Exploring The Depths of Comfort Club
Colin Tracey is an Indie pop/rock artist based out of Los Angeles,
California. His project Comfort Club released music for the first time in 2019. In 2023 he took a step back to focus on creating a new beautiful perspective on music. Now in 2024 about to release a new single and an album to follow later in the year–
Interview by Kiera Zoumadakis and Photos by Ben Adams.
This is Comfort Club
“My take on making indie rock music is kind of on the softer side. Definitely coming from a lyric standpoint that’s my favorite approach to music, being really intentional and focusing on the lyrics themselves. Everything that I do serves the song in a storytelling kind of way.”
What is the drive in your life that helped you pursue a career in music? How do you deal with the burnout that comes along with being a creative?
The more I’ve been thinking about it, It comes down to the desire to feel community, to feel accepted and to feel like I belong to something. Music is something I originally came into as a fan and a consumer. I loved it so much and I wanted to see what I could give back to it, that is when I started to make my own music. Putting my thoughts and my emotions out there in an art form. I have always been open about that stuff anyway. I was already an oversharer, that is just who I was growing up. With music, it has always come naturally. I think one of the only things I have continued to be confident about is my music.
I really haven’t felt insecure about it. With burnout I mean everyone experiences it, but I don’t think it affects me as deeply as some others would say. It’s an addiction, I mean success in this industry is always just right out of your reach and the whole moving goalpost concept. I feel like I’m always reaching for it, it’s like the dangling carrot on the treadmill. I’m constantly almost there, it’s hard for me to feel burnout because I am always almost there. There’s never a time that I felt like it was a good moment to stop.
In 2023 you did not release any new music and have been working on a really solid foundation for 2024 and all the exciting things to come. Can you share with us what it was like taking a step back?
It was definitely the hardest thing I have ever done in my music career. Having something out there sort of defines everything that you do. If you don’t have new music out, it is harder to get shows and make content. It’s harder to get people to care. I don’t have anything flashy or even a call to action, I don’t feel like I am able to say “hey go check out my music” when it is all things I’ve put out more than a year ago. It was really hard to be intentional with taking this break and stepping back, even if it is for the better in the long run. Everything around you feels like it is moving really fast and you see others having their big moments.
Being intentional with this break really forced me to understand that there is no definitive timeline with anything that we are doing. I’m really content that I understand that. Taking this time to just work on the music and the foundation of it all, getting things where they need to be for this year. Once I put this new music out I know that it will be this delayed gratification of all the hard work I did. As opposed to just creating little bits like I was doing before.
“Two Kids in a Trench Coat” is releasing on January 19th, what was the creative process like developing this song?
I was going through a breakup when I wrote this song, which is also the foundation of the album that I am working on. Honestly the first breakup that I have been on the receiving end of. It was a completely new range of emotions for me. This song was the process of being in that post break up space, where you are not completely out of each other’s lives but you know that your lives are different now. Kind of looking back and taking notes on what happened. For me I recognized that i am a person who lives in fear, I was always scared of the relationship falling apart.
When you have this fear of abandonment you latch on to someone and pray that they don’t let go. That is where this whole concept of Two Kids in a trench Coat came from. We are basically kids playing house trying to be adults. We were searching for that sense of safety in one another. I’ve learned that that isn’t the healthiest way to be in a relationship because you have to be able to stand on your own. I guess that’s kind of a funny analogy when you’re two kids in a trench coat. You aren’t standing alone, but you’re still wobbly. There were so many visuals that tied into this concept of Two Kids in a Trench Coat. It created great grounds for me to write this song. I am really proud of how well I accomplished the mission of the song once I had this idea.
Everyone connects with music in so many different ways and will take your lyrics and input them into their own experiences. Is there anything in particular that you hope your listeners will take away from “Two Kids in a Trench Coat?”
This is a feeling that I had never experienced before. I didn’t have any reference points for it. I think there is plenty of music out there that references this exact feeling but for me there wasn’t a song that I have listened to where I had that realization like “Yeah this is exactly how I felt.” That is what I am hoping for this single and honestly, this whole album will be that for others. It is a very specific time that I am referencing. It's the in-between feeling where it hasn’t really hit you yet, you’re still seeing that person or communicating with them. That is when this song was written. It explains that whole time frame. I want others to be able to feel that they are not alone and that someone else has been in the exact same position.
