#graham dickson

[olivia-y113]

“…we could all be from Brighton!” 🥺💔

[ustribunenews-blog]

Listen to 'Boomin' In Your Jeep' by Crystal Fighters on Spotify

Listen to ‘Boomin’ In Your Jeep’ by Crystal Fighters on Spotify

23-May-2018: ‘Boomin’ In Your Jeep’, single by Crystal Fighters Released on Label: Warner Bros..

Crystal Fighters’s twenty-first single was just released on label Warner Bros. and can be found on Spotify. The single is not seeing a lot of plays by Last.FM users.

Image of Crystal Fighters

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[crank11news-blog]

Crystal Fighters releases their 21st single called 'Boomin' In Your Jeep'

Crystal Fighters releases their 21st single called ‘Boomin’ In Your Jeep’

23-May-2018: ‘Boomin’ In Your Jeep’, single by Crystal Fighters Record Label: Warner Bros..

The twenty-first single by Crystal Fighters is titled ‘Boomin’ In Your Jeep’ and was just released on label Warner Bros. and is now available on Spotify. The single is not seeing a lot of plays by Last.FM users.

Image of Crystal Fighters

(more…)

View On WordPress

[ellicoast]

Louise Bagan y Graham Dickson (Crystal Fighters) México Nov-19-2017 Corona Capital 2017

[axismundirecords]

More photos from Rene / Arre Lulu at the Axis Mundi Jungle Hut back in Nov 2015 with Dom, Brother Michael, Robbie, Graham and Bill

[mesmorisingmoments]

Crystal Fighters & Roosevelt

Who?:

- Crystal Fighters

- Roosevelt

Where?: HMV Institute, Birmingham

When?: Saturday 30th November 2013

I had never heard of Roosevelt before tonight; I didn't know what to expect other than, would Crystal Fighters have a support act who wasn't going to warm the crowd up for them?

No is the answer. Roosevelt; a duo who produce dance music, got the crowd bopping, with some trying to get the crowd jumping. Their set was very strong, with the crowd left in the right mood for Crystal Fighters.

The intro seemed to go on forever; the crowd were screaming to a topless Graham Dickson who pleased our ears with rock-styled guitar solo. The noise got louder; and on came the rest of the band. Well, minus Sebastian Pringle. The crowd had already kicked off before the entrancing sounds of 'Solar System' began. Out came Sebastian Pringle, covered in a typical Pringle outfit, covered head to toe in sparkles (literally) introducing the first lyric of the night; "Pais Vasco, to San Francisco, all the girls my casiotone." The room was electric from the moment the band entered.

The band indulged into different genres throughout their set, playing songs from their first hit album 'Star of Love' mixed with their newer material from 'Cave Rave'. 'LA Calling' really got the crowd going, clearly a favourite from the new album. Every member of the band oozes with passion and energy, their dance moves are enough to make anyone happy, and their interaction with the crowd is what makes them one of my favourite live bands. 

Guitarist Graham Dickson gives a speech to the audience; to sum it up, he wanted the crowd to realise where they were at that exact moment. Everyone was asked to put their phones away and stop recording, making the moment something that could never be repeated; a one off, in the moment kind of moment. Breathtaking. 

The evening continued with Spanish passion; reaching a point where Sebastian Pringle gave the drummer a moment to shine. Psychedelic beats lead to a glorious atmosphere of praise and enthusiasm. The solo ended with Pringle and Dickson dancing around the stage, pointing at the drummer, getting the crowd to really thrive off their energy. 

'I Love London' followed their pre-encore exit (what else could they have come back on to?) I have never experienced anything like that 3 minutes. For me, it was by far the highlight with everyone screaming the lyrics back to Pringle, and live singers Ellie Fletcher and Nila Raja. The infamous lyrics came; "Hola, Mi Amo Mimi.. I LOVE LONDON." The crowd went harder than at any other point during the night. 

Ending their set with 'Wave' and 'Xtatic Truth', Crystal Fighters made sure everyone was one. Preaching love, passion, togetherness and thankfulness. Singing about such topics can be seen as a bit lack-luster (by those who purely like drug and sex based lyrics) however, for anyone who appreciates real, raw music; their music is nothing but uplifting, and after tonight, the crowd were definitely 'high' off their Basque styled material. 

[theseventhhex]

Crystal Fighters Interview

Crystal Fighters

TSH: It’s been a quite a prolific year for Crystal Fighters with a great new album and an extensive tour, how would you sum up your 2013?

Graham: It’s been pretty insane to be honest, it started off in L.A. finishing the recording of the album at the beginning of the year, we then went on tour immediately, did the festivals then went to America and now we’re in Europe. The year has been amazing, especially to have the opportunity to play so many places, with the first album we never managed to visit many places, the second album means we can expand our tentacles a little bit deeper and it’s been so much fun touring new spots.

TSH: The album ‘Cave Rave’ has been lauded with so many positive reviews, what was the mindset like for you guys writing in the Basque country?

Graham: When we were writing it in the Basque country at the end of 2012, we had thought a lot about Basque culture and once we got there we implied the Basque resolve into our thinking and we started thinking how their culture was formed by those before themselves. We settled in that area where all of this ancient cave art was and it was so inspiring.

TSH: You’ve stated that the album was conceived from ‘altered states of consciousness’ and ‘transcendent states of mind’…

Graham: Yeah, over the years we were researching the earliest documentation of creativity and the collective understanding of existence found in caves all over the world, this type of state of mind was good for us because we got to understand other forms of existence.

