JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on or have recently completed. Why exactly do they matter to you and why should they matter to
CRYSTAL SHAWANDA: – I just completed and released my new album “Church House Blues”, and it is a definitive piece of art for me because I wasn’t trying to win over the critics or fit in anywhere, I just wrote and recorded what I know, what I’ve been through, where I’m going, and what feels good. I feel like it’s important for everyone to ignore the distractions in life and seek out who we are truly meant to be. That’s why this project mattered to me.
JS: JS: How did doing these projects change you as a person and as a creator?
CS: This project changed me because it has given me a renewed confidence, by choosing to embrace who I am, and recording and writing music that feels natural to me, rather than if it will be commercially successful. It also has a lot to do with working with my team True North Records who preferred songs I was writing, over the songs that were being pitched to me. I feel like they gave me back my voice as a songwriter, something I lost somewhere along the way.
JS: What are the most important parts of yourself that you put into your work?
CS: The most important parts of myself I put into my work is my heart and soul, my sincerity, and hope. Everything is very personal, I truly care about what I put out into the world, and hope it’ll help someone through whatever they’re dealing with.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
CS: My biggest challenges as a creative person is separating my heart and soul from the business side of things, to not take things too personal when a piece of music is judged and rejected.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life that helped to make you who you are as a creative artist.
CS: A major turning point in my career that made me who I am, came pretty early in life actually. When I was 6, I performed for the first time on stage for people, and there was a funny part in the song that made everyone laugh, and I can distinctly remember feeling their energy, and I fell in love with that connection. I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since, and it is what drives my performances as well as what I choose to write and record. I want to inspire people to go through their emotions, whether it’s sad and the music allows them to release it into the universe, or happy and the music pushes them to share it with everyone.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about your life as a person in the arts?
CS: I think the hardest thing for people to understand about my life as a person in the arts is everything, I do is an extension of me, and I invest myself so much that it can be mentally and emotionally exhausting. Also, the level of commitment it takes to be in the music biz is consuming, I miss a lot of important events in people’s lives, because my job is not 9-5 with weekends off, and I can’t put in a request for time off. Contracts are drawn up months sometimes a year ahead of time, and if I canceled, I could be sued. Some people I love eventually give up on me because of this, and some forgive me and try to understand, it’s not always easy but if it was everyone would be doing it.
JS: Please tell us what you haven’t attempted as yet that you would like to do in the arts? Why the delay so far?
CS: Something I’ve always wanted to do but haven’t attempted yet is writing children’s books. I have ideas, story boards, sketches of characters, but just haven’t been able to bring it to fruition. The only reason I haven’t done it yet is the lack of funding, I have tried applying for grants but just haven’t had any luck yet. I’ll keep trying though, because it’s something I really want to do, especially since the birth of my little girl Zhaa Zhaa 3 years ago. Till I find the means I will keep writing and collecting ideas so that when the opportunity presents itself, I’ll be ready.