem of hope and inspiration featuring our signature guitar sounds, synth melodies, straight ahead drumming with just a few hundred chanting fans thrown in for good measure.
live?
For us, it’s been the live shows that have afforded us the most opportunities to connect with fans. We’ve all been playing since we were teenagers – actually Bill (guitar) and Steve (drummer) played together during high school. I came along later, during our college years and we all set out to make it our fulltime jobs (which we did for many years – 6 1⁄2 tons of gear, 4-man road crew). The three of us – the core-founding members – have never stopped playing together since then (although live touring did stop for a time). 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. Today we have such a large catalogue of songs; we can tailor every live set to match the venue and the
demographics of the crowd and create a set that hopefully leaves everyone feeling better about themselves and our direction as a whole.
live?
For us, it’s been the live shows that have afforded us the most opportunities to connect with fans. We’ve all been playing since we were teenagers – actually Bill (guitar) and Steve (drummer) played together during high school. I came along later, during our college years and we all set out to make it our fulltime jobs (which we did for many years – 6 1⁄2 tons of gear, 4-man road crew). The three of us – the core-founding members – have never stopped playing together since then (although live touring did stop for a time). 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. Today we have such a large catalogue of songs; we can tailor every live set to match the venue and the
demographics of the crowd and create a set that hopefully leaves everyone feeling better about themselves and our direction as a whole.
What plans do you have for the future?
New songs already being recorded for our next release ‘8’ (slated for 3rd quarter 2024 release), this time around featuring more lead vocals from (guitarist) Bill. Our PR firm Rogue Music once again taking the reins to get the Sweet Crystal brand into more markets. Booking shows and benefit concerts to play again as we all get back to normal.
Our trademarked slogan – Reaching The World, One Song At A Time TM – pretty much says it all about our music, message, mission and ministry. We are here to reach out to a world with songs of hope and inspiration; a musical light at the end of every dark tunnel you might be going through because chances are good – we’ve gone through those very same tunnels ourselves and definitely have found a way out.
Basically we plan to remain exactly who we are for as long as can.
WEBSITE: www.sweetcrystal.com
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/SweetCrystalBand
YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/c/SweetCrystal
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/sweet_crystal
REVERBNATION: www.reverbnation.com/sweetcrystal
SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6QAd9ZxH3ptahZeWoqK ks4
BANDCAMP: https://sweetcrystal.bandcamp.com TWITTER: www.twitter.com/sweet_crystal