Interview with chrysalis
Indigo is a 21 year old indie-folk artist from the Boston area, who releases music under the name “chrysalis”. Our conversation with him takes a deep dive into how his songs came to be, their experience at Berklee College of Music, their inspirations, aspirations, and community.
The interview
Sophie: First of all, your new single “Denver” is absolutely beautiful. Love it. What was the process of creating the song like and how long did it take you from start to finish?
chrysalis: Oh man… that song… she’s actually kind of an oldie. She’s vintage basically. I wrote it in like September of 2021… It started because of a prompt in my lyric writing class that was like, we were supposed to go off of the word “stick”. And I was like okay. It was like “honeycomb sticks to the roof of my mouth”.
I wrote that part and I was like- this is so swag. I got out of class and then I opened my voice memos so quick… I kept building off of that idea because… at the time I was dating someone who was from Colorado and we were like going to school in Boston together. They would always tell me about how homesick they would get, and how different Boston was. And one thing that they would say all the time would be; it feels like, because the buildings are taller here, even though they’re not crazy tall they’re taller than in Colorado where the sky is like so big and open. They would always say it felt like the sky was closing in, you know? And it was weird because I’m from outside of Boston… like in high school I worked in the neighborhood that I live in now right by Berklee.
I'm super familiar with the area. I was like… I don’t relate to what you’re feeling in the sense that where we’re living is close to my home. I have the privilege of being able to go home when I need it. And I have a sense of familiarity but, I wanna give you like a home away from home in me… It’s funny because people have like, I guess because of the way it sounds, people are like “This is so sad”. And I’m like “No, no guys it’s not!” Because of the whole “lost her, lost her”... but that was just supposed to be about being away from home.
“Her” was literally just Denver.
Sophie: Ohhh got it!
chrysalis: It was just a little like, “I don’t get it but let me like… I don’t know… maybe if I cook for you or if I do little things”. Obviously I can’t be a replacement for that feeling of home because you can only get that with your family. Maybe there can be a new sense of home… or home can look different.
Sophie: Love that! At what point did you bring in collaborators on this song and start recording it with background singers and your band?
chrysalis: That was more recent… this is the first time I’m working really ahead of time… for the music that is coming. Normally I’m like alright I recorded a song, I finished it, and then it goes out into the world. I think the first session for it was in like December… right before my birthday. I had been playing it… all during the fall. This past fall… I had been playing acoustic shows like half-band. It was me with the lead vocals and rhythm guitar. Then my best friend, Benji, on the lead guitar. He’s literally crazy. He’s Adam Melchor, Field Medic type guitar player.
Sophie: Love them oh my god.
chrysalis: So twinkly, oh my god I love it! So he’s doing that whole little thing. And then, this actually wasn’t my plan… In September, I went to my friend’s show. It was like a basement show in Boston, one of my friends Max… And there was this dude who I had never met, and he was playing this instrument on his lap. And I was like… jaw on the floor, through the ground. You know the TikTok that’s like “What is that melody?”. It was like hearts in my eyes… It was pedal steel slide guitar. But I had never seen it because… who the fuck plays pedal steel? Apparently this kid Wyatt. And I was also just going off the folk deep end, so I was messing around, dipping my toes into that instrumentation… And so it was me, Benji, Wyatt… We had made an arrangement with the three of us for Denver and we had been playing it for a couple months. We got into the studio in December and then we did most of it. We recorded bass, pedal steel, guitar, me. I think we did some background vocals in like January or February with my bestie Coco and Chloe… It’s all homies on the tracks. It’s so nice.
