Crystal Waters: SYNERGY

It was an honor speaking with pop, R&B and dance recording artist Crystal Waters about her brand-new release, “Synergy.” I found her to be extremely humble, fun, lighthearted and very cosmic. Best known for her epic releases “Gypsy Woman (She’s Homeless)” and “100% Pure Love,” Waters began her career writing songs for other artists. When asked to write the song “Gypsy Woman” for Ultra Nate, the recording company enjoyed her demo so much that they signed a contract with her instead. Since then, Waters remains a prominent artist in the underground dance scene. She is also creating an anti-aging line of cosmetics for the gay male.

That new release “Synergy” sounds like a hit.
Well, thank you.

Let’s talk about it a little bit.
Synergy! I hadn’t been in the city for a long time, but I went to a Christmas party this year for I Heart Radio. My friend said he had the perfect track for me. When I got home and heard it, the melody came to me instantly. I wasn’t going to go to this party, but I said I might as will go, meet people, and make contacts at that party. It was one of the best things that happened, riding on the train to New York. So the whole thing is about synergy and that kind of stuff, which is floating around in my head.

Do you plan to do a tour to support it?
Yeah. I’m actually trying to finish up my album, so I’m trying to get that done before. But that is the plan.

Besides that new project, are you working on anything else?
I have a record coming out soon, and I also have a record coming out with Hi 5 Shaun. He has Yoko Ono on his album.

So how did you originally get into the entertainment field?
Well, my family is a musical family. Music was always around. So I went to college and everything and got my job with the government. They sent up that sheet that tells you what you’re going to make every year, and I saw that in 10 years I was never going to make any kind of money. I needed to make some money! My mom told me to do something with my voice, and I thought she meant public speaking, and I thought she was crazy. So I went back to work, and then one of my friends said that his cousin had a studio, and they were looking for backup singers. He said he would go if I would go, so we both went, and we both got the job. They gave me $600 in the 1900s, which was a lot of money back then. And I thought this was it! So I hung around the studio as long as I could, and I started writing. I had been writing poems and things, and then I started doing all these demos. Then I did “Gypsy Woman” and “100% Pure Love.”

Both of those songs are epic. They are still played on the radio all the time.
I get requests all the time for people to do those songs. Right now a rapper in London sampled it and did it. It’s doing very well in the U.K. Someone just called me from L.A., a rapper, and he wants to do it. So it’s still doing very well.

I remember when all you heard was that song on the radio.
I’m glad I wrote that song!

What was the funniest or most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you on stage?
I think I fell once. I think every artist falls once. On my third album I was on a lift. I remember the lift going up like 10 feet tall, and I got stuck at the top. It was at my record release party, and all the executives from the record company were there.

That had to be annoying! I know you have a huge gay fan base. Do you plan to do Fire Island or New York City clubs in the near future?
You know, it really depends on the success of the song. I would love to, but you have to be invited.

If you could pick two celebrities to be your parents, who would you choose?
I would pick Ella Fitzgerald for my mother. I try to style myself after her. And for my father, Obama.

Besides Ella Fitzgerald, who inspired to growing up?
It was Ella. My father was a jazz musician. Ella was my favorite. For me it was really about the lyrics. My dad said it was more about sounding like the instrument when you sing jazz.

Do you have a favorite on the radio right now?
I mean, I love Rihanna. But she doesn’t write her own tracks. I’m all about the lyrics. I think Drake.

You are a new addition to a crayon box. What color are you?
Mocha.

If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would you pick?
Oprah. I’d probably be scared to open my mouth.

If we could look into your heart right now, what would we find?
Joy. I’m really in a good place right now, very confident and sure. I think that comes with age. I’m just having a good time.

The biography of your life has just been written. What’s the title?
You’re making me think from the other side of my brain. Synergy! It all works out.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I have to transition. You know, I can’t be on the road forever. Right now I’m starting two businesses. I am doing an anti-aging line for gay men.

Really?
Yeah. I always wanted to do that. I’ve investigated cosmetics, and I’ve decided that I want to give something back to all my gay friends and fans. I’m doing that, and I’m also doing a jewelry line. Those are two things I’m really excited about.

That’s a pretty heavy chapter, especially that anti-aging line. Every gay man alive will own it, I guarantee you.
I have so many gay men friends. I have a lot of guinea pigs.

What is your favorite quality about yourself?
I never give up.

What is something that you’d want me and your fans know about you that they might not already know?
I’m very cosmic.

Have you read “The Secret”?
I listen to “The Secret” every day, and I follow Abraham. I started listening to them in the ‘90s.

Is there anything else you’d like to talk about or promote for yourself?
I have three more songs coming out.

iamcrystalwaters.com