TSH: The band was in the Basque country for over two months writing. I read that you guys were looking into Laure’s grandfather’s teachings, in particular about things being much deeper in ancient and spiritual terms, how influential was this a factor for the theme of the album?

Graham: Yeah, it was extremely important, just his introducing us to Basque culture, which became the backbone of our music, that by itself technically was huge, also his introduction to the mythology of the Basque culture and his understanding and work, his unique perspective on life - that helped us evolve.

TSH: A unique aspect of the album is the use of world instruments, in particular the txalaparta and charango, how did this come about?

Graham: The txalaparta especially was key for us; they are a huge influence with the sound they create. For us to go to the Basque country and watch people play them is really amazing. We started learning how to play them everyday and then started to play them live. They actually used to be used as a form of communication in the Basque country, from the hilltops people would come and try to conquer the lands, they’d play the txalaparta and they’d echo around the hills to warn the other villagers. It’s an amazing spiritual instrument. The charango was just great because as a band we like unique tones and this was one of those sounds, it’s always nice to play western instruments, but instruments like the charango are refreshing and inspire us.

TSH: Do you feel implementing various Basque sounds, world music, afrobeats and adopting South American shaman music is perhaps the reason as a band your sound has been at times mentioned as ‘indescribable‘?

Graham: Yeah, I think also it stems from because we as a band are from different places of the world, we all grew up listening to very different things, so our own individual tastes come together when we make music and it creates this kind of weird mixture of sounds.

TSH: How rewarding was it to play an actual rave in a cave?

Graham: It was a real privilege to do an event like that. We’d never really done any sort of event on that scale before. To have the Basque village allow us to carry the rave out was great. Everyone was very welcoming; it was very humbling. To play in that cave as well was amazing. They used to burn witches in this cave; pagan ceremonies would take place in the cave. The energy was intense and hopefully we’ll be doing more events like that.

TSH: Speaking of events, how do find the transition of playing enclosed gigs and making the changeover to festivals?

Graham: It’s pretty crazy, I love playing small and big clubs, as well as festivals. The difference with the enclosed gigs is that there is more of a direct energy between the crowd and the band, less of a gap if you know what I mean. The whole experience is in a box; it’s a crazy vibration. With festivals you have so many people come together and sing the same lyrics, they’re all there for the same reason and it’s a collective positive force, which is rare, you mainly get it at sporting events. It’s crazy going form a small club to a festival!

TSH: Let’s talk about the album; the start of the album is so pleasing and consists of mostly the singles. Was this the obvious way to start the album to lure in the listener?

Graham: Yeah, I think when we started to record the songs it become obvious to us which songs we wanted at the beginning. Lyrically having ‘Wave’ first was ideal, we tried to place some of the songs elsewhere, but it soon became obvious where the songs would fit. We wanted to start it off like we were putting on a party.

TSH: ‘Separator’ is one of the many stand out songs on the album, is the message of the song to disconnect and have a celebration of life?

Graham: Yeah, it’s a celebration of the spirit and soul, a separate and physical being, to create awareness hopefully for people that don’t necessarily realise that your body is a separate entity from your mind. It’s a celebration of consciousness.

TSH: The song ‘Bridge of Bones’ is also another interesting song, you talk about ‘building a bridge of bones to get home’ and ‘I will float to find my love’ - what’s the story behind the song?

Graham: *Laughs* that song is actually about the guy from ‘Ecstatic Truth’ who is still out in the water and he’s like on his last legs and he’s basically starting to lose his mind and thus building a bridge out of bones. The second verse is like his last words and the final chorus is like death for him - a celebration of life!

TSH: The tempo shift for the final songs ‘These Nights’ and ‘Everywhere’ are great, was this intentional, to end on a varied note?

Graham: We thought they would be good ending songs, to kind of cool off, it’s like a nice message to leave everyone with. They fit well at the end *Laughs*

TSH: Also the brilliant song ‘You & I’ is accompanied by a cool video about a tree that unfortunately doesn’t quite make it…

Graham: *Laughs* Elliot Sellers made it like a nice love story and in the end it raises some issues that we all need to be aware of and he wrapped it up into a nice little thing, I don’t think it was necessarily aggressive or enforcing anything!

TSH: As individuals your demeanour is commonly connected to words like ‘feel-good‘, ‘summer‘, ‘alluring’ and the same kind of perception when you play live, is it important to send out that positive type of energy?

Graham: Yeah, definitely, we try to be as positive as possible all the time. We find joy and positivity in activity. It’s really easy to get lost in negativity these days, fortunately we all have the choice to live or lives how we want to and be as positive as we can, I think if you send out positive vibrations, they extend exponentially. It’s something we should all be doing and that’s what we do as a band.

TSH: What was the first album you purchased?

Graham: I think it was a Vanilla Ice one, but the next one I got was Pearl Jam - Ten, and that changed my life.

TSH: If you could go back in time to see one performance, who would it be?

Graham: I would’ve loved to see Frank Zappa. That would have been awesome.

TSH: Favourite album and song of 2013?

Graham: Arcade Fire – Reflektor. It’s so good - I love them guys, and my favourite single… I’d say ‘Made to Stray’ by Mount Kimbie. They’re our brothers, they’re so good!

Crystal Fighters - “You & I”

Cave Rave

[harmonic-series]

Crystal Fighters by Clare Kim.

October 1, 2013 The Fillmore Silver Spring, MD The Harmonic Series