I'm pleased to present to you my conversation with Adam from Voodoo Crystals. His project has been around for a while, spawning numerous mixtapes, albums and unique collaborations. We cover all that and dive into his past to talk about inspirations and less known projects, as well as his ongoing partnership with Phantasma Disques. Hope you enjoy the read, follow him on Bandcamp where you can also buy his music.
Mutant Zones: I just went to your Soundcloud (and Wayback Machine) to check the timestamps on your first uploads there - they go back to October 2011. It's quite impressive that you've been part of the witch house scene for so long! How did you discover this niche genre back in the day?
Voodoo Crystals: Yes I've been lurking since way back… started making music and putting it out online solo in 2009 under Love Adam - like electronic dream pop but wanting to explore different avenues. Around that time I started finding witch house music and art. I ended up originally starting Voodoo Crystals as a more tongue and cheek exploration of things but it slowly morphed into me using my own perspective in the genre and sounds to translate things I was struggling with/feeling/going through… exploration under the guise I guess. A lot of the first acts of WH really inspired me and influenced me - Mater Suspiria Vision and Salem super inspired a lot of us I think.Voodoo Crystals is such a rad name. How did that come about?
::) Thank you! When I first started I wanted something juxtaposing itself to encompass both light and dark. Happy and sad. Things like that… Crystals Castles homage as well as they were an inspiration. Mostly why I settled on the name was that everything created under it would be its own crystal of 'voodoo' - like each song is its own audio/physical crystal of feelings and sounds - each track is its own crystal.Back in the early 2010s you were in a duo called Lyrebird. You also previously mentioned the solo project Love Adam. Could you tell me more about them?
Lyrebird was happening in tandem while I was making both Love Adam and kinda starting doing some Voodoo Crystals. It was more a side project with my friend Ryan where we were sampling poetry and making it into music. Almost like making the poets rap - it was all so organic and different too. We jokingly called it a 'moetry' genre (two homosexuals making poetry into music = moetry hahhah) Yeah kinda serious but kinda not. At the time we were basically living together in a basement doing tons of art and music and it just bloomed on its own. I really love Lyrebird- it was just a great escape in a different audio context. I am still in touch with him too - so who knows ;;) And yeah, Love Adam was really the earliest start of exploring ideas in my emerging different genre/contexts/sounds. I was also just teaching myself and learning programs like Garageband and Logic Pro X myself, so a lot of experimenting thru both those.
Correct me if I'm wrong, "Bleach Party" was your first proper release as V/C, right? Or were they some digital-only EPs or mixtapes before that?
Yeah Bleach Party! was the first official Phantasma release. Prior, I had been self releasing through soundcloud and then bandcamp to just really add my voice to the ever evolving WH conversation - Black Fur and Chalk Circles & Cocaine were a lot of compiled early stuff… Never really intended much else prior to Phantasma approaching me so Bleach Party was some early selected tracks and two exclusives that were solely made for that debut thru the label. The two exclusives were Necrophilia and Afterlife so I thank CDX for the prompt and birth of those tracks. I love Bleach Party for the classics and that.You've done six albums and one EP with Phantasma Disques. How did you establish this relationship?
Yeah! I am very thankful for the relationship. Cosmotropia de Xam reached out to me in 2013? (if I can remember it all now) and offered me what ended up being the Bleach Party! album. Ever since that initial catalyst, we have always been in contact exchanging ideas. Cosmotropia, MSV, and Phantasma Disques were always such an inspiration for me, so when I was approached I was honestly tripping out- still feels dreamy… And every time I get a release opportunity thru the label I still retain that feeling. It's been a really cool unfolding journey, especially to work and collaborate with Cosmotropia- he has really helped me with channelling my ideas, compiling, promoting myself and releasing my material. I have a tendency to make too much and dump shit out so he's a really huge mentor and advisor.Tell me more about your latest album "Transient", which came out in April. What did your creative process look like, what were your inspirations while recording this LP? The lyrics are quite sad and depressive.