Sophie: So how did that process compare to making a single like “Handprints”- which is by the way my favorite song that you’ve got released.
chrysalis: Thank you, woah. Very different process… How do I say this… So I went through a really bad breakup with “Denver” person this summer. And I was just so sad… going through it so bad. I needed some kind of outlet-
[Indigo’s very cute cat proceeded to make an interruption on screen, named Joni Michelle after the one and only Joni Mitchell]
…I feel like there are big changes in your life or things that happen. It can be really good in a sense because it’s like, in terms of your social circle… it reveals who is gonna be there… who is gonna stick around and be your support system when you’re not just in this happy, go-lucky, bubbly place… A lot of my friendships really strengthened then… and a lot of people who I really thought would be there, they weren’t. I turned to writing a lot because… Don’t get me wrong, the friends who were there were there. AJ, my friend, my producer, Benji, don’t even get me started… Coco, who sings BGVs for me, one of my best friends. They were there… I just turned to music because… it felt like, you know when there’s a storm and there’s this tree that just completely gets uprooted… you know what I mean? It had been rooted for so long and it had this sense of groundedness and this sense of stability... I had to turn to music. Which in the long term was actually really great because I got a lot of really good music from it. But damn I was really sad. I wrote “Handprints”… There was one week over the summer when I got really sick… a week I was just home… I wrote a lot of angry music around then. I wrote “Shapeshift” then, which is coming… It came from me just being at my lowest, being very emotionally vulnerable… I needed something to ground me.
I think writing for me, and not always, but a big part of it is it’s way to cope. It’s a healthy coping mechanism. It’s also nice because you can listen to a song that someone else wrote, and you can feel like- woah I really relate to this. I really see myself in this in XYZ ways. But there’s nothing like writing a song when you’re going through something and having that tangible result that comes from, maybe a shitty time… It’s self validating… It’s almost like a little circle… With “Handprints” it feels like a little time capsule. Now it honestly feels like a cover a little bit just because it’s been a minute. It’s like a picture… a moment in time… an ode to what was going on at that current time.
Sophie: What’s it like to study and make music at Berklee in an environment where you’re constantly surrounded by other artists? Is it ever sort of competitive or is it always supportive?
chrysalis: That’s a really good question… well because it’s not black and white.
Sophie: Yeah, definitely.
chrysalis:... Going back to what I was saying before about community and your friends being there for you… I’m a strong and firm believer that community is like something that you build, it’s not just something that you find. You’re the one to have to make those relationships and have to keep up with them, keep nurturing them. And so, when I started Berklee… it was also during covid. I started in spring of 2021, so it was very lonely. I had friends but I wasn’t super clicking with people… I felt excluded a lot of the time. But then once I found people who I felt really were so loving and kind, and there for me in the good times, and there for me in the not so good times… Who not only are good people but also, you know, we all met at music school. These people are super talented and have their own styles. It’s so fun to be able to hear… them bringing their own styles to something that I created. And so in that sense going to Berklee is awesome. Because wow, it really slays when it comes to resources. And yes on a professor standpoint, people who are higher up, it definitely helps. But the most valuable thing for me personally has been the connections that I’ve made with other students. And the community I have of the like, indie folk singer-songwriter gay people… It’s literally so fun.
In terms of competition, it’s weird because… for me personally, the times in which I’ve felt the most threatened by other people’s success is when I’m feeling the least confident in myself. Like I’m gonna be perfectly honest with you, when Tiny Habits was blowing up I did not watch their videos… And not because I didn’t love them. Because I love them so much it felt like- I’m never gonna be that. And then I realized… especially after this summer where I wrote a lot of music I felt really proud of, stylistically felt a lot more grounded… a lot more me. I was like, yeah they’re amazing, but so am I! I know what I’m doing and I’m making things that I feel proud of. And so why is it that I’m… comparing myself to somebody else when we’re on completely different tracks. And at the end of the day that thing that I was telling you about… other people’s styles bringing something to your music… I feel like now my outlook has changed a lot. Like no, no one else’s success is a threat to my own. I really am a firm believer that there’s room.