What was your favorite part of creating “Two Kids in a Trench Coat,” since you were in a very vulnerable and fragile state of mind at the time?
It became the way I was processing my emotions. Up to that point, I was only feeling hurt. I’m such a chronic over-thinker and spiraler that my brain was just rushing over everything. I was able to find the points that helped me understand what was happening. It pushed me to find the good and the bad in the relationship, find out where things went wrong, and really process those emotions. For me, I use analogies a lot to support myself in the healing process. I was able to find those analogies and explain to myself every little part. Finding the deeper meanings and context, by reading through those lines. Achieving the goal of healing through a metaphor as opposed to using adjectives like sad. Inputting visuals into how I was feeling was my support. I think achieving that through sound was my favorite part of it all.
2024 is already becoming a big year for you with already playing Kilby Court in Salt Lake City, Utah following is a single release. As well as an announcement of a show in February. What does your average show day look like for you?
I have been trying to play out of my hometown more often because I am a person who loves traveling. I love my hometown but I want to experience more outside of my tight community and go explore something new. With being a musician, I put a lot of the money I make at my day job into creating music. I don’t have the ability to go on vacation or a friend’s trip. I started looking at shows like Vacations. They are definitely more stressful than your average vacation but I like to drive through a new city and walk around really just soak it up and experience it. These next few shows I am starting to play with a new drummer who will be consistently playing with me. It’s like having a fun little road trip and then it’s show time.
Arriving at the venue, getting our gear set up, and then sound check. Just enjoying the moments. When I’m at a venue I’m constantly checking out every little aspect of it. As much as I am not a live-in-the-moment kind of person in my everyday life when I am at a show that is what I am focusing on most. I try to take everything in and really just try to put on the best show that I can. I’m working on putting together a live show that is overall a more cohesive show. I want to build an experience for my supporters. Getting to meet people after the show is definitely the most surreal feeling in the world, it really goes full circle back to the main idea of why I do this. It is for the community aspect of it all.
What has been your most memorable live performance?
In June of 2022, I played a show with The Moss in Los Angeles. It was so crazy because their audience is insane and we got to open for them. It was the first show we ever tried having the music play while I ran out of the green room onto the stage. The supporters at that show went crazy. We had some technical difficulties with my in-ear monitors so we had to restart but it was the first time I played in front of a crowd that was super into what I was doing. None of them knew who I was but they were super into it, they were so kind. They danced and laughed and interacted with me throughout the whole show. It was the most memorable feeling because I felt the good energy of everyone that was there. They were there for the music and to have a good time and I got to be a part of that. It was truly so amazing.
13 singles and 1 EP all have been put out into the world by Comfort Club. How do you think your music has evolved since the very beginning?
It’s cool, I think I have gotten better in every aspect of what I’ve been creating. My intention has always stayed the same. It has always been that I have wanted to create lyric-driven songs but still keep them catchy. I want there to be some pop sensibility in them, some sort of mass appeal overall. I think I have gotten so much better with real vulnerability in my lyricism but I think my production is what has come the farthest since the beginning of Comfort Club. The music sounds palatable which is really great. Especially with the new stuff I’ve been exploring different or less common chord progressions. I personally think my music has gotten more engaging and less repetitive or redundant you could say. I think there is a space for predictable music but I wanted to steer away from that path. I’m really proud of the new music coming out. The making of my new album was really a big push in the growth of Comfort Club.
What is your favorite song you have ever made?
idk forever is a really cool song. I feel like it came together really well. I didn’t have to work overly hard on that song. It just fell out of me. It is one of my favorite songs to play live too. In terms of songwriting, the dynamics and how it feels on the recording of it. It has such a fun feel to it.
As a musician, who is your favorite artist?
These days, I would say Pinegrove. I can’t live without their music, in everything I do Pinegrove is the brew line of who’s inspiring me or who i’m listening to or who I’m trying to make music like. I love what they create, they are my all-time favorite.
Artwork by Natalie Minguez 