Yes. "Transient" came from these emotions that I've carried throughout all of this time. I've always been moving constantly, adapting to circumstances, adjusting to living situations, and trying to balance and navigate all my relationships with others. I really struggle sometimes mentally and I needed honestly out of it really bad. It almost felt like songs that my shadow needed to wail out… which ended up actually coming through on the final track "Whole." I hadn't released anything since an EP and there was a nice response to the catalyst track 'Reconcile' that had started the process on Soundcloud. People usually reach out and ask if I'm alive or what I'm doing and it gets me back in myself. So with Transient, I was really reviewing my life path of my past shared through my music, but really attempting to leave it in it's own context and to allow these emotions and feelings to manifest through the album. I got to process a great deal in that album's context, and I appreciate the people who helped prompt it all out for a listening experience. I'm thankful and hopeful I can really leave those things in that space for the most part now. Now it's there if I'm overwhelmed, and I can sink safely back into it if I need to. I always try to invite the listeners into that place by making it into music.
Right now you also write music for Dead/Robin. What's the concept behind this project?
So dead/robin was/is really just an experiment of working with my friend Tim and possibly others. We had/have ideas… the concept was a collaboration that seems to be somewhat stagnant at the moment. We work together- there are other musicians we know as well so it may bloom and it may decay. Who knows, because I certainly don't. Another product formed in the moment. I kinda ended up doing tracks under that name (haveaheart & light all were me) because they seemed lighter and different than a Voodoo context. The whole thing currently is pretty much a dead robin though. Not sure what the future will hold for it but there's something there.How is the music scene in Hartford? Did you have a chance to perform your music live there?
I am not a part of anything musically in Connecticut so I can’t really comment because I don’t make any attempt. I enjoy hiding in nature and dreams- I just talk to myself, my cat, and connect when I can to the scene and people via the internet. Work as a waiter to try and scrape a living together. I don't really have any opportunities to perform live because I'm nonexistent in any physical scene, but I'd be open to performing live. It would really be a new experience for me, and I would be honored to if given an opportunity.What's your current setup for making music and recording?
I have always had two kinda separate modes. Laptop // hardware. Voodoo Crystals started in Garageband and then mutated to Logic Pro X and other computer programs sometimes. I've used some hardware synths for Voodoo Crystals as well (MicroKorg, Electron Digitone, Roland Groovebox 303, VolcaSample2) but these I mostly have utilized as their own beasts under the side project "homo/sxul" which is more just acid techno happy fun one take in there moment experimental purges.
You had some interesting one-off collabs recently, tracks with The Implicit Order, Edith Underground and Blvck Cat come to mind now. Anything else is cooking right now? Would you see yourself recording a whole album with someone else?
I LOVE collaborating with others for the sake of the collaboration so every single collab I've done I'm so honored and happy about. It also extends me out into the others music too which I am always honored to be a part of. Me and SATANBEAT XXI have just released our third collaboration, and I'm working on some vocals for a single with a new friend ROT HEAVN. Edith and I joked around a bit back we would start a band called "Party'n'play" and I'm still laughing/loving at the concept and would totally be down. She knows I love attempting to rap and sing over her new stuff and I probably annoy her with how much I remind her I love her stuff. I also have been working with my friend Ryan again on a new Lyrebird EP. Everyone's doing really great things and no one should stop. And to be included in an interview by you is such a new and unique collaboration as well, Alan, so I'm quite touched and honored from your support as well.Thank you for your time, and looking forward to hearing your new music. Any shout-outs?
Thank you to everyone and anyone who has listened and supported my art through the years. It means everything to me and inspires me to keep creating. 🖤SATANBEAT XXI feat. VOODOO CRYSTALS - their hunt
dead/robin - light
Lyrebird - Friends 4ever
Make sure to follow Voodoo Crystals on Instagram @vvoodoocrystals, Soundcloud: soundcloud.com/voodoocrystals and Bandcamp: voodoocrystals.bandcamp.com