Interviews

Published on March 17th, 2020 | by Marilyn Reles

0

A Behind The Scenes Glimpse at San Francisco’s New Favorite Band: Copyslut

Queer Cabaret-Rock band Copyslut is easily the coolest thing to recently come out of San Francisco. Copyslut has experienced tremendous momentum since the release of their first single “Neon Razberries” in spring of 2019. Receiving praises from mainstream publications like Thrillist as well as SF’s NPR-affiliate KQED, the band has wasted no time in making themselves a Bay Area household name. Their debut EP “Sex, Death & Other People’s Money” was released on January 24th of this year, energizing their dedicated fan base while drawing in so many more. I sat down to get a behind the scenes glimpse at their creative process and what a day in the life of Copyslut in the studio looks like.

Photo Credit above: Rachel Lena Esterline

“Sex, Death & Other People’s Money is your first debut album. How long has this been in motion and did Copyslut always intend to release an album or was its creation a bit more spontaneous?

We are inspired by albums that are meant to be heard from start to finish, especially albums from the 70s. Fun fact: We recorded everything in analog. We see albums as whole and complex multi-media pieces. The way that the music industry has evolved with record labels and online streaming encourages artists to release singles or short EPs. And we wanted “Sex, Death, and Other People’s Money” to push against that trend, to create a saturated art piece for people to sink into and have the full range experience. Additionally, our passion for astrology inspired us to map out a project based on the 12 houses of astrology, hence 12 songs. 

Where did you record the album and why did you choose to record where you did? Choosing the right studio is important so we’re curious to learn more about your decision.

We recorded the album at Airship Laboratories in Richmond, CA. We had a strong pull to capture a 70s vibe for this project, and Airship has a wonderful history as a recording hub in the Bay Area music scene. We moved into the studio for a few weeks and we were pleased to learn how incredibly sweet and supportive the whole Airship family was. They have this cute little kitchen upstairs that was attached to a couple more studios, and a giant rolling door that they open during the day, filling the space with fresh ocean breeze and a cold salty sunshine. We’d all climb out of our recording holes to snack up, shoot the shit, smoke a spliff, and hop to it again. We have nothing but love in our hearts for the good souls who work there. There was also customizable LED lighting, that we used to set the move for each song. Makers Mark was a bright vibrant red, Afterglow golden sunset hues, and Psychopomp took on the ethereal teal you see on our album cover. The whole experience was totally psychedelic. 

We’d love to dive into the album’s theme. Would you consider it to be conceptual? Does it tell an overarching story? 

It’s not quite a concept album, but it certainly has recurring themes that deepen the meaning and weave it all together. For example, we reference the “merry-go-round” in a few different songs, which represents cycles of abuse and inherited patterns. We explore what it’s like to look at ourselves, our choices, and ultimately how it feels to get off the ride. We believe we can let go of destructive stories about ourselves and begin to shape self-loving stories about who we are and how we relate. We are paying homage to John Lennon, Yoko Ono, and Andra Day who all put their own spin on the merry-go-round. We also reference our philosophical influences. Chatz sings, “Yes,” a lot, which is rooted in Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of Amor Fati. The idea is that if you don’t want to say yes to something then you should either find a way to get into it or end it. Those are the two real options. We always strive to be saying “YES” to whatever is here, and turning away from what we do not want to repeat. Generally though, I’d say the overarching story is each song was written about different things we were going through and what or who has helped us get through it.

What is Copyslut’s recording process like and how does each band member’s creative flow add to the experience?

The recording process took more out of us than we could have anticipated. It was also more fun than we could have anticipated. We gave everything we had both emotionally and physically. We also laughed so much during that time. We started by laying down the basic tracks: drums, guitar, and bass. We then, like a puzzle, got together the overdubs of guitar, guest performers and finally the vocal tracking. In recording the vibe is everything. People can hear you reaching through the recording to them if you are able to access that visceral feeling. Bringing in the energy of every song was a different process and took different energy. Stamina was the greatest challenge. Being called to feel, access and perform the spectrum of feelings within time and space constraints can be exciting, and if you aren’t tending to your needs it can become a stressful pressure cooker. Some days, you need to know when to call it and pick it up in the morning. Some songs we’d record many takes, some we’d record to an audience, some alone in the dark – and still it was a struggle. Other songs like Kitchen Sink Gin, we probably did three takes as a full band and chose the best of those and moved right along. We are so glad that we took a month of pre-production to explore the songs, finalize structures and tighten up as a band. It was amazing how much it helped and how much we had to let go of once the ride started. It’s a constant balance of discipline and imagination to maintain a flow state. It was a skill of executing a vision and following the energy, all while navigating our individual creative visions, needs, and feelings

Let’s talk about the name – does “Sex, Death & Other People’s Money” feed into the albums overarching theme? And why choose such a bold title?

Sex is a natural part of life, death is also as mundane as breathing, and then there is other people’s money (ie: inheritance, your pay check, a date buying you dinner) Does anyone have money that wasn’t once someone else’s? At the same time, it is those three things that our society still harbors immense shame around. We’re here to shake it up and live a little more shame free. We hope that after listening to our album people will feel more comfortable talking about sex, death, and asking for exactly what they want.

We are often seen as provocative. We’re not trying to be bold, we are trying to be ourselves. Living life out and with pride. All of our songs are ruminations on deeply personal journeys and healing work. As sex worker, queer, trans, POC artists, a lot of our experiences simply must confront taboos around sex, death, and other people’s money in a journey towards self-acceptance and self love. 

Photo Credit: Rachel Lena Esterline

Give us a glimpse of a day in the studio with Copyslut. Do you have any routines or rituals you practice during the recording process? Essentially, what gets you in the zone?

We do some witchy woo stuff to get in the zone. We set intentions and make altars in the studio in order to bring in the right vibe and energy. Every morning we would eat breakfast, drink coffee, warm up and then take a moment to pause, circle up, seal our energy together, and take some deep breaths. Chatz will call in our guides, those who came before us, and think about those artists that we will make possible, to align them and let them speak through us. We work until we need a snack, stretch, or brain break. Lots of short walks and moments in the sun were necessary to clear energy. 

Before starting a new song, we would meditate and set the lights to match the energy of the song. In our meditations we would use different techniques to tap into how we felt when we wrote the song or even further back when we were living the experience that inspired the song. We also liked to imagine who we are trying to reach and send our energy out with the precision of a laser.

Did you bring musicians or songwriters outside of Copyslut into the room with you? If so, what did they contribute?

Sex, Death, and Other People’s Money has a band community vibe that reflects the friendships and creative partners we have around us. It was important to us to make space for our people to be imbued into our debut album. We had our dear friend Erika Oba play keys on several tracks. You can hear her tearing it up for the dance party at the end of “The Offering”. We also had another dear friend and music mentor, Mya Byrne, lay down slide guitar for our cover of “Fancy”, as well as some cool little leads with a hollow body over some of the verses. For our album release show, we had all of the musicians who guested on our album play live with us. It overflowed with love and created an incredibly energetic show .

What do you hope people take away from this album and did you set an intention for listeners?

We write to connect with each other, but most importantly with ourselves. We hope that the stories in this album resonate with those who need to hear them and feel a little less lonely. Take what you need and leave the rest. Our deepest intention with this album was to make a record of a time in our process. We wanted to tell our stories, with our flaws, courageously in the face of love, grief and a world that doesn’t want us to exist. The album is inspired by lessons we mined from deeply intense and personal work we’ve done to heal and love ourselves.



About the Author


Comments are closed.

Back to Top ↑