This is The Crystal Method, ask us anything!

Vegas is a rad album. You guys grew up in Vegas. It seems that there's a story in the track listings -- sort of a Vegas-version of a Greek tragedy. Is it a intentional that:

• "Trip Like I Do" - this is where Las Vegas seduces people into "want to be like me"?
• "Busy Child" - the protagonist arrives in Vegas and gets down to business
• "Cherry Twist" - protagonist is getting down at the tables, getting drinks? The whole song has that kind of early-night Vegas vibe
• "High Roller" - protagonist gets money. Vegas might not be for everyone, but it's definitely the place for our hero!
• "Comin' Back" - Vegas doesn't let go of it's money. Of course our protagonist is going back.
• "Keep Hope Alive" - it doesn't go well. But you should keep trying! It's darkest before the dawn, kinda deal.
• "Vapor Trail" - poof, the money is gone up in a cloud of smoke
• "She's My Pusher" - protagonist ends up stuck in Vegas, working for the casinos only to spend their extra money at those very casinos -- really caught up in the system
• "Jaded" - the frustration at the situation
• "Bad Stone" - the end.

OMG, we're TOTALLY going to use that!!! Thank you for that. You know if you start Vegas and The Dark Crystal at the same time it's pretty cool ;-)

Hey guys, big fan of your music! I was wondering what it was like playing at the League of Legends World Championship at the Staples Center. What was your first reaction when Riot contacted you about it, and what did you think of the event? Thanks for doing this AMA!

That was an absolute 8 minute RUSH!!! It was so much fun and it went so well. We had a rehearsal day a week before at the USC Galen Center and some more run-throughs on the day of the event. The one tricky thing was that we were so far away from the other musicians it was difficult for monitors. We had in-ears and some wedges but we could not listen to the PA or the drummer or anyone on stage or our timing would be way off. We were thrilled when Riot contacted us, we love doing this kind of music creation. We picked the Lucian character on our own and hope we get to do another some day. KJ

To tag onto this question, what kind of notes did they give you for Lucian when you were creating his theme? How was the song developed? Any details would be sweet.

Also, what are your thoughts on esports in general?

We got lots of backstory on Lucian and it was also important for us to see some early versions of his movements within the game. All of this helped immensely. The early key elements of the track came together fairly quickly but then we worked with the Riot guys over a few weeks to reach Lucian perfection, it was definitely a team effort. KJ

I want to thank you. As a 4th grader at the time, I was listening to Blink-182 and Sum 41. Then I saw the video for "Name of the Game" and thought to myself WHAT IS THIS?

You're the first DJs I've really truly liked. I wear my Crystal Method shirt (Black, white lettering and multi color vertical lines) all the time and get compliments for it.

That being said, is there an inspiration for your namesake, or does it just sound cool?

P.S. When are you coming to NYC again? I need to see you!

That's a very cool story! The name really is about how the three words sound together. Funny thing my son just wore his TCM shirt to 2nd grade on free dress day and it was awesome! thanks for sharing and we hope to play NYC ASAP. SK

Not really a question, just want to tell you that I once got an "A" on my final project in a high school animation class by doing a stop motion of a paper getting crumpled into a ball and then flattened back out. The track played in the background was "Double Down Under." It took me about half an hour, and I'm pretty sure that the key to my success was your music. Thank you!

Can we please post a version? Pretty please. Thx Ken

Hi, Ken here, Scott & I are here in L.A. at our studio on separate computers. Let's get started! KJ

will you ever make more big beat/acid breaks? seriously, it's time! the kids need something different than this horrible noise-step stuff.

I think you're going to love Jupiter Shift and Sling The Decks off the album. SK

Just wanted to say I used to pretend I was in an action movie playing your music when I was a kid. Thanks for the awesome memories!

Will you guys ever tour Canada? We love you up here too y'know.

HAHA! I sometimes imagine we're making an action movie when we make music. We love playing in Canada! Ken's a big fan of Poutine!

I really like your work on the theme song to Bones. Have you done any other TV shows?

Being a part of the Bones series has been a great deal of fun. We're currently scoring the new show Almost Human. It's been a great deal of work but also very exciting contributing to an awesome project. SK

Hi Scott and Ken, I am a HUGE fan of you guys. "Vegas" (along with Fatboy Slim's early work) got me into electronic music about 15 years ago!

