The Crystal Method (www.thecrystalmethod.com) consists of the legendary back beat electronica music duo of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland. After forging the very definition of ‘electronic dance meets rock’ about a decade ago, they are still going in new directions at every turn. 2005 was a busy year for the duo, with arguably not a medium existing that they did not conquer. Some examples:
Movie soundtrack and their own record label: They will unveil their own ‘Tiny e’ label with the Jan. 24 release of its first film soundtrack, 'London.' The album will feature eight new Crystal Method songs plus material from Evil Nine, Connie Price and the Keystones and the Out Crowd.

Their own radio show: Every Friday they host their own radio show called ‘Community Service’ on L.A’s massively popular Indie 103.1.
TV and video game soundtracks: The duo recently wrote the theme to the new Fox drama 'Bones' and provided new music for the upcoming Atari videogame 'Matrix: Path of Neo.'

New cd: The Crystal Method was last heard from on April`s mix collection 'Community Service II’, which featured remixes of Smashing Pumpkins` '1979' and New Order`s 'Bizarre Love Triangle'. The set debuted at No. 8 on Billboard`s Top Electronic Albums chart.
Live performances: I had a chance to chat with Ken a few days before they will share the headline with the likes of Black Eyed Peas and Deathcab for Cutie at ‘Giant Village 06’ the huge New Years Eve extravaganza in Los Angeles (www.giantvillage.com).

June: Greetings Ken! It is a pleasure to be speaking to such a legendary artist! Let’s talk about drugs!!! Seems you guys can’t get away from an association with drugs! The cover of your cd soundtrack has the word ‘London’ in what looks like a cocaine line and it is about a cocaine inspired New York party adventure. What is your take on how the drug culture has evolved in relation to electronic music in the last 10 years?

Ken: (lol) We’ve always thought drug references were just funny, and they really haven’t had any relation to what we do. Actually we thought nobody would notice that the London cover looked like cocaine! Drugs have always been a part of life. It has never affected what we write and what we do anyway.

June: You have really been expanding to video games, movie soundtracks, and commercials. When you started out, did you envision these many outlets?

Ken: We’ve always had the same central source for what we do and have never tried to change it for different media for mass appeal. It is just an expression of who we are.

June: If you were on a planet without music what would each of your passions be?

Ken: Without music? Well, I would have to go with sex! Everybody likes sex.

June: You are going to be at Giant New Year in downtown LA. What will be the biggest change about 2006 for you? Any resolutions? Revolutions?

Ken: I try to not make any resolutions until the actual New Year….but, I know I plan to throw out a lot of clothes. Guys don’t realize how much they need to throw out clothes! Clothes need an expiration date.

June: If there was a biography made about you, what actor would play you?

Ken: There is the script in the works, but I never thought about who would play me! Ben Affleck is screwed up enough to play me. Down and out but ready to come back for more.

June: Definitely! I’m sure he would be very flattered. So, the script in the making, is that for a movie to be in the works soon?

Ken: The thing about the script is that I might be too embarrassed for my parents to read for awhile! So it might be a few years from now.

June: Wouldn’t they love to see a movie about their son?

Ken: We could let them come to the movie opening and red carpet, and just don’t let them see it.

June: Good point…it’s all about the red carpet, and what people are wearing anyway, right?

Ken: Yeah, we won’t even have a movie, just a soundtrack…

June: Or a live session! Perfect!

June: Speaking of soundtracks, you have had a busy year, including recording ‘Community Service II’, and the ‘London’ soundtrack. What is the link between your cd, ‘Community Service II’ and the soundtrack of ‘London’ that allowed them both to be created in the same year?

Ken: I would say the only common denominator is they are both actually soundtracks! One is soundtrack to a nightclub and the other is the soundtrack to a movie.

June: How has your creative process changed and how has it stayed the same over the last decade?

Ken: Well, the equipment has definitely changed. But the technology has always been just a tool to record what we want to hear. So the technology has never been the secret to our success.


June: When you perform live, how much are your performances influenced by the crowd’s energy?

Ken: When we are live, it is ALL based on the crowd, what we play, how we play, and the intensity is all based on the crowd. We always want to get them going!

June: Tell us about ‘London’. What was the procedure for the soundtrack…did you create music inspired by the movie to be dropped in later…or did you create a piece for each scene as needed?

Ken: We created the music scene by scene. There are a few other artists on the soundtrack, but our music was definitely created specifically for each scene. Inspired by the mood, the dialogue of each scene.

June: That must have been pretty painstaking as opposed to freeform expression…

Ken: It actually was quite fun!

June: What is your advice to artists who are just starting out that want to be able to be fresh and creative for 10 or 20 years?

Ken: One of the most important things is to find an identity, find your own sound. A lot of artists think they can make it by hearing someone else, and saying ‘Oh I can do that…I can play that!’ but that is not being an artist. You want to have a sound, have an identity and really thrive and be successful at that. So establish your own sound early.

June: Were you ever advised to abandon electronic music and did you ever consider it? You are part of what made it such an important genre. We’re you ever advise to do something more conventional that you wouldn’t have to build your audience so much from scratch?

Ken: We always preferred a small genre like electronic music that is categorized as break beat or electronic, given that it’s a pretty small genre. But given that, anyone can relate to our music, and it can appeal to a broad base just by the nature of our sound.

June: What do you like best and like least about doing a huge festival like the upcoming Giant New Year?

Ken: Best: All the different bands…Least: sometimes having more than one stage, you have great bands playing against each other at the same time.

June: What is it like doing the radio show on 103.1? Is that similar to creating music?

Ken: It’s a lot of fun! We look forward to it every week! We do it live every Friday night. I used to do college radio several years ago, so it’s not that new to me, but it is sure fun to do it in LA where there’s so many people…and we hope to be doing it for many years to come.

June: What a great start for the weekend hearing you guys on Friday nights! How did you come up with the name ‘Community Service’ for your project and your show?

Ken: It came up when we went to jail…after going to jail, it just seemed like a good name.

June: (lol) In and out of jail, can’t beat community service! Thank you so much for your time, look forward to dancing to y’all on New Years Eve!

Ken: Thank you…see you there!


-June Caldwell
 

June Caldwell lives amidst drawers stuffed with an array of earplugs, clipped wristbands, and notes scrawled on ticket stubs… splitting her time between concert reviews, and doing radio airplay promotions for Indie bands at Bryan Farrish Radio Promotions. She covers the LA music scene for artrocker.com, the largest bi-weekly new music publication in the UK, and www.fly.co.uk with her shutterbug hubby Roger.

June’s always interested in Indie bands looking for promotion, and can be contacted at: junejer@gmail.com.