'American Song Contest': Who is Crystal Method? Nevada singer created music for 'Mortal Kombat'
If you've been keeping up with 'American Song Contest', you know that the contestants are not holding back when it comes to displaying their music prowess! With Kelly Clarkson and Snoop Dogg hosting the show, musicians from all over the country battle it out to prove that their state stands above the rest!
During week 1, Hueston from Rhode Island made it to the semi-finals by performing his song, 'Held On Too Long'. Week 2 saw Jordan Smith from Kentucky advance forward with his song, 'Sparrow'. And, week 3 had Tennessee's Tyler Braden make the cut with his song, 'Seventeen'. Now as 'American Song Contest' enters week 4, here's a look at Nevada's representative -- The Crystal Method!
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Representing Nevada is The Crystal Method. The act, which features Scott Kirkland, calls Las Vegas, NV, home, although Kirkland currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Although the act was initially a duo made up of Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland, Jordan decided to leave the pair in 2017, while Kirkland continued to perform under the act's name. Despite working for 25 years together, Kirkland maintained that there was no bad blood when Jordan called it quits. "Ken came to me in 2015, saying he was pretty much done with music and wanted to move down to Costa Rica with his wonderful wife to be more eco-conscious, which didn't really leave a lot of room for things like keyboards and drum machines. It wasn't like there was any animosity – he gave me his blessing to continue with The Crystal Method and made it really easy for me to buy him out of the studio," he said, while talking to Music Radar.
The act has made tracks for gaming franchises such as ' Need for Speed: Underground', 'Mortal Kombat: More Kombat' and their song 'I Know It's You' was even featured in the 'Resident Evil: Extinction' trailer. In addition to the act's six studio albums, fans can now look forward to their 7th one -- 'The Trip Out', debuting on April 15 via Ultra Records.
Here's what Kirkland had to say about the new album. "The Trip Home was a soundtrack to a movie you'll never see – a stylised, futuristic look at how The Crystal Method was between albums like Vegas and Tweekend. When Glen and I worked on it we had 12 to 14 tracks in various different states that fit that narrative and a few that had a lot of potential but didn't fit," he said. "We immediately thought of making a companion album called The Trip Out, but then I got busy on the road and the pandemic hit so the idea drifted away, although I did use Friction and Let's Trip Out from those sessions. The inspiration for the album changed to a theme of us having been at home for so long that it was time to get the fuck out, so The Trip Out title still seemed to make sense." he added.
As per their NBC Bio -- "For nearly three decades, the Crystal Method has remained one of the most influential and well-respected acts in electronic music. Co-founded by Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan in 1993, the Grammy Award-nominated duo defined the sound of a generation — pioneering the big-beat genre, popularizing electronic music with mainstream audiences and establishing America as a force in the European and British music scene. While Kirkland reimagined the Crystal Method as a solo act in 2017 following Jordan's retirement, the momentum has never slowed — even during a pandemic. Now, after an unprecedented few years, the innovative musician, producer and DJ continues the evolution with the Crystal Method's seventh studio album and his second solo outing, "The Trip Out." Growing up in Las Vegas, Scott got to see first-hand how quickly the city and state grew in size and relevance to the broader entertainment world. So for him to be able to come back and represent the great state of Nevada for "ASC" is a thrill."
This week, be sure to catch performances by Allen Stone (Washington), Alexis Cunningham (West Virginia), Bri Steves (Pennsylvania), Bronson Varde (Hawaii), Jared Lee (Massachusetts), Las Marias (Arizona), MARi (New Hampshire), NËITHER (Washington, D.C.), Savannah Keyes (Utah), Stela Cole (Georgia) and The Crystal Method (Nevada)
'American Song Contest' airs on Monday, at 8/7c on NBC. You can vote for your favorite performances on the NBC website, the NBC app and TikTok. You can also stream your favorite artists' songs on your preferred music streaming app.