Sophie: That’s a really good way to put it.
chrysalis: Yeah, it’s like learning. And there certainly are times when it’s not perfect… Once in a while I’ll be up for the same gig as someone… But it doesn’t really go past that. At this point it’s like… people go on tour all the time… I’ll just wait next year till the same people tour again. Like it’s not that big of a deal. I feel like realizing that we’re here to bring each other up, and that we all bring something different to the table even if we’re in the same genre… And also writing things that I feel really proud of. Like, they’re really good and also this, what I’m sitting on waiting to release, this eats… But wow it took so long to get to that place.
Sophie: It’s a great place to be in though.
chrysalis: Yeah, that’s the whole thing about… like my artist name Chrysalis, I have it because I used to be so perfectionist. And so like, if it’s not perfect, scrap it… I feel like it’s an ode to the in between, like the growth aspect… It doesn’t have to be 100% for it to be valid. Like my older music- like “July”- like it’s so pretty but it’s so corny. But at the same time, I’m not gonna take it down because it’s a product of the time period, you know? Again with the time capsule thing I was saying, it’s a little snapshot of how I was feeling at a certain time.
Sophie: A good segway into my next question, which is why did you decide on “Margarita Sugar” as the title of your first EP? What made you realize- this is what I want to call it?
chrysalis: Um, long story short because I’m gay and silly. Short story long- [both burst out in laughter] is because… (under their breath) *this is so gay*... Like I know… But basically my partner at the time, the one who “Margarita Sugar” is about, was a poet. They wrote me a poem called “Margarita Sugar”, and that album cover was like the back of the envelope. And they sent it in the mail to me. And so I used the back of the envelope, like that’s their handwriting.
Sophie: Woah, there’s real lore to that!
chrysalis: No like I love them, they’re my bestie ex… they’re like an awesome person. That’s another part that’s gay about it… but they’re like wonderful. It was mutual. It was also forever ago. Yeah that was the margarita sugar line, because they had written that one night when we went to get margaritas with my old coworkers, and I kept licking the salt off the rim because I have a sweet tooth. So yeah… long story short I’m gay.
Sophie: What’s the most cathartic part of making music for you? Do you think it’s the initial songwriting, sharing it, playing songs live, something else?
chrysalis: I mean honestly, the coolest part of it is when I share something and someone will tell me not that they like it… I mean that’s cool, that’s swag… but specifically what really resonates with me is when they will tell me a story of what it means to them… It’s like at the end of the day, yeah I write these songs and yeah they’re about my life or whatever. But once I release them they’re not mine, they’re everybody else’s. It’s for other people to relate to and see themselves in. It stops being about me once it’s off the paper. So whenever people tell me how it resonates with them… Or another thing is… I’ll be singing something at a house show and people will sing the lyrics. Because then I know you’ve been listening. I know you’ve been thinking of your own… you’ve been picturing someone as the person who you wanna forget their name, whatever it is. Any indication of like… I was able to take this song on as my own. That is like [chef’s kiss gesture], I win.
Sophie: I’ve definitely been on the other end of that… like screaming the words of a song knowing exactly how it relates to my life.
chrysalis: I think that’s what’s so special about it because it’s like… yeah when we’re thinking about Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett… yeah okay we’re thinking about the story because we know… or Taylor Swift, “Dear John”... like we know it’s about John Mayer. But at the end of the day, unless it’s that situation where it’s very public… songwriting should be about how it relates to you. Good songwriting I think is like, inherently selfish. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it's just you see yourself in it.
