QUICKIE OF THE WEEK: A short interview with Crystal Joilena

written by Marko Jakob


Pix666: Hello Crystal. Are you healthy and are you well?

Crystal: Right now I am healthy and well.


Pix666: When exactly did you realise that Crystal wanted to become a musician – how did it all start, who or what inspired you?

Crystal: When I was younger, broadway musicals inspired me and when I grew up I always wanted to become an opera singer.


Pix666: You have a great YouTube channel where you sing beautifully interpreted cover versions. How important is social media or YouTube from your point of view nowadays, especially for an artist like you?

Crystal: I appreciate that a lot! In this day and age, social media is everything for an artist, because it’s the only place we can be seen and heard and I have a love/hate relationship with it..I love the art aspect, but I hate marketing myself, at times it can make me feel like a machine.


Pix666: Do you actually sing covers of songs that you like, or songs that might get you more attention?

Crystal: I only perform covers of songs that I like, I never really had a set plan, I just kind of did something years ago that I’ve always wanted to try and it ended up blowing up, I wanted to make beautiful piano renditions popular, I guess in a way as time went on, it was to prove a point to some heavy music listeners that genres do not matter and the track is equally as awesome when stripped down.

Of course, there were people (much bigger artists) who blatantly followed in my footsteps but didn’t credit where their inspiration came from and that was kind of annoying, because I always credit where my inspiration came from, and I have a variety of musical interests.


Pix666: Last year ended with good news for you. You signed a contract with FBT Entertainment. How much work does this take away from you, and what doors open up for you through such a cooperation, perhaps much faster than otherwise?

Crystal: Signing to a management team definitely made my life easier because I don’t have to take care of a lot of the marketing, playlist placements and such which is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders and they have been helping me a lot and many doors have opened because they know all the right people, I am clueless when it comes to that.



Pix666: I discovered you on your duet ‘Eternally Yours’ with Motionless In White and that’s how I became aware of you as a musician. How do other people become aware of you? I think the fans tell you that, don’t they?

Crystal: I definitely broke my path in the music industry from metal covers, I’ve been doing music since 2010, but no one really knew who I was until the metal covers, and through them, fans checked out my original music.


Pix666: How does a duet actually come about? Do you just send everything back and forth virtually, or do you meet the musicians,  like MiW, in person?

Crystal:     Chris found me through my cover of Motionless In White’s track “Another Life” I did in August 2019, he dmed me on Instagram and told me he was blown away by it, asked about my process of turning a heavy song into my own version and I also ended up sent him my stripped down rendition of Eternally Yours from 2017, then we spoke on the phone and he asked me to do a duet of Eternally Yours with him and I met up with him and their producer, JD in upstate New York and we recorded it there.

The process was very fun, we had a lot of laughs and jokes, I was very nervous, I suffer from social anxiety when I meet new people, especially the vocalist of my favorite band ever haha! I’ve been a fan of them since 2009 and would take every opportunity to go see them live. I actually didn’t meet the rest of the band, yet, but I definitely want to!


Pix666: Your musical trail also leads to Germany. There is a duet with the band Blue Forge. How did this contact came about?

Crystal: This came about because BlueForge found me through my cover of Depeche Mode’s “Walking in My Shoes” that went viral. They emailed me asking to be apart of their band, and I recorded my parts on two tracks at my usual studio in Upstate New York and sent them the stems, then I actually traveled to Germany and performed with them live.


Pix666: Do you ‘only’ sing covers and duets or are you also working on your own songs? If so, when can fans expect a Crystal Joilena album?

Crystal: I have some singles and an entire EP out, but I am currently working on my album and taking a break from covers until I finish it, we don’t have a set date for when that’s going to come out, but it’s probably going to be during the summer, multiple tracks are already done and the first track is going to be released in April.



Pix666: You are dressed very strikingly and extravagantly, you have a hair colour that not everyone has. How important is appearance for you as an artist?

Crystal: Appearance and looking unique has always been important to me, I love looking like the true definition of an artist, I love dark makeup, I also like pastels and looking like a faerie.


Pix666: Do you have a team around you that takes care of clothes, hair and make-up, or do you (still) do it all yourself?

Crystal: I do my own hair and makeup and direct my photoshoots.


Pix666: What else did you do besides the music during the contact restrictions? Do you have any interesting hobbies? Or is music simply everything in your life?

Crystal: One interesting hobby I have is learning about all of the bizarre things that exist in the world as well as reading folklore and fantasy, I also create things, I love to make masks, clothing, accessories and jewelry.


Pix666: Do you have any other news that you would like to share with the fans?

Crystal: Some news I have to share is to definitely expect some cool features on the album!


Pix666: Thank you very much for the interesting answers – good luck and stay healthy!!!

Crystal: Thank you, I heavily enjoyed this interview.


https://www.facebook.com/CrystalJoilena

https://open.spotify.com/artist/CrystalJoilena

https://www.youtube.com/channel/CrystalJoilena

photos © by Crystal Joilena