With a successful new EP and two music videos, one of which is already being featured on MuchMusic’s website, Toronto-based Crystalyne seem to be navigating in the right direction for a successful career.
The four-piece band consisting of Marissa Dattoli, Josh Given, Scott Blake and Justin Niece, recently released their first EP, Navigate.
The band is currently on tour and took the stage at Ottawa’s Club Saw June 22, delivering an energy-filled set for their fans.
Lead singer Dattoli may be recognized from her appearance on MuchMusic’s second season of Disband with her old band Good and Broken as well as her many YouTube videos. Crystalyne is her newest musical project in which she said she is very proud to be a part of.
Crystalyne’s EP Navigate was released in June. However, the recording process, which started last fall, was interrupted by an unexpected tour. After beginning the recording process of Navigate, the band hopped on a tour with motivational organization LiveDifferent. Although the recording time was pushed back a little, the LiveDifferent tour allowed Crystalyne to introduce themselves across Canada.
“We got to play to so many group of kids in different places so it built an initial fan base for us across all of the west of Canada. It’s like everything came together because we had just started playing together two or three weeks before we left for the tour,” Given said.
Navigate speaks about some of Dattoli’s personal struggles.
“I went through a really hard breakup before the band formed and I felt like the only way I could get over it was to write these songs. So the EP is all about that,” Dattoli said.
The title track “Navigate” is the one song that brings everything into perspective, the band said.
“I always felt like I needed to figure out what I had to do. With my old band, for example, I was not in the right place. I felt like creatively I couldn’t say what I wanted to say. So I had to leave that and figure out what I was doing. My ex-boyfriend was obviously not the person I was supposed to be with, so I had to leave that and figure out where I was going. I had to navigate around all those situations and get to where I’m supposed to be. That’s kind of the whole point,” Dattoli said.
“The EP has undertones and you can take any song and change it. It doesn’t have to be about an ex-boyfriend it can be about God or any personal struggle.”
Crystalyne’s success seems to be rising quickly.
The band has already shot two music videos for their songs “Wolves” and “Weapon.”
The video for “Weapon” is currently being featured on MuchMusic’s website.
“For us this is just the beginning. We feel really blessed and really excited to be receiving all the opportunities we have been receiving,” Dattoli said.
“The MuchMusic thing was a huge deal for us.”
Dattoli explained that the next step for the band is to start writing more.
Given said the band is aiming to start touring again in the fall and they hope to breakthrough into the United States in the near future.
“I feel like we’re starting our sail. We know where we want to go and we have our goals in sight. You need to know how to navigate in order to get to where you want to be,” Blake said. θ