Sophie: Was there a moment you know you wanted to pursue music or has it always kind of been a part of your life? I know you went to an arts high school and such, but is there any one specific moment?
chrysalis: So basically… I was like *sigh* a theater kid. And I went to college for musical theater for one semester and I said no thank you. Actually I was gonna double major in musical theater and political science… [At the arts high school] my days were planned by the minute. I did not ever have any kind of free time. And it was very, very competitive… Without getting into it too much, not the most accepting of minority groups… super transphobic- also why that kind of thing got delayed, looking the way that I do. I was super femme in high school… The program that I was in was very much like, you get a BFA in musical theater or you fail the program… that was it… It was that kind of attitude… Also like, how the hell are you gonna know what you wanna do with the rest of your life when you’re 18 years old…
Sophie: *nods in 18*
chrysalis: …like that’s so dumb… So basically I committed to this school for musical theater and I was gonna get a BA. I was gonna do it with political science because I was like, I don’t have the language to say that I want to get involved with- it was basically mutual aid that I wanted to get involved in but didn’t know what that was. I know that I care about marginalized groups of people and helping them but I don’t know how that- I guess poli sci? And I was like… I know if I get a BFA in musical theater there’s going to be something missing. But I also don’t wanna disappoint everyone, and I worked this hard. And I was a good singer… and I was like well, I don’t wanna waste that… I declared, did that whole thing. Then, covid happened. So, three years ago tomorrow [as of April 20th]... I woke up at 5 AM from this dream where my friend was singing to me in this field near my house. And I woke up and I remembered the melody… So then I pulled out my voice memos and was like mumbling- sounded awful, terrible disgusting- but I was like… I remember the song… I can’t go back to sleep. I need to figure out the chords right now or else I’m just gonna explode… That was how I wrote my first song.
Then following the murders of George Flyod, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, I had so much rage and sadness and I didn’t know where to put it. And so I started writing about it. There was this one little spot in the woods near my house. I would go there every single day, like 5 AM. I would allow myself one cigarette a day. I would journal. I would bring my ukulele, and I was there every single day. I’d smoke there, I’d cry there, I’d write there… It was like my place. I did a lot of my early writing there. And then I wrote “200 Miles” like September of 2020. That was the first song I wrote where I was like “This is damn good”... Also I ended up doing school on Zoom fall of 2020 for college, because my mom had just recovered from covid… I didn’t really want to disappoint her… doing anything crazy, be like “I don’t want to go to college right now” … I went to college on Zoom and it was awful and I was so sad. I was working as a Starbucks barista… that was like the only sense of community I had. I actually really liked being a Starbucks barista. But basically I was like… I’ve written this one song I feel proud of. I’m a songwriter. I’m gonna go to Berklee. I’m not gonna apply to any other schools. And if they don’t let me in this first time, I’m gonna reapply. It’s not if I’m going, it’s when I’m going. Because they’re gonna let me in at some point…
Sophie: You’re manifesting it!
chrysalis: I was like “I’m going.” … I remember visiting my partner at the time in New York City… And we were at this dog cafe… The owner of the dog cafe was asking, “Oh are you guys students? Where do you go to school?” … I wasn’t even trying to lie… I said “Oh I go to Berklee!” like… lied to this man. I had just auditioned. I auditioned with “200 Miles” which was the one song that I felt proud of. Got in a week later, found out in the Starbucks bathroom, committed the next day, and then I started in January of 2021… but I still hadn’t really written that much. But then when I got here, I wrote like crazy. And then the rest is history. And I also found that my first semester there were still a lot of protests happening in Boston and so I went to a bunch of protests. I found a really cool community of other queer college students, mostly artists as well. So I started doing mutual aid food distribution with them. So then I was able to get the best of both worlds which I had initially wanted, and didn’t really even know how I wanted it. And so, that’s the story.
Sophie: So you’ve had a number of virtual and in person shows dedicated to funding your top surgery, with performances from a bunch of friends. Which is like a really heartwarming thing to see because you don’t often see a lot of creators organizing that kind of stuff for themselves. And so I was wondering what the most surprising and rewarding part of doing these shows has been for you?
chrysalis: Yeah, it’s been so fun oh my gosh. Basically, I decided to do them because I was just like, this is a lot of money. And you know, it’s not that long till I graduate. And to put all my savings into top surgery when I need to focus on like, being an adult- it’s like really scary. So I was like you know what, I have all these homies on the internet. I have all these homies in person. I’m gonna do a variety because I know the internet homies would wanna get involved, and I also know the in person homies would wanna get involved… I think the most like, I don’t know, the sweetest part of it has been how many of my friends have been like “Yeah, like I’m down. Whatever you need.” … For the in person shows that way that payment works is- usually with house shows they’ll take about 10% of the cut of the door. And so the rest of it typically is split among the musicians. But basically what we’ve been doing is half of the profits from the door… without the 10%... half the profits have been going straight to my top surgery fund and then half of them get split among the artists. And I’ve had artists like, once I pay them like put it right back into my GoFundMe.