A few questions, feel free to answer any or all (or none :-( ) of them:

1. What do you think about the tremendous explosion in popularity of electronic music in general? Is this a fad or will it last?

2. Dovetailing off question 1, do you think a crackdown on "Molly" would change any of that? How much of the success is tied to people just using the drug?

3. I really love your signature sound in "Vegas". Is your new album like that? If not, do you plan a return to that sort of style?

4. Have improvements in technology made it a lot easier to record? If so, why aren't you guys recording ALL THE TIME?

5. Any recommendations on influences or DJs that you think have a similar sound to you guys?

Thanks for contributing a huge portion of the soundtrack to my life and for opening my eyes to other parts of it. Can't wait to see you on tour.

Thanks for the kind words and your support.

1. This is not a fad. EM or EDM has permeated the culture and is here to stay.

2. Molly or anything negative in the scene is a problem but I can tell you that when I see my 7 & 5 year old kids dancing to Calvin Harris or Deadmau5 or Skrillex or TCM I can tell you that it is all about the music.

3. Ken & I truly feel the new album is going to make those who love Vegas very happy.

4. Technology has made it easier to make music but we still have to make music we have passion for and sometimes we throw away more than we release.

5. We play many of our current favs on our Sirius/XM show Community Service.

We've had a great deal of fun on AMA today. We'll be checking back in and responding to many of your questions asap. Thank You all at Reddit and to you for participating. SK & KJ aka Scott & Ken

Hey guys. Thank you for doing the AMA and forcing me to create a reddit account. Like many, I want to thank you for introducing me to electronic music with Vegas. Not only was it the first electronic music I listened to, it was the first album I ever bought. I immediately fell in love with the album and with the genre. Coincidentally, I entered and WON one of your contests and have a signed poster and DJ bag. Proof. I used the DJ bag as my school/daily for many years and introduced a handful of folks to the aural beatitude that is TCM. Like many, I was wowed by your performance during the LoL championship.

Now...the questions. I have always been a huge fan of electronic/rock crossovers and absolutely LOVE your teaming up with Filter for Trip Like I Do. Who has been your favorite person/group to collaborate with on that type of song and what is your favorite song of yours of that type?

edit: words

Most of the collaborations have been great but working with Tom Morello was really special. His sound fits ours so well. Amazing guy with great stories and he's a Harvard grad! I hope we can do something else with him soon. KJ

firstly, I offer endless thanks for Vegas. you guys collaborate a lot, always with interesting results -- when can TCM and Trent Reznor get together and melt our skulls?

Trent, our studio door is ALWAYS open for you. KJ

Hello Scott and Ken, first of all congratulations on your success. I wish i could find more early video footage of your guys work at the bombshelter studio. one example is from the film "Better living through Circuitry" allot of the great interview stuff was put into the bonus content and can only be found on the dvd. That would be cool if you guys could put some more old videos up on youtube or something

We have lots of old cool, funny video. On it! KJ

How do you guys feel about people pirating your music? Do you see it as a way to gain fans, or as a loss of revenue?

We've always felt that music fans WANT to support their favorite artists so we've never been too bothered by it. You just can't count on record sales as your only source of revenue anymore. That whole "pirating" thing is kinda how we're putting out our new single "Over It', share share share!!! Wait til you see the video, it's awesome! KJ

Did you guys ever actually play Need For Speed: Underground?

Hearing from "Born Too Slow" was what got me listening to you guys.

I did but I don't remember getting to our track in the game. Most of our gaming time happens on tour when we're on the bus. I do play Blur a lot with my son, Jett.

I know you guys went back to more analog gear for this album. Can you talk a little bit about what equipment you used?

We have and we're loving the results. The ARP 2600, Memory Moog, Roland Jupiter 8, the Mini-Korg are just a few of our analog synths that our on the new album. SK

The clavia nord lead was always a big part of your sound, is this still being used? technically a VA but it still sounds amazing

Love the Nord Lead and we're stoked about the Nord Lead 4!!!

First of all, I just want to say that Weapons of Mass Distortion is one of my all-time favorite tracks.

On that note, do you have any plans to do more rock-oriented tracks like Weapons of Mass Distortion or (Can't You) Trip Like I Do? Would you ever collaborate with Filter or Wes Borland again?

