Crystal Castles: The Dark Truth

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concepts: Crystal Castles, Crystal, Castles, Alice Glass, Ethan Kath, Alice, Glass, Ethan, Kath, EDM, Electronic, Punk, Music

Crystal Castles were the enigmatic electronic music duo who made waves and shook up the electronic music world. To the public they were a new age punk band creating some of the most interesting and forward thinking music at the time, hosting legendary live shows to crowds of adoring fans who appreciated the unapologetic music, but behind closed doors things were much worse than any of the fans could have possibly imagined.
2003 was the first time Alice Glass and Ethan Kath would become acquainted, with Alice being 15 years old and Kath 31. Alice had run away from her home in order to live in a squat community of punks under the name Vicki Vale where she started an all girl experimental punk band. In December of 2003, shortly after Alice had run from home, she met Kath and began producing music with him, and Crystal Castles was formed.
2006 was the year the duo would see their first release with a track titled “Alice practice”, a track that Kath claimed to have been a mic test for Alice that he accidentally recorded - a remarkable story for a track that soon became a big hit. This track got Crystal Castles on the map and scored them their first record deal. More singles followed and eventually the duo were on their way to a UK tour. They were gaining popularity faster than anybody had expected, and their first official self titled studio album saw its release in 2008.
Next came Crystal Castles II in 2010, followed by Crystal Castles III in 2012 completing a trilogy of critically acclaimed and incredibly well received albums. Then, in 2014, after such a meteoric rise to success, Alice left the Crystal Castles project, stating that it compromised her "sincerity, honesty, and empathy for others". She stated that the Crystal Castles project was over, and she intended to pursue a solo career - but the manager of Crystal Castles had other ideas, and told the public that Crystal Castles would continue without her.
After Alice’s departure, in 2016 Kath enlisted Edith Frances to join the band in Alice's place, continuing the project and releasing a fourth album titled Amnesty (I). The new duo performed a couple of sold out shows, and were planned to appear at SXSW, a concert organized to highlight womens income disparity. Alice expressed that she didn't think Kath was an appropriate person to headline a feminism centred event, and Crystal Castles were removed from the lineup.
After Alice’s departure from the band fans were confused and speculation was rampant. After a hugely successful three album run to leave the project seemed unthinkable. What could make her leave the project, and why did the project continue even in her absence? From 2014 - 2017 this question would loom over fans heads and speculation about her departure would ramp up until Alice bravely and publicly spoke out against Ethan Kath.
In a statement on her website she revealed information not known to the public about what Kath was like behind closed doors. She detailed how, in her first interactions with Kath, as a 15 year old girl she was supplied with alcohol and taken advantage of by the then 26 year old man. Kath would stalk her after this incident, waiting outside her high school and preying on her, and at that age she had been naive and perceived him as a local rockstar. He had even gone so far as to entirely fabricate the Alice practice story in order to downplay Alice's involvement in the creation of the track and highlight his own perceived achievement.
Kath would give Alice drugs and alcohol and take advantage of her regularly, remaining sober during these interactions. He began to pick at Alice's insecurities, and took control of her by using these against her. He controlled how much food she ate, restricted her access to social media, chose what clothes she would be allowed to wear and regularly read through her emails. He limited her access to interviews, being unhappy if he couldn't be in control of them himself. He even prevented her from having her own credit card, taking control of her finances and keeping her within his grasp. Kath also held onto Alices’ passport alongside controlling her finances, truly trapping her in the abusive cycle of his evil nature.
What’s more, in October of 2017 the former manager of Crystal Castles, James Sandom, claimed that the nature of Alice and Kaths relationship was “unclear”. Kath responded to this with screenshots of emails sent to him during his time as manager of the project, where Alice details the deranged and abusive things that Kath was doing, even with Sandom calling the nature of Kaths actions domestic abuse. (read some emails)
I wont read out the whole transcript but it is available on Alice Glass’s website and offers a lot more information than I will provide in this video.

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