It will not be long whether the first pressing of the debut album of Crystal Is on the mat with the singers of the band of the same name, Kristel Schoonbeek. This makes the album a nice crown on the work of the band that has its roots at school, because that is how the members met.
“On our studies, so it’s not a high school band,” says Kristel. The study Academy for Pop Culture in Groningen. “Then you are with musicians, designers and everything together. And yes, there we found each other and now we are more than ten years later.”
But it was almost different. “I used to be singing and dancing; I was a very annoying child,” laughs the singer from Roden. Her talent was discovered at the end of primary school. Without professional guidance, and at a young age, making music and performing her disappointed. Even so bad that she thought to stop. “At some point I got so nervous that I thought: I’m never going to do this again.” During her studies, the image changed completely, partly due to the input of the band.
In recent years, the band has been writing songs, a number of which have already appeared as a single. The goal is a plate and that plate is finished. “We have been working on it for a year and a half and now it is waiting for the vinyl to be ready,” says Kristel. If everything goes well then the album must appear in June. “We have no manager, no label; nothing. So there is no one panting our neck. It will come,” says the singer. A blue described agenda full of performances is proof that it will also work without those things.
She looks at the album with careful satisfaction. “It can always be better, right?” But there is a slight pride under the reluctance. “At first you see all the mistakes. Then you have to sleep over it for a night and then you think: oh yes, we just made this. That is cool,” says Kristel with a modest smile.