Sophie: That’s so sweet!
chrysalis: Yeah, I’m like “Guys you don’t have to do that!”. Because it’s still important to me for like, you know, the homies to be paid for their work. Especially if they’re like, commuting and doing longer sets too… So yeah, I think just how willing the besties have been to just be like, “Yeah. Yeah like I’m in.” … Also I teach on Zoom. I teach a couple students and I do like songwriting and voice lessons. And my students were like, on the bills as well. Because they were like, “I wanna have my first gig!” and I was like, “You got it!”
Sophie: Awwww
chrysalis: And so it was really rewarding to also get to- I intentionally like, put my students on bills with the artists I know that they like, who they really look up to. And so they were like geeking. They were so happy and just so excited. And it was just such a cool experience to get to give that to them. I also just really like teaching… Yeah it was just really fun…
Sophie: Yeah, that’s really cool!
chrysalis: Thanks! Another thing… I just found out… through my insurance specifically there’s basically- the surgeon that I’m gonna go to has this like, partnership with them where he covers the vast majority of the cosmetic fee which is what I’ve been raising money for. So there’s actually a really big chance that I might be able to give the money that I’ve raised to a trans friend… who is raising money for their top surgery. So that would just be so cool. And so I have a couple of my friends who I’ve reached out to and been like, “Hey, so I might get really cheap top surgery. I’m not sure yet. But if I do, can I put a grant into your top surgery fund?” …If I’ve raised this money already, might as well give it to other people who need it for the same thing, you know? So we all get to feel comfortable.
Sophie: Is there a message that you hope organizing something like this sends to other trans or queer artists who are kind of early in their careers?
chrysalis: Yeah I mean… not even to just artists but to everyone in general- and I’m very lucky that I do have a really good network at Berklee and also through the gay people of the internet… I think that community is so integral to anything that you’re doing. I think it’s so important. And to feel comfortable leaning on that community that supports you and loves you is so necessary… It’s so important because, if you would want to raise that money for someone you care about, then why not do it for yourself too, right? … And do it in a way that feels feasible to you. For me, I don’t have a manager. I do all my own booking. And so I was like, I know how to book shows. I know everyone in the Boston music scene, so it’s gonna be easy for me to do this… That was the way that felt feasible to me because of the community that I’ve built… I used to have this mutual aid patchwork and painting clothes account… That was like my hyperfixation for like 5 months or something and then I just kinda got bored. I’ll get back into it, but I don’t do it as much anymore… Since it was my thing I was like, I’m gonna raise money this way for homies… So doing it in whatever way feels fun to you… The way someone else raises money… is gonna be so different than how I do it given the people they’re around, their interests, their passions- but whatever it is, utilizing it… Not being afraid to take up space and let yourself do that. Which is also something that has been a learned thing for me.
Sophie: What artists would you say are your biggest influences on your sound or your writing and like, the direction you wanna take it in?
chrysalis: Ooh that’s a really good question… Well the main one is, not to be basic, but I love Field Medic. I love him with all my heart. I love him with everything in me. His music was really there for me over this summer when I was really going through it. The guitar playing reminded me of how Benji played. It was very familiar. It just felt very loving. And same with Adrianne Lenker.
