Singer-songwriter, and producer Cristal B., hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with a passion for music and the art of performing. She would spend her time in choir, performing in musicals, and singing at local events from a young age. Then, at the age of 13, she picked up a guitar and taught herself how to play, using Taylor Swift as inspiration to transition that into songwriting.
Spending her days fighting on the frontline as a nurse, it was the pandemic that brought her back to her passion for music. Using music as an outlet for her mounting stress and anxiety, she decides to take a chance on herself.
Propelling through the scene with her second single release to date, "Broken Heroes," allows Cristal B. to indulge herself in the deeper perspective that she has struggled to collect properly for the past year and a half.
Commencing with golden horn notes and soft keys performed through this composition, the musical arrangement has us embracing an elusive essence that brings a liberating feel to the lyrics poetically strung together. Minimalism is a key factor that allows Cristal B.'s tender vocalization to reside at the forefront of the captivating piece. Unveiling a series of emotions that have lived inside Cristal B. for the duration of the pandemic. We hear how she blends her universes of music and nursing as the worlds collide to show how the healthcare heroes have been suffering through these times.
The exact sentiments trickle into our speakers as the tantalizing croons take on a prevailing mask in lyrical motifs such as 'We are the champions of a world that's falling to pieces, we are the broken heroes amounting to nothing but screaming into the void.' With a well-deserved stance on the state of the world and a desire to let her voice be heard. Nothing is standing in the way of Cristal B. as she charismatically lets out screams for better days ahead.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Cristal B.! We admire you opening up about your struggles on the frontline and blending that into the music you create. What was the breaking moment for you that allowed you to shift your emotions to make this song?
Thank you, I appreciate that. I always want to make music that is honest and real. When the pandemic started, my anxiety got the best of me. Even though my experience wasn't' nearly as challenging as for other nurses, I was still really struggling. I didn'twasn't know how to cope with how overwhelmed I felt all the time. At that point, I hadn't written a song in several years. It wasn't until I started writing songs again in May of 2020 that I found some peace. Through making music, I found my voice again. I found a way to talk about what I was dealing with and a way to process life. "wasn'tBroken Heroes" resulted from that. It felt like no one was talking about how mentally and emotionally taxing those first few months of the pandemic had been. The phrase "that healthcare hero "B's "would get tossed around constantly, but I felt like the opposite in reality. I felt burned out, alone, and a little broken. This song was born of a combination of sorrow and the tiny bit of hope that sprouted in me when I realized that we might be going through hell, but we're all in it together.
Being you're "second single released, what noticeable similarities and differences have the creative and release processes been?
With "My Therapist," "that the song came together really fast. It felt like an extension of myself, and I knew exactly what I wanted the song to sound like from the day it was written. I took more time to promote that one than I did" broken Heroe" because I was genuinely afraid that no one would listen to it. Thankfully it was well-re Unfortunately, lived." "Broken Heroe" was the opposite. I wrote that song back in September of 2020 and would come back knows every, so oI didn't Ididn'tt know what to do with music. The song felt special to me from day one, so it was hard to move forward with iI didn't I didn't want to meet wasn't It wasn't until this summer that I finally did the production on it. Things had started getting horrible again, hospital and its reign, ted that fire in me to put"HeroesnHeroeshe "out into the world.
What do you hope your audience can reflect on when taking "Broken Heroes" to its full extent?
I hope that when people listen to "Broken Heroes," they feel understood and comforted, knowing they're not alone in their feelings. This past almost two years have been traumatic for so many. But, I want my listeners to know they don't have to go through it by themselves. We're stronger together, even when we're apart.
As someone embracing their artistic side while being a healthcare hero, what has been your biggest takeaway from the pandemic and finding your love for music again?
My biggest takeaway is that it's important to prioritize my mental health just as much as my physical health. For me, making music is like a form of therapy, and it has made an enormous difference in managing my anxiety. The moment I started doing the thing I love most again, I saw a significant shift in myself. The pandemic has been a stark reminder that life is too short not to do the things you love with the people you love.
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