Editors note: The Crystal Method was scheduled to perform Saturday at the Pozo Saloon, but that show was postponed until further notice earlier this week because of scheduling conflicts. Ticket holders may request a refund or redeem their tickets for entrance to Sundays Memorial Day Weekend concert at the Pozo Saloon. Go to www.pozosaloon.com for more information.
Whether dropping the beat on the dance floor or entertaining the masses at Bonnaroo, Coachella and South by Southwest, pioneering electronic dance duo The Crystal Method know how to get the party going.
Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have created some of the genres most enduring hits, including Name of the Game, (Cant You) Trip Like I Do and Keep Hope Alive.
Growing up in Las Vegas, Jordan listened to the likes of Led Zeppelin and Stevie Wonder before discovering electronic music in the early 1980s in the form of New Order and Depeche Mode.
I was just really inspired by the technology, said Jordan, who moved to California to become a sound engineer and producer, just as the Los Angeles rave scene was developing. Kirkland, a fellow Las Vegas native, followed soon afterward.
That was the music we gravitated toward. It was new and different and exciting, Jordan said.
Jordan and Kirkland formed The Crystal Method in 1993, setting up a recording studio in their Glendale house that they dubbed The Bomb Shelter.
The band burst onto the dance scene with the 1997 album Vegas, which was certified platinum a decade later. Soon Crystal Method songs were appearing on the movie soundtracks of Spawn, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Blade II.
When our first album came out, it was at the height of the electronic music is the next big thing (movement), Jordan said, chronicled in the 1999 documentary Better Living Through Circuitry. It never really panned out. There werent enough American artists. It was pretty much Moby, and us.
Today, thanks to the success of high-profile artists such as Deadmau5, Skrillex and Lady Gaga, he said, Its really blowing up in a big way.
Over the past few years, The Crystal Methods creative output has included a Nike workout album, multiple movie soundtracks, and the theme songs for the television shows Bones and Third Watch.
Coming on the heels of 2001s Tweekeend and 2004s Legion of Boom, the bands 2009 album Divided By Night features collaborations with hip-hop group LMFAO, reggae rap star Matisyahu, She Wants Revenge frontman Justin Warfield and New Order bassist Peter Hook.
The Crystal Method first worked with Matisyahu, who played the Pozo Saloon in 2009, at a Canadian music festival.
He came by our trailer and wanted to get on the mic during our set, Jordan recalled. When he came out he started doing this really cool wailing sort of singing. From that moment it was like, Yeah, weve got to get him on the record.
According to Jordan, The Crystal Method has always been drawn to remarkable voices. Past collaborators include The Roots vocalist Rahzel and Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver fame. Were looking for something interesting and different, and something we think will work with our music, Jordan said, which incorporates elements of pop, rock, funk and disco. Thats what has made our sound unique.
Most recently, the duo teamed up with R&B legend Martha Reeves of The Vandellas and The Funk Brothers in the documentary Re:Generation. The film, released in theaters in February, also features appearances by electronic dance acts DJ Premier, Mark Ronson and Pretty Lights.
Jordan described The Crystal Methods musical mashup, Im Not Leaving, as miles away from the weird mellow polished sound of modern R&B.
Our version of R&B was what rock grew out of, he said. We were really happy working in that genre. We thought it really fit our sound.
The Crystal Method has another project, the EP Sling the Decks, scheduled to come out this summer. The focus will be on harder electronic dance music, Jordan said.
At the time of the interview, Jordan was looking forward to sharing that sound with his Central Coast fan base his parents, high-school sweethearts who grew up in Santa Margarita and Atascadero, returned here after retiring, and Jordan lived in Templeton at one point.
Reach Sarah Linn at 781-7907.


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