Metal Electric With SCOTT KIRKLAND From THE CRYSTAL METHOD

Interview by Kris Peters
Pioneers of Electronic Industrial Music, The Crystal Method, return
to Australia from March 1 via Auckland on February 29 for a string
of showstopping performances.
Despite only 14 months elapsing since their last trip out here,
such has been the demand for The Crystal Method to bring their
music back that these new shows are all close to selling out.
Recognised as a pioneering force in the Big Beat genre and
Electronica movement alongside The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim,
and The Prodigy, The Crystal Method have played a large part in
bringing their brand of music out of the warehouses and into the
mainstream.
Main man Scott Kirkland has worked with a lot of big names across
genres, whether it be collaborating or producing, most notably
releasing a reworked ‘(Can't You) Trip Like I Do’, with Filter on
the soundtrack to the film adaptation of Spawn in 1997. Their album
Tweekend featured guests including Rage Against the Machine
guitarist Tom Morello and Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott
Weiland, allowing for a metal crossover both sonically and from
experience.
Promising a night of “nostalgia, rave, and pure ecstasy”, The
Crystal Method performs two hours plus every night and to tell us
more HEAVY welcomed Kirkland for a chat late last week. We ask what
has changed with the show since their last visit in December
2022.
"I definitely have added a bunch of new tracks," he replied. "We're
visiting some classic stuff that I didn't play the first time
around, some new mixes. I don't do the same set twice in a row. I
like to change things up a bit, even from night to night. I'm aware
of what I was playing back then and definitely wanna mix it up a
bit and just bring the energy and bring the fun and take care of
the people who show up."
We mention the short amount of time between tours and the fact fans
in Australia must love The Crystal Method.
"I was delighted to receive the offer to come back," he smiled. "I
definitely had a good time when I was down there. It had been way
too long. Obviously the delay from COVID… I was meant to come out
in June or July of 2020 and things got shifted around, so I think
there was a lot of anticipation for my return. Thankfully the shows
came off well and the tour was great, and I'm really excited to be
able to come back."
In the full interview, Scott talks about Australian audiences and
how they are different to other places in the world, what countries
have the toughest crowds, how he reacts when crowds don't seem to
be getting into it, appealing to heavy metal music fans, blending
metal and electronic dance music and how easy/hard that is, what
first attracted him to this style of music, how he transformed that
love into The Crystal Method, how he would describe what he does to
people who don't follow the band, future plans and more.
Big thanks to our sponsore RODE. Intro music "Brown Snake" by
Dreamkillers, premiered in HEAVY on March 14.