Well, as a matter of fact, we just worked with Wes again at the League of Legends World Finals. He was the lone guitarist playing along with us and the big orchestra. He wore an incredible outfit and sounded awesome as usual. We will definitely do more hard rockin' tracks in the future. Thx for loving that track. K

Just want to say that I love you so so so much.

Thank you so much for that! Love you back. SK

i saw you around 2002 in chicago at Vision. that night you were mixing in AC/DC songs. it was a great set.

Chicago is one of our fav cities to play and to eat. not at the same time of course. SK

Just came to say I absolutely love your collaborations with Linkin Park. And I always blast out Name Of The Game when testing out new speaker and earphones

I love that remix... it's very aggressive and true to the original. NOTG is raw, gritty and still fun to play. Looking forward to playing it at our new albums release party at the El Rey in LA on Jan 16... more details to follow.

how did you two come up with the idea of Nosey?

It was all the director Marcos Siega's idea. He's a genius! He also director the You Know It's Hard video.

Hey Guys - do you ever give tours of your studio?

We're trying to come up with a cool bundle. Private listening party at the studio (Pro Tools session playback), food , drinks, turn some knobs on some gear etc. Would that work? Thx KJ

What are your favorite production tips?

I love a program from FXpansion called Geist. You can do a lot of fun stuff with loops and samples. We use it on every song.SK

\o

As much as I enjoy you guys, I've never had the luxury of hearing you live, since I started listening to your work only a year or so ago. Do you have any plans of hosting a show in Montreal, or in a city not too far (Ottawa, New York City, Toronto...) ?

Come see us frenchies up north!

We're coming and I'm going to eat all your Poutine! KJ

Hey you two! I also am a big fan of your music and when in doubt what to listen, I shoot up TCM.

What are your plans for the future? Are there any other big projects you guys are working on?

Thanks too for being here!

Thx so much. Well besides this whole "new album out in January" thing ;-) we just started scoring all the music for the the JJ Abrams show called Almost Human (on Fox starting Nov 17, 18). The show is awesome!!! We get to see them way early and it's a lot of fun. KJ

Thanks for the support. The new album comes out 01-14-14. Our new single Over It can be heard on our SoundCloud page. SK

Of all the raves and dance parties you've played at, which has had the best or most interesting back-stage shenanigans?

And which one has been you favourite crowd to play to?

One of the most interesting has to be Big Day Out in Australia. It's one of the best (if not THE best) festivals in the world. We've been lucky enough to play it twice. But there is absolutely NOTHING going on backstage, it's really funny. You CANT get backstage unless you are working. They don't even make a pass that allows you to bring anyone back. It's a very tight ship but after every show they throw a big party for everyone offsite. Now all the other gigs……. ;-) KJ

Hey guys-- I'd just like to thank you for Vegas. It was my introduction to electronic music and it is a truly remarkable album. I still listen to it regularly all these years later and it hasn't lost any of the amazing nuance, depth, and energy that I heard in it back in the 90s. If I ever want to escape from the world for a little while I can pump that through my headphones and get lost-- it's wonderful.

You've done a lot of great work since then of course, but that album will always have a special place in my heart. Thanks!

Haha! Thank you very much. Depeche Mode's Black Celebration is one of those albums for me. sk

What kind of hard ware and software synths do you use in your music.

Lot of FXpansion stuff. We LOVE and could not live without Universal Audio plug-ins. Arturia and Native Instrument software are all over the new album. The Casio XG's and our iPads have been very fun. Just picked up reFX's NExus and loving it. SK

Proof???

https://twitter.com/crystalmethod/status/397849861841620992

Fine then. What is your favorite type of soup?

I love Anderson's Split Pea Soup! It's sooooo good!

I love Tom Yum, Split Pea, Leek, and Mushroom Soup. Never cream based. KJ

If I'm not mistaken, at the end of the video for "Name of the Game" it said "To be continued..." what did you have planned for that? Was Nosey somehow symbolic of sniffing drugs?

Love you guys by the way.

Nosey did appear in the next video You Know It's Hard. It was more take on the play Cyrano de Bergerac and more specifically the idea of no matter what you look like you can still be the coolest dude in school. SK

Illinois just voted for marriage equality :) What are your thoughts on GMO labeling?

Yay Illinois!!! I like knowing wether or not what I'm eating has been genetically modified. KJ

Ok, so the use of Keep Hope Alive at the beginning of The Replacement Killers. How did you feel the first time you saw how they used the track? Did you already have an inkling that they were going to do something that awesome with it?

