Talking tunes with Crystal Park

(I feel your eyes glaring — yes, yes it was suppose to commence almost three weeks ago already according to plan, but don’t shoot — life happened). So without further ado, let’s talk music!

On my mind today is keeping it local, yet starting off with a downright, bang; Crystal Park! Crystal Park! Crystal Park!

I love these “cowboys”; they are humble, they’re funny, they’re LOCAL and they know their sweet rock ‘n roll!

Something you should probably know is that I’m an alternative rock girl, so any opportunity I get, I will try make you love it with me through this babbling journey.

However this blog will include many forms and genres of new and exciting music and events; even the John Wesley Marimba Band’s Guinness World Record Attempt at “the most people busking around the world simultaneously”, which I recently had to cover at the Northmead Square, had me shaking it.

In South Africa we have a great selection of well-established musicians, from rock ‘n rollers to DJs, to the Afrikaans ska-rumbaers and the list just goes on.

But these fellas are a unique combination of an alternative folk rock band, with a country flavour!

Consisting of members Steve East on bass and vocals, Tenn Elliot on vocals and “magical never-ending tambourine”, Joe Cole on acoustic guitar and vocals, Calvin “The Kid” on drums, Brad Wooldridge on harps and percussion (and crazy staring eyes), and Gareth Bertolani on electric guitar, Crystal Park was established in April 2010 after Tenn and Joe’s previous band “The Hellphones” split up.

Some of the members of The Hellphones got together to start writing country music and as they described it, “Crystal Park was born”.

They have released two studio albums, their debut album “City of Lakes”, released in 2012, and their latest album “The Stables Fade”, released in November last year, published by Rockford Media.

I give a shout-out to their track, One Wolf, off the “City of Lakes” album — #roadtripsong.

Learn a bit more about them from a Q&A, answered by Steve and Tenn, and see why they are cooler than Ninja Turtles:

Describe your band personality?

“Controversial, Cool, Crazy Cowboys? I think that might sum it up best…”

In my experience, your music is somewhat an indulgence of danger and pubs and mystery, would you call yourselves bad boys?

“That’s a pretty succinct summary, that is almost exactly what we are trying to achieve! Are we Bad Boys? We certainly aren’t trying to be I don’t think. You can find us at the bar, flinging ashtrays every now and then, but it’s show business, and we can all agree this industry needs a bit of fire up its arse! But yes, we really try and bring the rock ‘n roll in terms of the music and the lifestyle, into country music. We think that’s what alternative country is all about!”

What made you go with the band title Crystal Park?

“We are all East Rand boys, and we write most of our songs about, or inspired by, the myths and legends surrounding Benoni and the East. The suburb Crystal Park in Benoni has that dark, almost “dodgy” element to it, so we thought it was a fitting name for us, as we are making alternative country – the dark, dodgy side of country, if you will. People from other parts of the country have these weird opinions about people from the East Rand and especially its music scene. We wanted a name that tied us to the East Rand so we could prove ‘em wrong.”

I love the laid-back country rock ‘n roll vibe you have going, how does Benoni fit into this?

“We’ve always tried to be patriotic to our roots in the East in all the things we’ve done in the industry. Benoni has a rich heritage and a dark and weird and wonderful history – both old, and new. This suited the country genre and our style of song writing – which mostly entails love, death, change, murder and self-abuse…”

Why the country style for you guys?

“We as individuals have always had a relationship with country music and its alternative form. From Kenny Rogers to Kris Kristofferson all the way to Band of Horses, Ryan Adams and Drive-By Truckers. We just love playing this kind of music, it gives us the freedom to be really honest, humorous when we want to be, and also really dark and moody when the time is right. Everyone can relate to country music as it has very dark undertones but, at the same time, you can project that through the music which can be quite upbeat and happy.”

What is your favourite place you have performed at?

“Wow that’s a tough one… We honestly enjoy playing anywhere, which is tantamount to the landscape of SA Music: not too many places to play so you have to enjoy it wherever it is. We really enjoy playing festivals, from Oppi to Splashy to Mieliepop – we feel our music is best on bigger stages. Our set at Otterlake Easter Festival earlier this year was one of our best and most fun we’ve ever played. But we love playing our home town haunt Grid & Grill in Rynfield, while Stanley Beer Yard in Milpark, Johannesburg, and shows at Radium Beer Hall in Orange Grove are always amazing.”

Are you still all Benoni boys?

“Gareth and “The Kid” are illegal aliens in Benoni; The Kid lives in Germiston for whatever crazy reason. Gareth lives in the East Rand Bermuda Triangle known as Atlasville. He says he is more on the Benoni-side than the Boksburg-side though. He’s lucky he said that. The rest of us? All Benoni!”

What is your favourite song of yours?

“It’s hard to say, without sounding a bit self-indulgent… I mean we sometimes get tired playing certain songs live that have been in our set lists for years, but the actual songs are strong and the fans never get bored of them, so that is the main reason we carry on playing them. The great thing is we have a diverse group of songwriters between the three of us (Tenn, Joe and Steve) and each one’s personality gets to shine through the songs each person has written.”

You’re quite a big group – would you say you are all besties?

“Yeah we all get along really well with each other, we’ve all known each other for years. Especially Joe. What a lekker oke. I mean… just LOOK at him. What a lekker, lekker oke. A really, really nice guy…”

What’s in store for the band in the near future?

“We are in pre-production writing material for a new album which hopefully we will get out in 2015 sometime. Brad will probably go on a few more dates.”

They have a mountain of talent to offer to satisfy an extensive range of tastes.

Their music is not the kind of rock that reprogrammes your mind to anticipate causing a bar fight, but rather a soothing instrumental compilation that you can enjoy while having a beer with your mates.

I could rave on and on, but hey, don’t take my word for it — check out this video of their track “Don’t go away” featured live on Balcony TV and tell me what you think:

If you’ve missed them till now, see where they’ll be jamming in future by keeping an eye on their Facebook and Twitter pages at www.facebook.com/CrystalParkZA and www.twitter.com/CrystalParkZA.

Amongst other gigs, catch them at J Dullstroom Winter Festival on July 5, Grid & Grill on July 12 and the Radium Beer Hall in Orange Grove on July 19.

If your heart beats as much for music as mine does, keep an eye on my blogs, where I will share the latest in magical melodies with you and invite you to give me ideas or nominations on what you would like to know about the musical art!

That’s it for me. Next one’s about Park Acoustics — who went?.TB