Brooklyn musician Cal Churchill has been quite proficient in recent years releasing a fine collection of albums, E.P.’s and singles including his most recent full length “Arverne”.
I sat down with Cal to talk about early musical experiences, his approach to songwriting and the genius of David Lynch. Check out all of Cal’s releases here.
What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a child and what artist did you enjoy the most?
I would have to say the first music that made an impact on me as a child was probably The Beatles. My mom was a huge fan of theirs, and I distinctly remember running around the living room at age 5 to “Can’t Buy Me Love,” pretending to be them in the movie for “A Hard Day’s Night.” I remember flipping through the liner notes to one of their CD compilations, and wondering what the hell the lyrics to their later songs meant. The music I definitely enjoyed the most as a kid was probably Green Day. I got into them when I was in 3rd grade, when American Idiot came out. I have a distinct memory of seeing pictures of them from that era, and just thinking that they looked like the coolest people on the planet. My parents liked them too, and used my love of them to get me into more punk and indie music by showing me bands that inspired them, like The Clash and Rancid. That definitely had a huge impact on me!.
When did you first start making your own music and how do you feel you’ve developed as a songwriter over the years?
I started making my own music in high school with my band, Are You Kidding Me, and I learned basic recording techniques by recording our demos on Garageband using my dad’s work laptop. I did some Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails inspired music around that time, but really got into writing and recording music seriously in my first year of college in 2015, when I wrote and recorded an EP and an album for my project Antilock, which started out as a solo punk recording project, but soon morphed into a fully fledged White Stripes/Stooges inspired garage rock/indie band. For a while, I focused on playing live, until late 2017, when I started recording more melodic and acoustic demos that would eventually morph into my first solo album, Rudderless. From then, I’ve released at least one album a year, and I’ve brought it from an acoustic project, to a more fleshed out post-punk sounding project, and as of late I’ve been incorporating more electronic and pop influences in my last few records. I’ve definitely started caring a lot less about genre limitations, and I think I’ve grown to be more willing to take risks and sort of swing for the fences in my songs.
Your latest album “Arverne” is pretty amazing. You mentioned in the liner notes this record came about in kind of a weird and fun way. What was the writing and recording process like? Any particular gear you used that really helped shape specific parts of the song?
Arverne actually started out as a side project to take my mind off some other music I was recording! My partner was out of town for a weekend, and a lot of my friends were busy, so I just threw myself into recording to pass the time. Sometimes when I spend a long time working on a song, I can really find myself going into the weeds. I’ll end up spending 10 minutes on the reverb trail of a snare, or tweak a synth sound far too many times, and come back to what it originally sounded like. In those moments, I try to do something just for fun, like a cover, or an experiment. I’d been listening to a lot of Mac Demarco, and I wondered, could I make a song that sounded like a Mac Demarco track real quick? Soon after that, I’d recorded Come On, Lover Boy, and trying to see if I could do it again, I’d written He Don’t Live Here Anymore. Given how quickly those songs came out, I decided to try and record a full album. By the end of the first day, I had four songs recorded, and over the next three days, I recorded and mixed the rest of the record. Some of the lyrics came from snippets I had already written but never used, but the majority of the lyrics were written with the music. It was fun to do something that encouraged spontaneity and improvisation, since I can often spend a long time on each individual song!
As far as gear goes, I’d recently installed a new drum plugin, Addictive Drums 2, that had a ton of vintage kits sampled, with some of the super tight, snappy drum sounds I associate with Mac Demarco. For a lot of the tracks, I’d record the drums first, and try to build a bassline or melody on top of it. I think without that plugin, the record might not have gotten made!
If you could do a score for any film director who would it be and what would the film be about?
Oooh, that’s a tough one. I would love to score something for David Lynch, since music is always such a huge part of his work. If we’re talking dream movies, I would love to score a sequel to Twin Peaks: The Return. Hell, I’d be happy to just play in the Roadhouse in Twin Peaks. The band sequences in the third season of that show were absolutely sublime. Where else can you see Nine Inch Nails, Chromatics, and Au Revoir Simone on the same stage?
What’s next for you? Any new recordings/shows etc etc?
At the moment, I’m finishing up a remix album with my good friend Erica, better known as Boy Jr. Their phenomenal album, “Pay Attention To Meee,” was released in June, and we’re working on a reimagining of the album that I really hope people are going to like! I find that I have the most trouble with vocal melodies and lyrics, so to start with their incredible melodies and lyrics has been an absolute treat, and it’s been super fun to try and find a way to make their songs sound new, but still keep that special something which makes the original wonderful. I’ve also started working with my bandmate from Antilock, Cameron, on some new Antilock material that I think is sounding super cool so far. It’s very My Bloody Valentine and Washed Out inspired, and I hope to have more news about that soon! I don’t have any shows lined up at the moment, but I’m planning on trying to line some up as I finish up these recordings, so stay tuned for that!