We were in London when it came out and went to see it in the theatre. I remember thinking how cool it was to have a song in a movie and how cool it was to be seeing it in London. SK

Just came across this song from you guys randomly and wanted you guys to know I LOVE IT!! Takes me to heaven everytime! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5nksHJ0pvc

I'll have to check out your other songs now :P

That track, Falling Hard, is one of my favorite tracks we've EVER done. That KCRW performance was the ONLY time we've performed it live. AND it was really early in the morning ;-0 KJ

The last time I saw you guys was WEMF 2012, during the beautiful sunrise after a long night of dancing. Here's my question: why didn't you spin any of your own music? Since I haven't seen any other performances by TCM lately, I don't want to make the assumption that all of your shows are like this (maybe it's just the DJ sets?). I kept waiting to hear some TCM classics, but you kept dropping forgettable electro bangers.

I hope you read this, and please bring the live show to Toronto soon. I know you two had to cancel your show at Digital Dreams this summer because of Scott's recovery, and I was absolutely gutted!

That was a beautiful sunrise and lots of fun. We did play a bunch of TCM tracks but they were mostly remixes and newer versions. The only time we don't play ALL TCM is when we DJ but with comments like this I guess we should play a little more of the original versions. Thx, K

What is your favorite outboard sampler of all time? and why?

EMU's Emax series and then the E4's because the filters were so good. SK

No question, just a huge fan and I'm so glad I got to see you guys when you came to Saskatoon a few years ago! Hope to see you again soon!

I LOVED Saskatoon! I'm a big hockey fan (and player) so I always love going to Canada (except for their immigration/work visa office). But anyway, in Saskatoon there's a mall with this amazing Poutinery. I love Putine!!! KJ

I've always found your music to be an amazing experience. I hope to one day be able to hear it live. Sadly the moonrise festival fell through. Do you plan on making any music videos for the upcoming album?

A video for our new album Over it will be dropping any day now. It's a fun take on the absurdity of baking/cooking shows. SK

what kind of drugs do you / did you like?

Drugs are like anything else... there are good and bad. It really depends on the individuals ability to cope with the what they do and why they do it. I do feel the trend toward a decriminalization of marijuana is one of the most progressive movements in my lifetime. SK

Is a collaboration with Lana Del Rey in the works yet? Are you all recovered from the brain surgery?

I'm not sure why you're asking that specific question but she does mention "Crystal Method" on American. So I immediately thought she was singing about US (the context is "favorite music"). Alas, no, she was singing about an ex-boyfriend with a "problem" :-( Anyway, we'd love to. Lana? KJ

Hi Ken and Scott, huge fan of your music! Was introduced at an early age and still addicted 10 years later :) Any plans to come to Toronto, Canada?

We love Toronto! Your mayor is exceptionally entertaining. One of our best friends in the world, Byron Wong, lives there. Can't wait to get back and play. KJ

What type of shoes are you wearing?

Check out our instagram for a pic of my current kicks. SK

Awesome! Which would you rather fight? A horse sized duck or 10 duck sized horses.

I would duck a horse sized duck and ride a horse to find any duck sized horses. SK

Hey, been a huge fan for years and was lucky enough to see you guys at New Years a few years ago in Queenstown in New Zealand - any intentions on coming back at some point to NZ?

I hope so! We LOVE NZ!

Hey, This is Sam from New Orleans. I was at your show last week. I had an amazing time. Thanks for everything. Ken, I was wondering if you have had a chance to check out Com Truise yet? If not, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yergWdn968o

Enjoy!

I like what I've heard of Com Truise. But, look out for Mevy Chalibu!

Sam, your spaceman helmet rocked! Did anyone find my wife's iPhone 5? White with orange bumpers, totally lost it there. Fun night though right? Thx KJ

What're your guys' favorite thing to do besides make awesome music?

Spend time with me wife and kids and watch NFL. SK

Thanks for doing the AMA, you guys are fantastic! I'm glad you're still making music.

I noticed your DJ gigs still have the same energy out of you two on stage that's equal to when you're on stage doing a live show; there's a sense of performance and theatrics (not just out of an A/V f/x but you two, as well.)

