Crystal Fighters are becoming ever more popular with every symbolic, mesmerising track. Their form of alternative dance music combined with the ideal of natural life and building strong relationships certainly sounds appealing enough. With their newly released second album ‘Cave Rave‘ not long on music store shelves, the band decided to head out on their world tour. So what better time to talk to lead vocalist Sebastian Pringle about their second album, going on world tour and much more…
HTF: How does it feel to be doing a world tour?
Sebastian Pringle: It feels good. In a weird way it feels kind of normal to be back on the road after recording, we’ve spent a lot of the last 4 or 5 years travelling around, playing shows to people and it’s almost like it’s our job now. It’s great to be able to explore new places and discover new parts of the planet.
HTF: What were you doing to prepare for your upcoming tour?
SP: Well we have this big warehouse in London, so we get together all the stage equipment, props and whatever else we need for the show. We rehearse a lot and make sure we’ve got our flights booked or the bus booked. Then we make our way out onto the road and do our thing.
HTF: What process did you go through when writing Cave Rave?
SP: I think it differs between albums and songs. Sometimes you’ll start with a lyric or just an idea that you’ve come up with in the shower or on the bus or something, then you just kinda expend from there. Sometimes you’ll be working out a vocal line over a song or a loop of acoustic guitar and just expand from that. It can happen in many different ways though.
HTF: How do you feel about the mixed reviews for ‘Cave Rave’? With The likes of DIY magazine rating high but then Q magazine and The Guardian rating low.
SP: I think at every point in time there’s a type of sound that reviewers want to ‘champion’ and if your sound doesn’t fall into their bracket; I think in a few cases that it’s not something that they want to be associated with so they choose to hate on it. But I mean you can only read these things and respect the people that do it, that’s the way it is.
HTF: What inspires you? (both musically and personally)
SP: I think outdoor life and natural life, you know, the real world. The expanse of nature is definitely inspiring to me and of course relationships and friendships, the way they evolve and become stronger over years is inspiring as well.
HTF: If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
SP: I think it would be great to do a track with Ricardo Villalobos. I just think he’s got a very interesting and knowledgeable approach to music. It wouldn’t necessarily be a top selling track but it would be an interesting piece to work on and discover about the way he makes music.
HTF: In your opinion, what has been your biggest achievement?
SP: I think that probably releasing albums is the biggest achievement. Especially the first one because we put it together ourselves and it takes a long time to be happy with something that you’ve produced and having the courage to actually put it out there and see if people like it.
HTF: Where in the UK would you say has the best music scene?
SP: That’s tough to say. I mean London obviously has a great breadth of music, but I think all the cities outside of London have their own thing going on. Brighton is awesome, Bristol as well and then you’ve got up north. Manchester is wicked, Leeds has a really good music scene there. I’ve learnt a lot from producers up there.
HTF: Lastly, what would be your perfect Sunday?
SP: Perfect Sunday… Nice lie in, wake up, drink some water, do some yoga, make some lunch or brunch or something. Then maybe go for a bike ride with the skateboard on my back and then maybe play some guitar and relax and then have some dinner, watch a film and then go to bed… Pretty standard stuff really.
For more information on Crystal Fighters, head to their website at – www.crystalfighters.com
