Bridget Papino interviews Chainflower and discusses "Brave"

From Los Angeles to New Jersey, Bridget Papino had an opportunity to interview talented alternative rock group Chainflower. This talented three member band has worked hard and caught the eye of well renowned music artists, sponsors, brands and more. Let's get to know Kelly, Syd, and Raanen!

How did the three of you meet?

Kelly: We were looking for a new singer and Syd answered our ad. Said she was really into our sound and wanted to audition. We setup the jam and were blown away when she sang our stuff.

Our good friend Ryan Brown (Zappa Plays Zappa, SexTapes) introduced me to Raanen backstage at a recent Tool show and suggested we link. Raanen came to jam with me and Syd and killed our set.

How did your single "Brave" come about?

Kelly: Brave came about when Syd joined Chainflower. I created the music, arrangement and recorded the instruments before she joined, but wasn’t satisfied with the vocals. That all changed when Syd and I started working together. The new vocal melodies and lyrics were written very quickly and Brave was born. When we were ready, I asked Sony ATV producer Niyi Adelekan, aka Synematik renowned for his amazing R&B work, to help with further co-production, strings and engineering. Then I asked Grammy-nominated producer Johnny Karkazis aka Johnny K, to mix.

Syd: For our song Brave, our process started with Kelly showing me the masterful arrangement he was already working on, then we started coming up with the melodies together. I spent some time writing the lyrics and came back to finish up the song with Kelly.

As a band, different individuals may have certain down periods in their personal life at different times. How do you guys balance and regroup to gain your focus again especially during a pandemic?

Kelly: We’ve been staying busy together writing, recording, creating videos and promoting in the press, on the radio and on podcasts. We find that as long as we’re creating and making progress, it keeps us motivated and ready for opportunities when things start changing.

Who inspires your fashion style?

Kelly: We’re a rock band so there’s plenty of great rock fashion icons that we love. But we have our own style and keep things simple in black leather while our music does the talking.

If there was one thing your listeners could get out of your music, what do you want it to be?

Kelly: Listening to something you love that makes you feel great and female empowerment.

What is your favorite part of being in a band?

Kelly: When playing and creating with amazing musicians becomes a family.

What was the moment that clicked for each of you that made you realize you wanted to do music?

Kelly: My Dad was a jazz musician on the side so I was always around live music and I started playing piano at a young age. Some of the first rock music I heard was Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and my life changed forever. I went to a ton of concerts and was inspired by what I saw, so I started learning guitar. Then I moved to LA and dove into the music scene and never looked back.

Syd: When I was a little girl I heard someone sing the national anthem at Dodger’s Stadium and I told my mom “I want to do that.” By age 9 my parents put me in voice lessons. I learned to play guitar so I could write my own music and perform. I've never worked harder for anything else in my life, and there's nothing I'd rather be doing.

Raanen: My father is a drummer (Terri Bozzio of Frank Zappa and Missing Persons) and my mother did A&R for Capitol Records, so I’ve been surrounded by music my entire life.

What can fans and new listeners expect at a live show from you guys?

Kelly: Our shows have been great because we have the best fans. We like to give them everything we have on stage and things can get a little crazy but we always deliver the best of the best. We are family and fans feel that in the room however big or small. We can’t wait to get back out there when things open up.

Syd: I miss it so much! I just can't wait to get back on the stage where I have my brothers there backing up my every move. Now that we've spent more time writing and recording during the lockdown, it will be an even greater experience on stage with these amazing humans I've grown so close to.

What can our audience expect from you in 2021 and beyond?

Kelly: We’ll continue to promote and create during these challenging times. We have a new music video release coming up for our new single She Rides Fire. We have another national live steam event to announce soon, this time for Taylor Guitars. We also have major venues in Southern California, Las Vegas, Texas, Atlantic City and Florida that want to book us as soon as they’re open.

Syd: We want to let you into our world as much as possible. We're working hard on live performance videos and new music to give listeners a chance to get to know who Chainflower is until we have the pleasure of seeing all your faces at our live shows in the future.

Raanen: Rule the world.

If you could give advice to music artists who are attempting to reach the amount of success you have reached, what would you tell them?

Write and record constantly. Then do it again. Always focus on quality songwriting. Doing those 3 things will get you noticed every time.

XXX

Chainflowermusic.com

Check out their latest release "Brave", out now!