Jelly Crystal

Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Filip Johnson (a.k.a. Jelly Crystal) has established himself as an artist with no boundaries. He often experiments with different styles and sounds, guaranteeing that the listener will never get bored. In 2017, Jelly Crystal released his debut self-titled EP, and has since continued to make his mark on the industry. From 2018 to early 2020, he released a series of singles that culminated in the release of his second EP Cool Cat, consisting of some of his most popular music to date. In this time, the artist has racked up hundreds of thousands of streams on multiple songs and has amassed a following of over 12K monthly listeners on Spotify. He looks to build on this success for years to come. We recently spoke with Jelly Crystal about the music culture in Sweden, his favorite hobbies, and more!

How did you get started making music?

I started playing bass in high school with a band called “Frank Dynamite”. After a while, I realized that I could write my own stuff without having someone disagreeing except myself which felt good. In the beginning, I wrote really bad guitar songs about being depressed without being depressed which wasn’t a great combo.

You’re a Swedish pop artist, but decided to make music in English. Why is this?

I ask myself that same question since I don’t even know if my writing is proper English. I tried to write in Swedish but it’s always different melodic wise. It’s like you have to do it in a specific way with the Swedish words that I don’t like. And my accent sounds like a really bad actor in a really bad Swedish movie, when listening to it. So, proper or not, I’m sticking to English!

What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about the music culture in Stockholm?

We have a lot of good things but at the same time a lot of bad stuff. Right now, I don’t even know what’s going on; it’s like everyone is confused and don’t know what they really like. Running around like chickens without their heads. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing though, hopefully there’s still some new grounds yet to be discovered. I choose to think that way otherwise it’s not good for my glam pop, it’s not that cool anymore haha

What’s one thing you can’t live without? 

All kinds of cheese, that’s more important to me than music. Seriously. 

How do you pass the time out of the studio?

During daytime I play piano at home and go for swims. Nighttime I spend distancing drinking. 

Which artist is working with you on your dream collab?

They’re all dead, it’s too late. But I just found this Norwegian artist - Okay Kaya. If you see her, tell her about my existence so that we can do a duet together! 

What can Jelly Crystal fans look forward to? 

A lot of new music! My debut album is in the making and hopefully Corona is gone by the time it’s to be released and we can play live again.