Sweet Crystal | Interview | “Organ driven melodic monster”
Sweet Crystal, a band with nearly five decades of musical journey, recently featured their early track ‘Warlords,’ originally released in 1974, on the ‘Brown Acid: Ten Trips (Heavy Rock From The Underground Comedown)’ compilation.
Formed by MarQ Andrew Speck (Q), Bill Blatter (BB), and Steve Wieser (SW) right out of high school, their musical styling draws influence from acts like Pink Floyd and Rush, while staying true to their progressive arena rock roots. With a commitment to their Christian faith, Sweet Crystal’s lyrics offer hope and inspiration, reflecting their mission to reach the world one song at a time. Sweet Crystal’s ‘Warlords’ roars with a fuzzy and fierce energy, driven by an organ-led anthem that evokes the spirit of rock legends. Beyond their music, each band member has diverse interests, from acting and competitive marksmanship to charity work with mentally challenged adults. Sweet Crystal remains dedicated to their unique sound and message, embodying their trademark slogan: “Reaching The World, One Song At A Time™.”
MarQ Andrew Speck (Q) takes the lead on vocals and keyboards, serves as the lyricist, arranges music, handles recording and mixing, and is the executive producer of the band. Oh, and he brings the doughnuts!
Bill Blatter (BB) is on guitars and harmony vocals, contributes to songwriting, and crafts memorable leads and strong rhythmic “pockets” to balance with melody lines.
Steve Wieser (SW) handles both acoustic and electronic drums and percussion, providing a solid driving “pocket” and foundation to the music.
Martin Kuchar (MK) plays bass guitar, bringing solid fundamentals and 40 years of experience to the band. And he brings his heart to the band, too.
“The first song we learned and played live was ‘Echoes’ by Pink Floyd”
I first heard about your music thanks to the recently released ‘Brown Acid: Ten Trips (Heavy Rock From The Underground Comedown)’ compilation. They featured your early track, ‘Warlords’. This was originally released in 1974, right? Tell us about Chaos Records.
Marq Andrew Speck: Our first recording session as a band was at an independent studio outside of Detroit on an 8-track analog tape-based studio. It was called 3M Studios (after the owner’s initials), and we were brought there by our booking agency Diversified Management Agency (aka DMA). DMA owned this fledgling Chaos Records label and put us on it to get the single released (a vinyl 45!).
Fun fact: DMA’s biggest act at the time was a young guitarist by the name of Ted Nugent.
Did you send the single to any major label or did you get any airplay?
No official labels were contacted basically because we were such newbies in the business – we had no idea what to do with our first single. We just sent it to local radio stations, thinking that’s what you do. Much to our surprise, an FM station out of Windsor, Ontario, Canada ended up playing ‘Sweet Crystal Blues’ on one of their 2local talent” segments. The first time I heard that Sweet Crystal song on the radio, it took almost a minute into it before I realized what it was and started yelling, “That’s us! That’s us!” to my mom (I was still living at home…).
On the B-side there’s ‘Sweet Crystal Blues’. Please tell us about it.
That recording was the first time I ever played an acoustic piano on a Sweet Crystal song. They had one in the studio, and the engineer suggested I try. The song is about a person who is captive to a destructive habit, and although it’s not biographical, it sure talks about the frailty of the human spirit.
When did the band originally form and what can you tell us about your and other members’ backgrounds?
The three of us that started the band (myself – MarQ Andrew Speck [keyboards; lead vocals aka ‘Q’], Bill Blatter [guitars; vocals], and Steve Wieser [drums]) met right out of high school and became fast friends for life. To this day, we get together every week to rehearse, record, and just enjoy each other’s company. Does it get old after nearly five decades together? Absolutely not! We just get better with age.
Were any of the band members in any other bands before forming Sweet Crystal?
We’ve all been playing since we were teenagers – actually, Bill and Steve played together during high school. I came along later, during our college years, and we all set out to make it our full-time jobs (which we did for many years – over six tons of gear, a four-man road crew).
Can you elaborate on the formation of Sweet Crystal?
Besides being a 26-time Detroit Music Award-winning band, two of the more interesting aspects of Sweet Crystal are our longevity and our staying true to our musical styling. The three of us founding members have been playing together for almost 50 years, and to this day, we don’t “chase” current trends in mainstream music but stay true to our progressive arena rock beginnings. The songs are new and fresh, but the sound remains classic Crystal, which our fans appreciate. Artists that “chase” trends are already falling behind. You can copy, but you can never catch up, so set your own individual course. That way, you will always be in the lead of your own musical race.
When and where did you play your first gigs? Do you remember the first song the band played? How was the band accepted by the audience?
It’s hard to say what our very first “official” gig was (although there are some telltale photos online documenting those days and nights…). One interesting fact: the first song we learned and played live was ‘Echoes’ by Pink Floyd from their ‘Meddle’ LP. A 23-minute opus that we played note-for-note at a biker club in Detroit, and thanks to the “altered” state of mind from the audience, it went over quite well! What a way to launch our musical journey.
How did you decide to use the name “Sweet Crystal”?