Do think other DJ's need to consider doing a bit more stage show performance themselves now that more and more are charging as much to see them do a set as one would pay to go see someone like NiN or Rammstein live in an arena venue? Unless it's strictly vinyl getting spun, there's plenty of performance instrument technology out there where a DJ can manipulate music their music in real-time w/o having to just do it behind a deck. It's a little disenchanting a times to see someone just fader-pushing between tracks, fist-pump, and have their name in 3d-animations blasting across a venue floor. Like I said, you two still make if feel like a live band show, do others need to step up, or just let the people decide?

Thanks!!

Well that's very kind of you and I'm happy you have fun at our shows. Getting the opportunity to play shows in front of crowds large and small comes with a certain amount of commitment to being present. I love the music we play and the crowds we play for so why not show it. That said there are many artist that do show there love for what they do and as a fan myself I appreciate it. SK

Hi Ken and Scott! I just wanted to say thanks for a great eargasm session in Sweden Arvika 2006. I had no idea you were playing as my visit to the music festival was spontaneous. And thanks for the colacan you tossed to me! -Jimmy

Haha, I'm glad the cola can made it to you safely. It always seems strange to me that festivals don't do a better job of taking care of the fans upfront and in the pit. SK

Hey guys I notice you do a lot of charity work. What has been your favorite charity to work with?

My favorite charity to work with is EMA the Electronic Music Alliance, go to ema-global.org Scott & I volunteer for their Play It Forward program at least a couple of times a year. We also love the Sea Shepherds. KJ

First off, big fan, not seeing you at Reading Festival 2010 was one of the biggest musical regrets of my life (not by by choice I should add!) if you ever get a chance to come to Nottingham, England, you'd like Stealth or the Marcus Garvey

As guys who have been around inspiring people & making music for a long time, what do you make of the explosion of electronic music scene at the moment, is it a bubble? a lot of people seem to be getting tired of generic ghost written/produced 'EDM'?

Big love xx

Yeah, the ghost writing/producing thing is getting out of hand. I never imagined this music would feel the pain of Milli Vanilli ;-) On the other hand, I never dreamed this music would ever be embraced by so many people, and that's cool. K

Scott/Ken! Let me start by saying that TCM is unquestionably the group that first got me interested in electronic music, and one of the first artists to really open my life up to wider music. So, thanks for all the work you've done and continue to do - I look forward to the new album! I get the impression from the couple singles out so far that the album is going in a new direction for you - definitely a different sound than before - what were the reasons for doing that?

That being said, I was at one of your concerts last year in Minneapolis and after the show when you were shaking people's hands...I gave Ken my business card. He looked really confused as to why some rando engineer would do such a thing, but he pocketed it. So the question is...why did you never call?

Ha, we love Minneapolis! Was gonna call you on our next trip down ;-) The sound of our music is always changing, we actually made a serious effort to make this new album closer to the way we made Vegas, not the sound, of course, but the process. It's funny but we've never considered ourselves a breakbeat act. We've also been called over the years: techno, Big Beat, Trip Hop etc. We REALLY love the new album and hope you do too. K

Are you planning to do any more collaboration with Alan Parsons? What was it like the first time with him?

Alan is such a hero to me. I'm in awe of him. Couldn't wait to work with him, he actually came to our old scary Bombshelter studio. I hope we get to work with him again. We've remained good friends, he's awesome. KJ

Ken, Scott, welcome to r/IAMA, and thanks for having some of the best and most consistently awesome electronic music for the last 2 decades!

We have a local radio station that plays your album, Vegas, as bed music for their lead in from songs to their in-studio mic time. They have gone through about 4 of those CD's over the years. Would it be possible that you could hook them up with a signed CD or some other personalization that could help them out? I don't expect much, they are a community-run alternative station, but have been bumping your music since 1997 when Vegas debuted.

Keep being your awesome selves, and droppin' hits from the booth to the floor, or something along those lines...

and the name of that stain? KJ

Sure, have him send us something thru Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for the kind words and support. SK

What kind of drugs is required to appreciate electronic music?

Again, my 7 and 5 year old kids love electronic music. NO Drugs required.

Have you ever pooed in your pants on stage? If not please share your most embarrassing poop related story.

Thanks!

Poop is the funniest word in the english language. It helps when you say it with a high pitch voice like the way Beavis did. I also like to sing popular songs while replacing all the key words with the word "poop". Try it, you'll like it. KJ

I do not like the new series Under The Dome. Why?

But I am a huge fan of Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome