Meet Cristal | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Cristal and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi CRISTAL, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
Risk taking is what actually life is all about. I’ve read something these days that sums up what I’ve been living by for the past few years: do it scared, but do it. That’s what I think life is about: doing things, even if you’re scared, but still having the courage to try.
From my perspective: if you fail, that’s okay, at least you tried and if you didn’t you would have never known what would happen.
And if you succeed? Well, you earned it, because you were brave enough to try in the first place.
As one of my favorite people in the world, J. Cole, said in his documentary: “Comfort is the enemy”. He explains that he questioned himself: “Are you okay with getting comfortable? Is this the highest you’ll ever get from a skill level? Have you wrote your best song?” and realized he wasn’t okay with that.
Whenever you get comfortable, you stop trying, you stop searching for the best in you, you stop trying to get better and improve because in reality, you don’t need it.
Taking risks in general will be stressing, will make you anxious, will force you to get out of your comfort zone.
And there, right out of your comfort zone, is your growth, both as an artist and as a person.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
There was this moment in my life where I realized, I not only loved to listen to music, I also loved making it myself.
Art is a form of expression for humans, and that’s what makes it so unique and personal.
I realized how much I could express myself by writing songs, and it has been more than therapeutic.
The reason I started making music was to be able to be to others what some artists are for me. For further explanation: I went through my teenage years listening to the reggae band SOJA, and they have stayed with me over the years, even to this day. Whenever I feel lost, whenever I don’t feel like myself, whenever I feel like my goal in life is getting blurred, I go back to listen to them, and their music reminds me that: who I am, what my goals are, what my principles are, and on top of all that: that i’m not alone.
Their music makes me feel accompanied. That’s exactly what I’m looking for other people to say about my music. I want to be for at least one person, the artist they will go to whenever they need that reassurance of who they are, and that they will never be alone as long as my music is out there somewhere.
I had to learn everything from scratch, since I was never in touch with anything related to making songs. But that’s the beauty of our journey: we learn, we try, we fail, we succeed, we change.
It was not an easy journey, but it was mine, and I loved every lesson from it, because it took me to where I am today.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Denver has it all: daytime events, nightlife, beautiful parks with lakes in the city, art, museums, and amazing people on top of the list.
Starting with daytime events, we’d go to the Botanic Gardens, the 16th Street Mall, and for some contact with nature: Sloan’s Lake Park.
If we are talking about nightlife, I would take her to the First Friday Art Night, where we could find the most interesting things to see and also an extense list of places to eat and drink. Another of my favorite places to go on Saturday nights or Sunday evenings are the bars in LoDo: El Patio, The Mill, Whiskey Row, among other good options.
And a “can’t miss” place everyone will mention to you in all Colorado: go to a Red Rocks concert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Life is meant to be lived in society, I believe we are nothing without the people we love and that loves us: shoutout to my family, my friends (the ones that are still here, and the ones that were by my side in any time of my career too), my producers and the people I look up to, who have unconsciously motivated me through my own path.

Website: https://linktr.ee/cccristal

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/introcristal/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@introcristal