The name of the band Sweet Crystal now reflects the message of our music and mission, referring to passages in the Book Of Revelation that describe a river of sweet water flowing out from the throne of God, clear as crystal. Sounded like an amazing sight to see and place to be…so we adopted it and never looked back! Being a Christian progressive rock band, of course, the Bible is a huge inspiration for lyrics and themes, but more than that – we try and write songs that offer hope, inspiration, and always a light at the end of every dark tunnel in life. Chances are, whatever the listener is going through, one of us has also struggled with it as well. If we can point them in the same direction that got us through, maybe that will be all they need to triumph as well. But in the very beginning? It was the name of a pet boa constrictor I had in college… sheesh.
What influenced the band’s sound?
We started out totally influenced by the progressive rock English music scene of the 60’s and 70’s: bands like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, Atomic Rooster, Uriah Heep all left their musical marks on our writing and playing. We also listened to a lot of American bands like Kansas, Journey, Rush, and Spock’s Beard to keep our creative juices flowing. Basically, we are considered a Detroit band and have been since we started this journey. In the beginning, we opened up for such classic rock acts as Bob Seger, Foghat, Nazareth, Steppenwolf, and many more before finding our true path into the Christian music field.
You played for quite some years before releasing your debut album in 1985. Was there any other older material being made and it’s still unreleased?
Yes, there are many more nuggets from us sitting on cassette tapes recorded at our rehearsals and even some live shows that have never seen the light of day. The quality of the recordings would not stand up to today’s standards but the songs – if refreshed a bit by how we now play – would probably be fun to rerecord and release. Songs like ‘The Sword,’ ‘Children Of The King,’ ‘Stand Alone’ (which won us a third-place award out of 50 thousand entries in Creem Magazine’s “So You Want To Be A Rock-N-Roll Star” song contest November 1978).
As a Christian Rock band, were you familiar with other bands like for instance All Saved Freak Band, Wilson McKinley, Earthen Vessel and the likes? How did you see the Jesus movement happening back in the late 60s and 70s?
We were not aware of or part of the Jesus Movement as it was just a little before our time. We did not start out as a Christian band per se but as just “rock star wannabees” like all of our friends at that time. Of course, God had definite other plans for our musical lives but that would not come later in our journey…but we are all sure glad He did!
I would love it if you could tell us about the albums you released.
With a catalog of songs from our 2 Full CDs, 5 EPs, 3 vinyl 45’s (back in the day – very hard to find now), we have a lot of songs to pull from. Need Crystal? Sweet – here you go! Our complete discography can be found over at our Bandcamp and Soundcloud pages.
But to be more specific (from current to past)
Discography: (EP’s, singles, albums titles):
‘7th Heaven’
2022 EP CD / Digital (D) Nightcrier Music
‘Got Your Six’
2021 EP CD / D Nightcrier Music
‘5 Carat Rock’
2016 Album CD / D Nightcrier Music
‘Quad’
2015 EP CD / D Nightcrier Music
‘A Michigan Christmas Of Hope’
2013 Album CD / D Harmonie Park Music
‘Hairspray: A Tribute to 80’s Power Ballads’
2013 Album CD / D Shark Bite Records
‘Served Acoustic: A Tribute to Warrant’
2004 Album CD / D Shark Bite Records
‘WSVN Radio Salutes The Beatles’
2004 Album CD WSVN Radio
‘Always On Rock!’
2003 Album CD AOR Dreamzones
‘Power-N-Glory: Resurrected Masters’
2003 EP CD/D Nightcrier Music
‘Melodic Rock Is Back Vol. 1’
2002 Album CD Munich’s Hardest Hits
‘September Rising’
2001 Album CD Blue Dove
‘Still Standing’
2001 Album CD/Cassette/D Nightcrier Music
‘Power And The Glory’
1985 EP Cassette Nightcrier Music
‘Larry, Moe & Curly Joe / Now Or Never’
1984 Single (45) Vinyl Carla Records
‘Warlords / Here, Now And Then’
1977 Single (45) Vinyl Fiddler’s Music
‘Sweet Crystal Blues / Warlords’
1977 Single (45) Vinyl Chaos Records
‘Fantastic Five (Various Artists)’
1976 Album Vinyl DMA Records
What currently occupies your life?
Good question. It varies with each band member.
I am big time into acting with four feature film roles and various television appearances under my belt. My next role is in the movie Is It Real? where I get to be a church organist – typecasting or leap of faith? It can be found on various streaming platforms. Bill is into competitive marksmanship and was recently endorsed by ISP Technologies, a high-end music merchandiser here in Michigan. Steve takes to the golf course to release the extra energy he has and has gotten good enough to start competing in the pro-am circuit once he retires from the band, which will never happen if we can help it. Marty Kuchar ([bass; vocals] latest member of the band – with us for 5 years now) works with mentally challenged adults, giving back in a way that the rest of us admire more than he knows.
Thank you for taking your time. Last word is yours.
Our trademarked slogan – Reaching The World, One Song At A Time™ – pretty much says it all about our music, message, mission, and ministry: we are here to reach out to a world with songs of hope and inspiration that rock! Basically, we plan to remain exactly who we are for as long as we can.
Klemen Breznikar
Headline photo: Sweet Crystal (1974)
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