Chord Fiction are an intriguing new band on the scene, with their music containing elements of many different genres. I recently had the opportunity to check out their EP, Adrift, and I really enjoyed it. If you missed the review, the stream can be found at the bottom of this interview!
By Jane Howkins
You recently released an EP titled Adrift, which we reviewed. What can you tell us about the EP?
It’s a collection of old and new songs that share the theme of feeling a little lost and out of place. I thought it resonated well with the pandemic life mood.
Like the EP before it (Find Ourselves Again), I mixed and produced it myself; for me, it was an excuse to learn Logic Pro (I used GarageBand only for my last EP). My music goals were to get a tighter but still laid-back groove with the drums and bass. I also wanted to focus more on the emotional performance of the vocals.
I think putting some restrictions on your creativity can be a fun way to stay productive and challenge yourself.
How has the reception been so far, and where can Adrift be purchased?
The reception so far has exceeded my expectations. I’ve been fortunate to have received coverage from a few blogs and online magazines and some neat playlist placements. In addition, people around us have been super supportive and seem to enjoy it.
You can stream Adrift using your favourite streaming platform (Spotify, Amazon, Apple, etc.). If you want to really support us (and we would appreciate it), you can buy the tracks or subscribe to our music via Bandcamp or Amazon.
The band is the project of musician David Salazar. David – are you the main songwriter? How does this work with the band?
I am the songwriter and play the acoustic guitar, bass, program drums and other piano/synths in the tracks. For Adrift, the band would be me and David Tom, who played the electric guitar on most of the tracks (except What to Do).
I honestly love collaborating when possible, but Chord Fiction, for the most part, was an outlet that allowed me to keep writing, composing and recording during the pandemic when a lot of us were isolated from the world.
A couple of the tracks on the EPs were demos. Why did you decide to release them in that way?
We have a lot of flexibility with music in the digital world. For example, updating some mixes can be as easy as sending the updated files to your distributor, and boom, you are done.
I felt those two songs didn’t receive the love they deserved (primarily from me) before the release, so I decided to go back and improve their production. As a result, I re-released an improved Nowhere to Go (Single Version) on September 14th, 2022 and will release the enhanced version of Life is Just a Sea on October 4th.
Do you plan to release any more singles in the near future?
I have been working on a new single tentatively called Awakening. I hope to release it before the end of the year. It’s still in the same vein as Adrift but with a little darker indie rock sound, and I have started working with a new collaborator on drums and a very talented mixing engineer. Stay tuned for updates.
Have you any plans to release a full-length album?
I can’t say for sure. I’ve been having a lot of fun making these EPs. Focusing on 4-6 tracks at a time has allowed me to some music exploration and focus on specific themes.
I am a UX researcher/designer by trade, and I’ve been finding a lot of parallels between my job and music lately. So I’ve been treating these EPs as prototypes or concepts that have allowed me to learn and try new ideas while honing my sound. I love learning and challenging myself, so regardless of format, I expect any future single/EP/album I release to have new ideas that separate it from previous work and are hopefully equally or increasingly compelling.
Long-winded answer, but I’ve already started working on five rough tracks I want to release as another EP next year, so there are no immediate plans to release a full-length album.
It’s possible that after I do that, I will opt to release a full-length album. However, to be honest, I’m not sure that releasing a full-length album is still something you need to do to achieve relative success or that it is as expected or as relevant as it once was.
Did the pandemic hinder your work much?
During the first part of the pandemic, I had some extra free time which was a catalyst for me to start recording music again. I think taking the possibility of playing out due to the pandemic helped me stay focused on recording. But, during the last couple of years, I got a different job, which kept me busy, so I had to delay Adrift by a few months.
Your music has an indie folk sound. What/who influences you most as an artist? What have you been listening to recently?
I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately. My influences include indie pop/rock/folk artists like The Shins, Death Cab, Jack Johnson, Andrew Bird, Swell Season and Spoon, to name a few. I also love Spanish rock, and I listened to the Mexican band La Gusana Ciega quite a bit last year.
Recently, I’ve been listening to Lumineers, Andrew Bird, Iron & Wine and Harry Styles. I only recently discovered Harry Styles’ music, which makes me laugh a bit because I know how famous he is, and it also makes me feel like I sometimes live under a rock.
You’re based in the San Francisco bay area. What is the music scene like in your part of the world?
I live about 45 mins (if you are lucky) southeast of San Francisco, in a city called Fremont, CA, near Silicon Valley. In Fremont, the music scene feels pretty small; I know only a handful of venues and local bands/musicians.
I am also relatively close to bigger cities like SF, Oakland, and San Jose, and others like Livermore, which is not as big but have many potential venues I have yet to explore, and plenty of other bands/musicians living there yet to meet. So I hope to spend more time listening to local music and playing out next year, probably in San Jose and Livermore, the closest to me.
Do you have any tour dates lined up for the UK?
I have no dates lined up, but I hope to change that over the next year. I will contact you when that happens.
Any last words for the fans?
There is so much music to discover, so I would like to thank you for taking the time to learn about me and listening to what I’m making, and I hope it resonated with you.