Sophie: Oh, of course
chrysalis: Like oh my god, the amount of times I’ve sobbed to “A Better Time to Meet”, criminal… It’s been a couple… more than 10. For sure, easily… Yeah so Adrianne Lenker, Field Medic, I really admire Leith Ross a lot… It’s less in- I think their sound is beautiful. But I think in terms of artistic direction I do definitely take inspiration from them… especially for how they use their platform. I really, really respect them for that. Like how they went about talking about “Guts” before it was released. I thought that was really, really mature. I thought that was really awesome. Same with Olive Klug using their platform… after the Colorado Springs shooting. Those artists- in terms of like, how I want to let myself have a platform.
I feel like also the more I just end up writing a lot about whatever is going on in my life… So I wrote all those sad heartbreak songs and stuff. But recently, in the past couple months, I’ve been writing a lot about transness… a lot about growing up, a lot about coming into yourself, changing, a lot about queerness. That’s been like the main focus as of right now. So also making music about that and releasing it so that the young gay people of the world can be like “Oh my god!” and see themselves in a way that I never really felt like I had… Same with Miki Ratsula, “Jealous of My Brother”... I feel like they do a really good job of also talking about transness… Those are less in sound inspiration- I mean they definitely are still… But the main in just sound: Adrianne Lenker, Field Medic… and a little bit of, dare I say it, like Snail Mail, Indigo de Souza, Soccer Mommy type thing. Like the indie rock- I really like Indigo de Souza because she reminds me of Alanis Morisette. And I used to like religiously listen to Alanis Morisette as a kid. Because they give that same grunge… like the same teen angst of like AHHHHH you know? I like how they grasp that, how they talk about that anger and sadness and also happy- I don’t know, they’re really cool… Maybe a little bit of Daniel Caesar too. I love Daniel Caesar… Whenever I swing into the little soul aspects of my music, it’s always Daniel Caesar inspired, like consistently. But of all time I would say Joni Mitchell, Alanis Morisette, and not to be cliche but super The Beatles because that’s what I grew up on. Specifically Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, that album.
Sophie: Nice, all really solid picks.
chrysalis: Thank you, appreciate it.
Sophie: If you could pick one song, only one, to call your anthem, what would it be?
chrysalis: Like right now’s anthem or like life?
Sophie: Right now’s anthem, yes.
chrysalis: Ok ok because life’s anthem…??
Sophie: Life is all over the place-
chrysalis: …that’s a crazy question
The song that I’ve been streaming more than anything- but I don’t feel like it resonates with my life… it’s just the song… I have recently within the past month or so gotten into Andy Shauf.
Sophie: Oh, oh my god, love him.
chrysalis: “The Magician”
Sophie: So good.
chrysalis: I just tweeted something. I think it’s worth reading to you… Yesterday I tweeted, “listening to the magician by andy shauf is a sexual experience. it brings me closer to grippysockville. it’s a baptism. it’s holding your firstborn child for the first time.”
Sophie: Hahaha that’s great.
chrysalis: It’s just everything… I feel like I’m dethawing, like I’m literally dethawing. I’m going to his concert next week and it’s going to be my first concert I go to by myself…
[I proceeded to segway into an anecdote of the time I saw Indigo at a Leith Ross concert I was going to, by myself, before I knew who they were or any of their music!]
Sophie: My anthem is “Dream Song” by Samia. It’s just ugh- I feel like she wrote it for me.
chrysalis: …I just put it on my scrumptious playlist. I’m gonna trust that it’s scrumptious.
Sophie: It’s a sad one, but an anthem nonetheless.
