Diandra Interviews William Crighton: 5 Questions On Music Consciousness

Diandra: “Jesus Blues” and “Priest”, your music seems to play with religious/ spiritual elements.  What about such holy images do you feel your music emanates or plays to?

William: I grew up Christian and still hold onto some of the ideas and lessons I learned. That plays out in my music from time to time.

Diandra:  Do you feel music is a spiritual experience or like a religion as an artist?

William: It depends on what i’m listening to or being a part of . If it feels like it’s true to the source then it’s spiritual for me.

Diandra: Your songs can be a lot about death. What about Death, as an entity/ inevitable act, fascinates you? 

William: I’m  fascinated with death and life. I believe everything is part of the one existing conscious system. From micro organisms to stars,  life and death are the mechanisms of existence rather than two distinct things separate from each other. The ways in which we navigate through this eternal process in our own lives are an endless source of inspiration for songs and stories. 

 Diandra: You have said “if you intend to write a positive song, then it is not really positive”. Do you feel intention depletes creativity or, at least, the authenticity of a song?  

 William: I think that I was more talking about labelling something as ‘positive’. Just because you think something is ‘positive’ it doesn’t mean that it is. People will always apply their own measure to work – if an interviewer tells me that I write sad songs or dark songs my feeling is that that’s their measure, it’s dark/sad to them. To me or someone else it could be full of hope and resilience. Unless scientifically speaking ‘positivity’ is completely subjective. 

Diandra: You have said that “We are here on this earth to learn.” What do you feel music has most taught you?

William: Music is like water you can make a dam, drown, drink, swim, bottle it, pollute it, respect it and so on. 

William is currently working with Matt Sherrod on new music that will take him into different stories and genre experimentation. Yet, if there is one thing that William makes clear as a performer, person, and artist, it is that emotional honesty it essential to his being. Thus, the truth of himself/ his spirit will only be furthered through the music he is making. For More Information on William Crighton Click Here.