Electronic Exploration with Cholly
Let's imagine we're halfway through a conversation, and I'm making an excellent argument for the vastness of electronic music.
Cholly is the nick-name of musician Chloe Tennant, whose talent in manipulating samples to create new music isn't limited to just studio production, but live interpretation too. As well as this, Cholly's background in video production lends itself well to her creative process, a part of the art musicians often hand over to others.
Cholly has been recording and releasing music for many years, her EP, 'Ruminations' was released at the beginning of 2019. Consisting of five tracks of electronic exploration, Ruminations features the single 'Adores', which is a great example of both her audio and visual capability. The creepy video is soundtracked by vocal samples, meandering beats, and just as you think you can suss out a pattern, Adores dodges your grasp. The inclusion of a bonus track, a rumination on her song 'One A Day' featuring piano and strings, is just one testament of why Cholly is so gifted. The electronica is stripped away to show us that yes, songs can still exist without it, and very good ones too.
'Sky High' is Cholly's first release of new music this year. The humorous video describes a part of life in lockdown we could all relate to. In terms of the audio content, Cholly's vocal is light and delicate. The beats and synths put me in a tent covered in mud dancing with a load of strangers, eyes half-closed. If anyone could make that happen post-apocalypse, I'm in. Sky High is a reminder that comparing yourself to others is a useless task that you won't thank yourself for.
This performance version of Cholly's track 'Uncertainty is Company' shows how she tackles the live aspect of her work. The drum beat isn't on a consistent track - Cholly manipulates that, adding or removing textures as the song progresses. Her touch at the keyboard is gentle and chord based. Some would say suffering from RSI in the music industry is a limiting factor - I disagree. Lacking imagination is a limiting factor in producing excellent art, not technical ability.
'Good Angel' is Cholly's latest work, with a video shot by her partner Conor, who produces his own music under the name A Motion For Control. Good Angel features more of Cholly's disorientating melodic elements with seemingly unknown origin. They're manipulated samples, no doubt, but what were they originally? Through the disarray, Cholly's voice is pleasant to listen to, bringing order to the chaos. The visuals are simple, it's worth noting that Cholly has never focused a music video so hard around herself, and while the outcome could potentially be boring, it's the editing that brings this piece to life. Cholly's talent for video production enhances the soundtrack, taking you into her trippy world.
1. 'Good Angel' is your latest single, what was the lyrical content inspired by here?
I wrote the lyrics a few years ago now. It's about seeing a negative side to somebody, which others choose to ignore. Outside they seem like an angel but their intentions towards you aren't good. They treat you differently to others. You want to view them as good, so you try to connect but it just doesn't work. Like when you have a bad connection over an instant messenger - you see the ellipsis that suggests the other person is typing, but then the message never comes.
2. Your music has a heavy electronic influence, what artists do you listen to in that genre?
Lydmor, Grimes, Massive Attack, Squarepusher, Sevdaliza, Austra (the list is kind of endless so I will stop there)
3. Tell me more about your 'Ruminations' EP, where did the title of that come from?
All of the songs on the EP were based on things that I find myself ruminating about very often. I'm very obsessive and sometimes ruminate on things for hours and can't always stop (though making music does actually help me with that).
4. You've made some great work during lockdown, was 'Sky High' a depiction of your life at that time?
Haha, yes. Weirdly it is kind of serious, because I wrote that song out of frustration that I just am not graceful and 'cool' like the artists I look up to. It's just not me. Then lockdown happened, and I was following all these stupid exercise videos and thinking, "I really suck at this, even though I do all this stuff regularly". I thought there would probably be a lot of people feeling the same way at the time. When you're exercising/dancing in a group you don't really feel as obviously bad, but when you're on your own in your living room you just start to think, "Why?" I decided to embrace my lack of grace in the video.
5. As well as the music side of your career, you're heavily involved in your video production. Are you a perfectionist when it comes to editing your own material?
I am a perfectionist and it drives me crazy. I find it so hard to let go of any project. It's gotten to the point I make myself release videos because otherwise they won't ever leave my computer! I also find it difficult to be in videos (for the reasons listed in the question about the Sky High video). It makes it even tougher for me to edit a video when I'm in it, because I can only handle looking at that for so long.
6. You do a lot of improvised livestreaming, do you ever get hints of songs to come? Some ideas you can use for future songs?
That's pretty much what these live streams are for me, they're just massive brainstorms for me to pluck sounds out of in the future. They're fun to do and it's cool to see how people respond to certain sounds in the chat.
7. You got to perform for the BBC Airwaves festival in May, what was that like?
That was really nice. We got to record the video beforehand so it was less nerve-wracking, but it was my first time having a radio interview. I felt so nervous, but really enjoyed it!
8. It's amazing how you've turned out the work you have whilst suffering from a repetitive strain injury, how does that affect your playing and recording?
I've had to change how I work almost completely. In a way, it has given me a direction at least. I struggle to play instruments for long periods of time (this frustrates me as I'm always trying to improve). Recently I started taking violin lessons again, after a very long break from them. After the first lesson, I couldn't play an instrument for 2 weeks because of the pain. I play instruments in short bursts, and if the pain is too much but I still have ideas, I go into older projects (that will never see the light of day), and harvest sounds from them, usually changing the sounds completely.
9. You've posted some teasers on your social media of something you're working on at the moment, what can you tell us about that?
The teasers are for my next single and the accompanying music video. The music video is going to be not very serious at all. The single is one that I performed with Conor for BBC Airwaves, which you can find here.
The entire bassline of the song was actually just a recording of my voice that I took just to remember the melody I wanted to use. Then I liked how it sounded and kept it like that. For the guitar, I told Conor roughly what I wanted, and he came up with some guitar riffs that I couldn't be happier with. I can't wait to release this one.
10. You have written a lot of songs since the release of your 'Ruminations' EP, can fans expect a new EP soon?
I have put an EP together and just need to make some final touches to the songs. I haven't got an exact date for the release of this as I want to just take my time and get it exactly how I want. This one is going to be quite lively and upbeat in comparison to 'Ruminations'.
Follow Cholly on instagram, twitter and facebook @chollymusic.
