New York’s alt-metal artist Crystal Joilena has transitioned from a viral sensation covering Evanescence and Motionless in White and moved into a powerful and soulful solo artist carving her own path on the new single “The High Priestess.” TGEFM had an opportunity to roll the dice and get to know the up-and-comer.
Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview and congrats on the upcoming release of “The High Priestess” single and video. What can you tell me about yourself and the single?
I grew up in East New York, Brooklyn and Melbourne, Australia. I make genre-bending music. This single, “The High Priestess,” is dedicated to the Divine Feminine. It’s about the music industry, discovering the secrets of the world, shadow work, releasing past trauma and the universe coming to complete equilibrium. I see my genre of music as a mix of Electro-Pop, R&B, and Alternative Metal. I’ve released many reimagined piano-based covers of metal band’s songs since 2015, my producer Randy Pasquarella had this thing where at the last chorus we would always make sure the drop in the instrumental would happen there and the covers would be quite explosive. A lot of my newer fans discovered me through the Motion Picture Collection track “Eternally Yours” by Motionless In White, I inspired and collaborated on the EP with them because of the reimagined covers I did of both their tracks “Eternally Yours” and “Another Life.” The album War On My Soul I collaborated on with Joakim from Bad Omens was the first album I ever released.
What album or band or significant singles made you go “Yeah, this is what I want to do” Not just an influence but who or what was the catalyst?
I knew I wanted to make music when I first listened to the album Haram by Sarah Brightman, so I’d have to say she is the catalyst.
One of our obligatory questions in these interviews also tends to be the one I have found most important on a personal level. Who are some bands on your radar that TGEFM readers may not know about, but you think
they should?
I really enjoy the band Nightlife and think more people should check them out!
What’s next on the horizon for you?
I will be releasing a new cover within the next couple of months, probably around late summer.
Was there anything I missed that you’d like to share or dive deeper into with our readers?
No, we definitely covered everything!
Roll of the Dice is a short interview format with a variable amount of questions. A pair of dice is rolled and the total, between 2 and 12, is the amount of questions we can ask. All questions are given to the interviewee(s) at once, and no follow-ups are allowed. The interview may be lightly edited for content and clarity.
Bad Dad (occasionally called Ed) has been on the periphery of the punk and punk-adjacent scene for over twenty years. While many contributors to this site have musical experience and talent, Ed’s musical claim to fame comes from his time in arguably the most punk rock Blockbuster Video district in NJ where he worked alongside members of Blanks 77, Best Hit TV and Brian Fallon. He is more than just an awful father to his 2 daughters, he is also a dreadful husband, a subpar writer, a terrible dresser and has a severe deficiency in all things talent… but hey, at least he’s self-aware, amirite?
Check out the pathetic attempts at photography on his insta at https://www.instagram.com/bad_dad_photography/
