Crystal Skies share their dream collab, industry challenges and experimenting with new sound [Exclusive Interview]
BY ANASTASIIA and STEPHEN RIDDLE
It’s no secret that in recent years Crystal Skies have become a staple with their melodic bass-driven tracks, complicated production and emotion evoking vocals. The duo’s versatile style has earned them a dedicated fan base all over the US. While international fame is yet to come, these guys have become the faces of the next generation of Ophelia artists. With many years of experience behind their backs, Aaron and Britian sure know how to appeal to any type of crowd, whether there are sadbois or mature bassheads, Crystal Skies expertly intertwine the opposite spectrums of the genre like it’s no biggie. Atlanta EDM had a chance to chat with this incredibly talented and humble duo before their show in Atlanta. We talked about all things music, finding your own sound and dream collaborations with Neck Deep and Dream Theater.
Atlanta EDM: We always like to start with the basics, tell us how you guys met and decided to pursue music?
Aaron: I think we probably started the Crystal Skies project eight years ago. Both of us had our own side projects where I guess at that time, they were our actual projects. We were just making melodic dubstep and actually, I think it was Britian who reached out to me on SoundCloud. And he was like, “Hey, man, you want to collab on a track?” At that point I really hadn't collaborated with anyone. So I was like, “Sure, yeah, let's do it.” And we made a track that was called “Paradise Lost.” We submitted to EDM.com, and it did pretty well, a lot better than we both probably expected. And at that point, we were like, “Maybe we should continue to work together.” So we started Crystal Skies, and we've been working on it since then.
Atlanta EDM: Who were some of your influences when you started and who do you look to for inspiration now?
Britian: Big ones. Skrillex, Deadmau5, Seven Lions, MitiS, Au5...
Aaron: So many good ones! Adventure Club... Pretty much anyone who's doing melodic dubstep at that time.
Atlanta EDM: Are there any artists outside of electronic music you would love to collaborate with?
Britian: I'm a big Neck Deep fan. I would love to collab with them! That's a good band.
Aaron: Outside of EDM… I haven't actually thought that much about it. I feel like it would be outside of what we're doing right now. Dream Theater or something like that, symphonic metal would be a sick collab. But yeah, it's not on brand with what we're doing right now at all! But it would be awesome! *laughs*
Atlanta EDM: You should definitely do it!
Aaron: One day, one day.
Atlanta EDM: As one of the top rising electronic producers, have you experienced any moments that have made you think, “This is what I do it for?”
Aaron: Honestly, I get that feeling at least once or twice during most shows, when we're just up there looking at the crowd because I never actually anticipated even getting to the point where we'd be able to play in front of people…
Britian: Have them sing our songs…
Aaron: Yeah, travel around… I don't think it's gotten old yet. And I don't think it ever will. So yeah, pretty much every time we play.
Atlanta EDM: Ever since you emerged in the scene, you've been unstoppable. Aside from a pandemic, what’s the most challenging thing that you guys had to deal with in these years?
MitiS: *whispers* Being friends with me!
Aaron: *laughs* Honestly, I think the biggest challenge is just finding your own sound. Because you're inspired by all these different artists, but you don't want to sound exactly like them. So it's like balancing, making stuff that you're inspired by, that you've picked up from other artists, while not completely sounding exactly like those artists and having your own sound as well. So that's probably the biggest challenge to me. There's also lots of other challenges, but that's probably the main one for me.
Atlanta EDM: For your original beautiful tracks such as “Like Water” or “Collide”, where do you find inspiration to create whether it's EDM related or not?
Aaron: Honestly, it usually starts with a melody or a chord progression. I'll mess around with it until I find something that I like, that resonates with me and then build off of that. So with “Collide,” that's definitely the case with that chord progression at the beginning. And “Like Water” was the same way, that was a collaboration. So definitely we both sort of contributed to that one, but usually melodic stuff is where we start and then build everything around that.
Atlanta EDM: You’ve been experimenting with new sound this past year and your most recent track “We Got It” is no exception. Tell us about your writing process.
Britian: We wanted something more rock, pop punk oriented and we ran with the guitar idea and tried to merge melodic dubstep into that, and I think we did okay. *laughs* It's kind of hard to do when you want to do a fusion, but you don't even know exactly how to go about it. I think there's a lot of trial and error with a lot of these. But I like where it is.
Aaron: I think we've gotten some good tracks out of it.
Britian: Yeah, absolutely.
Aaron: It's something that's fun to play and fun to work on.
Atlanta EDM: Did you have Micah Martin in mind while writing?
Britian: Absolutely. I was talking to him pretty much the whole time, just texting back and forth about it.
Atlanta EDM: Let's say something crazy happened, you had to completely restart your music career but you could only make either Country, Moombahton or Hardstyle?
Britian: I’d make Country music, I think. *laughs*
Aaron: County music? I’d go with Hardstyle. I just go straight for the heavy 180 BPM. That would be fun to do! Country would be fun, but I feel like it'd be inauthentic because I've never been from the country, I didn't grow up in the country. You kind of did, but I didn't. I've always been a city guy.
Atlanta EDM: What names would you choose?
Aaron: For hardstyle I’d go with my original project The Neon Feast.
Atlanta EDM: That’s perfect! And what about Country?
Britian: I think you just got to go with your first and last name. *laughs*
Atlanta EDM: What’s the most fun or interesting fan interaction that you have had so far?
Aaron: Oh man! I think fun and interesting would be different answers. *laughs* Man, it's tough because we talk to fans pretty much at every single show. So many people have come up to us and said, “Hey, your music has changed our life.” It's really been life altering. It's amazing to hear that from people we've never met, that our music is kind of traveling around everywhere we go and that it's impacted people. So, I don't know if there's one instance that stands out, but it's sort of like having that same experience at many different places to reinforce the fact that your music is out there and impacting people, which is really meaningful and inspiring. It helps us keep going, to know that it's having that effect.
Atlanta EDM: If you had to pick each other’s starter pokemon, which one would you choose and why?
Britian: Oh man! I’ll go with Squirtle.
Aaron: Okay, okay, I could see that… Brit’s more of a Charmander type of person.
Britian: Yeah I’ll take that.
Aaron: I feel like you’re a fire type, you’ve got a little spark inside of you! *laughs*
Britian: Thanks Aaron! *laughs*
Aaron: I appreciate that.
Atlanta EDM: Is there anything you’d like to share with your Atlanta fan base or any other messages that you would like to leave with us?
Britian: It's one of our favorite cities to play! Everyone really is a lot of fun out here. We love Atlanta fans.
Aaron: Atlanta has always done well and shown up for us, and it's always fun to come out here and play. Hopefully, you guys like the direction we're going in and keep listening to our music, and we'll keep making it for you guys.