Elliot Cash makes custom earplugs for the New York music scene under the name Crystal Guardian. He grew up and is based in the mid-Hudson Valley, but comes to the city for monthly pop-ups at clubs and other music-related spaces, including Hii Magazine.

Describe your ideal listening environment.

anywhere where i’m part of a mesmerized audience. bonus points for an old church or a dingy basement.

What are your favorite sounds?

some ASMR artists seem to know this better than i do

Which sound do you most like making?

scream-yawning

Who do you like to talk to most?

people that excite me? and becky

What does it sound like in your head?

when plugging ears: low rumbling + just below ultrasonic frequencies

What was the first thing you heard today?

my phone alarm, which is currently a classical guitar piece

What sounds do you hear right now?

dog barking, airplane flying overhead, truck driving by, tapping from the keyboard, creak of my desk, hum of fluorescent light, scrape of my slippers on the floor

On what occasion do you become loud?

with close friends (usually good), with family (sometimes bad), talking politics (probably bad), singing sacred harp (always good)

On what occasion did you most recently whisper?

reading this question aloud to myself.. and then reading my response back to myself

Are you a good listener?

duh

What podcast do you listen to the most?

not a podcast person, but just finished revisiting Dune on audiobook!

Describe your ideal soundscape?

a crackling campfire amid summer wildlife sounds

What do you consider to be the most frightening sound?

ears ringing after a show

What do you consider the most overrated sound?

80s throwback production in current pop music!

Whose speaking or singing voice do you most admire?

speaking = edgar oliver

singing = rosalía

Who is your hero of music or audio?

allan holdsworth, kate bush, bjork, bach, bartok, autechre & many others

Which sound skill, talent or superpower do you possess?

make water droplet noise with mouth

Which sound skill, talent or superpower do you secretly possess?

harmonize with my bathroom fan

Which sound skill, talent or superpower do you most desire?

deathcore pig squealing

What is the most extravagant / furthest length you have gone for sound?

in college i once drove around (Vermont) with friends trying to find the ideal field to listen to Nirvana in after a snowfall lol

What is your most vivid sound memory?

the first time playing a music composition which includes a “*pick a note*” section in school band: https://youtu.be/xKShvgRejuQ?t=513

Which of your possessions do you most associate with a sound?

air compressor, high-speed hand drill, semi-broken rat distortion pedal

Which extinct sound do you most wish you could hear?

prehistoric language and song

What advice did you regret not listening to?

don’t leave anything valuable in your car in san francisco

Describe silence in ten words.

peaceful, rare, special, creepy, stillness, cold, comfort, discomfort, inward, crystal

When did you feel unheard?

at the beginning of the pandemic when my landlord said “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country!” in response to my roommates and i letting her know our incomes just abruptly stopped

Describe a sound that troubles you.

hearing (and feeling) bombs go off near Gaza

What will it sound like on the “other side”?

iasos’s entire discography

When and where were you happiest, and what did it sound like?

possibly a few years ago sitting in an outdoor DIY maple sap sauna at my friend’s parent’s house on a frigid night in the dead of winter, sipping hot maple sap in my underwear, listening to the soothing sound of billowing steam forming paired with my friend’s voice

What was the best thing you heard this week?

the 1969 album “’Igginbottom's Wrench” by the short-lived band ‘Igginbottom (minus the first two tracks)

Keep up with Crystal Guardian on Instagram and through the website.