How are you feeling about playing Boston Calling this May? So soon!
chrysalis: Feeling excited… Feeling like, that’s crazy. Also just the whole thing of how I got that gig was like a fucking fever dream… I’m a busker at Faneuil Hall which is like this touristy part of Boston. It was my first day on the job on like a Thursday and I was playing at noon… last May. And this random ginger dude comes up to me, like this middle aged ginger dude, comes up to me in the middle of my set and he goes, “Hey can you turn off your mic for a sec?” I thought it was one of the vendors being like, “Shut up, I cannot hear people’s orders” …And he was like… “I work with this company that books for Boston Calling and I like you. I put my email in your guitar case. Email me.” … And then I had to continue my set?? …Here’s the thing. I’ve seen a lot of catfish in my life… So I get home… I look at his LinkedIn… I was trying to convince myself- this is fake, this doesn’t happen to people… I look at everything and he’s real. I sent him an email… And then a week later I was having my “Handprints”/”Denver” person– that was the beginning of the end. It was so bad. I had just cried at the ATM. And I’m like tear-stained. I am like a wreck. And then I hear someone go, “chrysalis?” [It was him.]
And then I never saw him again… A couple weeks later I was like, “Hey I have a song. If you’re still booking for Boston Calling, let me know *winks*” …And then I got the offer three days later…So yeah, it’s kind of weird also because of the way that it happened-
Sophie: That’s crazy, with the sobbing at the ATM-
chrysalis: Full sob… It was not cute.
It was honestly right place at the right time. You know how when you’re at the mall as a kid you think that if you sing loud enough there’s gonna be someone who like, works for Warner Brothers just walking and they’re gonna be like “We want you.”
Sophie: That’s a sick story though. That’s great.
chrysalis: Very excited, but also nervous because none of it feels real.
Sophie: What would you say your biggest career goal is at this point? Could be short term or long term.
chrysalis: Short-ish term like within the next couple years is: release my album, that’s probably the biggest. Well probably just as big would be, open for an artist that I’m inspired by… I wanna open for one of the gay people on the internet or like one of my friends… A lot of my friends from Berklee are also crazy talented and they just haven’t released a lot of music because we’re busy. Just because it’s really expensive to release music. But I’m so sure that their music is gonna do so well. I’m just hoping one of them brings me with them or that my stuff goes well and I can bring them with me.
Sophie: So a question that we ask every single artist we interview at closer2vision is: What advice would you give to other artists or what is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
chrysalis: The advice that I would give would be, make friends! Nurture your community… Be a nice person. Because it’s simply good to be… Because also then, when you need a fiddle play you can ask your friend’s girlfriend who plays the fiddle. And then you get to have fiddle on your song and it’s really cool and awesome… I think that’s bad advice-
Sophie: It’s simple advice, but it goes a long way!
chrysalis: Oh another thing is, if you like somebody’s music or you like what somebody’s doing, tell them! Just tell them. Because it’s probably just gonna make their day… I saw this one artist who I had seen a video of him playing on the Berklee YouTube channel. I saw him on the street… And I was like “Hey, wait! I know you!” … “I really like your cover of that one song…” And he was like, “Hey man, thank you! I was having a really bad day and that actually made me feel really important and happy” It was a nice little interaction… Yeah, just like be a decent human. And that doesn’t just go for artistry. Just for life, I think it’s important to be there for the people you love… The best music comes from when you make music with people you love.
Sophie: To kind of wrap things up, what can we expect next from chrysalis? I know you’ve kind of talked about singles and projects on the horizon… This is your place to plug whatever’s coming next.
chrysalis: You can’t tell that to me because I will leak everything! No I won’t. I have a song that I have set the deadline to be released by the time I play Boston Calling [“Shapeshift” out NOW!]. And I think the way that I’m gonna promote it, because it’s a little more country sounding… It’s just really off the folk deep end. We’ve got banjo, we’ve got pedal steel, we’ve got fiddle.
Sophie: Fiddle!!
chrysalis: It’s a really fun song. I’m so proud of it… I think the way we’re gonna promote it is, we’re gonna be like trans cowboys.
Sophie: Very much looking forward to it.
chrysalis: And also I’m planning a little DIY Northeast tour with my friends Coco and Benji for July. I’ll be on tour for like a week.
Sophie: Well it was great to have you! Thank you so much for being here!
April 2023