Vanessa DeCouto’s debut EP as Crystal Trench found the spotlight at Local Spins, which also debuted fresh tracks by Chris Michels, Trakzero, Lynn Thompson, Adam Main and more.
Old Sounds With a New Spin: Vanessa DeCouto and Crystal Trench. (Photo/Leigh Ann Cobb)
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Vanessa DeCouto’s description of her music as Crystal Trench gives listeners an apt aural image of the project’s eclectic direction.
“The sound is shimmery, noisy, experimental, nostalgic, energetic, synth-, drum- and bass-focused,” she offers, “with genre nods to post-punk, dark wave, shoegaze and art pop.”
Indeed, this “new style” of electronic wonderment – initially concocted as a “sound collage” on a four-track cassette recorder – gives listeners “a little taste of everything.”
“I think because I have spent a lot of time playing in a lot of different genres, I’m bringing a lot of different sounds to this project,” said DeCouto, a Grand Rapids-based musician and tattoo artist who originally gave birth to Crystal Trench during an immersive, 2022Wr artist residency in Cuyama, Calif., where she began exploring experimental recordings.
Getting Theatrical: DeCouto hopes fans get into the ‘weird, circusy’ vibe at her EP-release. (Photo/Leigh Ann Cobb)
“The music I’m most excited about right now is music that can’t really be put into a box – where maybe there’s this really slow ballad, but then there’s also this really hard dance song, and they can fit into the same album and make sense. What I’m trying to bring to the scene is to just be a little unpredictable and leave people now knowing what’s going to happen next.”
That debut EP, “Write the Things Which You Have Seen,” drops today (Dec. 27) on Dizzybird Records, with Crystal Trench’s album-release show taking place on New Year’s Eve at Grand Rapids’ Four Star Theatre, with Marsfade, Strange Skin and DJs Masa Like Nasa and Sean Stearns also on the bill (with visuals by Alex Perez).
Doors open at 8 p.m. and tickets, $20, are available online here.
“I have really been leaning into the theatrics of performing with this project. … When I’m performing live, I’m really just focusing on singing and there’s a lot of movement in my performances; I’m all over the stage,” said DeCouto, who calls Four Star Theatre on S. Division Avenue “the most interesting venue in town” these days.
She’ll be joined on stage by bassist Fiona Dickinson and drummer Ben Weissenborn.
“There is a traditional drum kit and a real bass on stage, so you kind of have that rock band vibe. But then, I’m also bringing in electronic instruments like synthesizers and stuff like that.”
COLLABORATING WITH SETH BECK AND PLANS FOR 2025 TOURING
Involved for years in Grand Rapids’ DIY scene and part of the Vision House artist collective, DeCouto worked with longtime friend and engineer/producer Seth Beck to create the EP at Rat Future Recordings in Chicago. The duo released a single, “Premonition,” earlier this year. (Video below.)
“I just love the mindset of like, all right, I’m packing up my bag, I’m going to Chicago. I’m going to go in the hole for four days and just crank out a bunch of recordings,” she says of the recording that focuses on themes of “movement and momentum.”
“I put my phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’, I don’t check my email for the whole time. Just being able to really go into that immersive, creative environment has been huge. And Seth … he knows my vision – I don’t even have to explain it.”
High-Energy Show: Crystal Trench has big plans for New Year’s Eve. (Photo/Leigh Ann Cobb)
Collaborating with Dizzybird’s Nicole LaRae to release the new recording, DeCouto — whose music is inspired by the likes of Bjork, FKA Twigs, Yves Tumor, Prince, The Cure and Cyndi Lauper -– intends to complete a full-length album and take Crystal Trench on the road in 2025, with plans for shows in Chicago and elsewhere in the Midwest. She’ll perform Jan. 11 at The Avenue in Lansing.
To complement Crystal Trench’s theatrics in a live setting, DeCouto hopes fans will get into the spirit of her New Year’s Eve EP-release party by dressing in “surreal, dark, reflective, iridescent and strange” manner.
“I think the night overall is going to be really high-energy. Really weird,” she concedes. “I’m really encouraging people to dress up and go all out and kind of lean into that weird, bizarre, circus vibe. … I’m just ready to dance.”
For this week’s edition of Local Spins on WYCE, Crystal Trench spotlighted two tracks from the new EP – “Our Love is Power” and “Through the Mirror.” Listen to the interview and tracks as part of this week’s WYCE radio show podcast, which also featured new music by Lynn & The Moonshine Runners, Jacob McLeod, Chris Michels, Strange Skin (with Jonathan Gillis), Trakzero, Nathan K., Dog Latin, Adam Main and Alex Austin.
PODCAST: Local Spins on WYCE (12/27/24)
VIDEO: Crystal Trench & Seth Beck, “Premonition”
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