Connor Terrones is a really unique artist and singer, drawing from a lot of different influences to create a funky pop sound like nothing else. I was introduced to him with the song Drown, but going through his back catalogue makes it clear that it’s not just a one hit wonder!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released an new track titled Drown, which we reviewed. What can you tell us about the song?
It’s my wannabe Louis Cole/KNOWER song. I LOVE Louis Cole’s music and occasionally find myself writing material that seems particularly inspired by him. I even told my co-producer, Jared Atol, “I wish I could have Louis Cole play drums on this.” He then suggested we reach out to Dynamo’s drummer, Ross McReynolds, and he crushed the drums on this track.
Also, I just released the music video for Drown a couple of weeks ago and it’s my first music video! (Here’s a link to it: https://ww…eD6_JSKA_0)
How has the reception been so far to Drown, and where can it be purchased?
I’ve been incredibly pleased with Drown’s reception so far! As of right now, it’s almost at 1k streams on Spotify and it’s gotten tons of positive press coverage. It’s also been getting some radio play. You can stream it on all major streaming services or purchase it on Bandcamp!
Do you plan to release any more singles?
I’m currently in the process of recording and writing new songs. The next single won’t be released until 2023.
You’ve just released a new album! What can you tell us about that?
It’s my debut album! I co-produced it with my dear friend, Jared Atol. I went to Nashville to record with him at his studio, Unscene Recording. It’s called The People We Love.
Your music is quite poppy. What/who influences you most as artists? What have you been listening to recently?
I have a lot of influences that span many genres: The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, J Dilla, James Brown, The Police, Anderson Paak, Charlie Puth, Thundercat, Louis Cole, Deep Purple, Stevie Wonder, Hiatus Kaiyote… I could go on and on. I’m also deeply influenced by many of the other great artists in the Denver music scene, such as: Ramakhandra, Kaitlyn Williams, Hunter James & The Titanic, Joseph Lamar, and so so many more. Lately I’ve been revisiting a lot of jazz music: Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Brad Mehldau, Donny McCaslin…
Where are you based? What is the music scene like there at the moment?
I’m currently based in Denver. There’s a fantastic live music scene here. There’s loads of different types of performance opportunities: concert venues, bars, coffee shops, weddings, corporate parties, hotels, festivals, breweries, dispensaries… there’s many people I know who are able to make a living doing music full time and there’s many different types of musicians and styles of music that live in the city of Denver.
Did the pandemic hinder you much?
Yes. As a full time musician, the pandemic deeply affected my income. I had to immediately switch from mostly gigging and teaching part-time to playing 0 gigs and teaching online lessons full time. Teaching doesn’t pay as well as gigging does. It also heavily affected the making of the album as it made it very difficult for me to travel to and from Nashville safely. It was a strange time. My gigs didn’t start coming back until summer of 2021 once more people were vaccinated.
What is the writing and recording process like for you?
It can vary from song to song and it changes over time as I gain more experience as a musician and as a human being, but generally I try to just write as much as freely possible in the moment and not judge it until later. If I end up not liking aspects of the song later, I can always just not use it or change it until I do like it. I also try to write A LOT. Writing is just like playing an instrument: it takes practice.
Recording is a tedious process for me. I’m highly neurotic about getting the BEST performance and BEST sound possible, so I regularly over-analyse the quality of my playing and my tones/sounds as I’m recording. This ultimately slows the whole process down. In the end though, it’s so rewarding to finally get that perfect take with the perfect sound.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
I currently do not, but I would love to play some shows in the UK!
Any last words for the fans?
Thank you for listening to my music, it means the world to me! I wish you all peace and happiness!