Spotlight on: Comfort Club
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
In this engaging interview with the talented musician Colin Tracey, known as Comfort Club, we dive into his journey through the world of music. Hailing from Michigan, but now residing in California, Colin's artistic interests led him to pick up the guitar and delve into songwriting, ultimately falling in love with the creative process. His decision to rebrand as Comfort Club came from a desire to encapsulate his artistry symbolically, with a name that felt fitting and unique. The conversation delves into the role of social media in promoting his music and the excitement surrounding his upcoming album, which promises to be a collection of relatable heartbreak songs. Colin's authenticity shines through as he reflects on the significance of enjoying the little victories along his musical path.
Next Wave: So, tell us a little about yourself.
Colin: ’ve been making music for about 4 or 5 years now. I grew up in Michigan, grew up playing sports and then kind of had a mentality shift where I was like, actually I think I’m an artsy kid. I started playing guitar, and then writing songs, and then just kind of fell in love with the process and I’ve just been trying to do it ever since. I started Comfort Club in 2018 and then I’ve just been running it ever since and I’ve just been having the time of my life doing it.
NW: I did a little bit of a deep dive into your music and checked out your website and social media. What led you to the name Comfort Club?
C: I was looking to rebrand. I was just using my birth name, which is Colin Tracey. And I was like, that doesn’t really say anything. It doesn’t really feel like anything. I went and saw Cautious Clay live and I liked the kind of flow, like the symbolic flow of his name work. I liked the alliteration. I wanted to do two syllables for the first name, one syllable for the last name. I came up with the word club as the last name of the project, and then I came to find something that fits me, that fits the project, and the word comfort fit me like a glove. So I threw that on the front and from there, it just kind of stuck.
NW: From listening to your music, it really feels like it fit well.
C: I’m glad. I think the one thing that I’m sort of worried about, or just kind of thinking about is like, I do feel like it’s sort of weird that I’m just one person that has this name of a group. But it’s kind of funny. I think it’s a cool little tidbit that it’s just one person that pretends to be a group of people.
NW: Comfort Club definitely makes an impression on you, especially just sort of scrolling through social media.
C: I hope so. I felt like when I landed on it, I was like, this is gonna be good. This is gonna stick and this is gonna be the thing.
NW: Of course, I found you through Tiktok, kind of just scrolling through my for you page. What role do you think social media and online platforms have played in being able to promote your music and connect with the people who listen to it?
C: I think it’s great. I am not a Tiktok hater by any means, but that’s… It’s just short-sighted in the sense that we’re always trying to acquire new people to be interested in what we’re doing, but then the platform itself doesn’t allow us to reach the people who are in our audience. It’s kind of like, what’s the point? Like if we keep reaching these new people and then we can’t connect with them on a deeper level because they never see our content after the one thing that went viral, it’s just kind of a bad plan going forward. And I don’t have a solution for it. That’s just me kind of complaining.
But I think I sort of wish that it was a little bit easier to truly connect with people online who have expressed interest in what you're doing or vice versa. There's people I see on TikTok that I'm like, this person's awesome. And then I never see them again. That's just so frustrating.
NW: Have you noticed a little bit more longevity and your listeners, or do you think it's been kind of more off and on?
C: It's hard to say because I haven't put music out in almost a year at this point. And I feel like the only time you really notice it is when you start putting music out or playing shows or anything that sort of requires more than just putting a post on the Internet. That's kind of where the rubber meets the road and where you actually know if what you're doing is viable. And so I don't really know at this point in time. I think it feels like people are showing up for me more than they used to, and I don't even feel like I'm giving them anything, like a reason to show up right now. So I'm really excited that people are still sticking around while I'm figuring it out. I feel like the real test is going to be when I start putting music out again and touring and seeing if people are like, we really like what you're doing, and we're going to show up, or if they're just internet people. But I think people are going to show up. I feel like most of what I put out on the internet is very genuine, and I feel like people who are connecting with that are truly connecting with it. It's not like a surface level thing. Going viral would be awesome, but I think having the smaller, real, dedicated people that are actually going to show up is kind of that's the course that I want to be on.
NW: You did mention that you haven't really released anything in almost about a year. I did notice, looking through a couple of TikToks, you mention working on an album. How's that process going for you?
C: It's going great. I put out an EP in 2020 but this is the first time I've ever worked on a larger body of work like that. The EP that I put out only had four new songs on it. This one has ten, and I worked on them all at the same time. I've never really done that before. So it's been a really great experience of looking at music on a more long term scale of being like, this is not just me writing a song and then immediately putting it out, which is what I was doing for the last couple of years. This is me actually sitting back, being calculated about what I'm doing, and just making sure that I'm saying a statement on a larger level. That's what I want to be saying instead of just in the moment and it's been incredible.
NW: Do you think there's an advantage to working on something like this by yourself as opposed to being in a band or group with other people and having their influences come in as well?
C: Yeah, I think so. Especially because this is a very personal experience in my life. I feel like it's nice that I don't have to filter myself or worry about other opinions in the process, because this is not me trying to make a popular album or trying to do what's the most logical thing. It's me truly just expressing myself from the bottom of my heart and saying what I need to say. It's nice that no one’s going, you might want to shorten that or you might want to maybe go for something more mainstream. I'm just able to do what I feel like doing and that's always how I've approached music. And I'm allowed to do that because no one's going to tell me not to
NW: For a lot of the songs that you've released before, a lot of them are kind of love/heartbreak songs. Is the album going to have sort of a similar feel to it, similar theme?
C: Yeah, it's a heartbreak album. There's love scattered through it, but it's in the sense of going through a breakup with someone and still caring about and having love for them. It's not necessarily Lovey Dovey, which I don't know if my music ever has been, but this is more heartbreaking love. I feel like when I went through this breakup, I wish this was the album that I had to carry me through the breakup. So I hope that it helps people who go through the same thing and myself if I ever go through it again.
NW: Do you think there's any kind of pressure to set yourself apart from what's currently out there now?
C: Yeah, I guess there's pressure to do that. It's funny, I have this thing where whenever people ask me to explain who I sound like, I don't feel like I ever can. Maybe it's just that I'm not exposed to music that sounds similar to me. There's some people in the general realm like Dayglow, the 1975 or Coin – those are bands that I get loosely thrown around in the same conversation with, which is really cool. But then I look at the music I make and I'm like, it's not really that similar to their music. I think it's just kind of like the same intention. I feel like I sort of exist in this weird little niche of my own, which is really cool. I think that's better than sounding like everyone else. And I feel like I sound very pick-me right now. I'm not trying to be like I'm so unique, I just feel like I can't really equate my stuff to other people's music and that's a good problem to have right now.
NW: One last question and then I'll let you off. What kind of goals do you have for yourself music wise?
C: Okay, let's see. So I think the biggest thing for me at this point is just being happy with where I'm at. I am sort of creating new goals all the time, and I think just being realistic with the goals that I'm setting and reaching them and feeling good about it. Because I think there's this thing in the music industry where you set goals and reach them and they're not good enough, and you keep trying to set higher goals and bigger expectations. And I just want to enjoy the little victories. When I put the first song from an album out, I want to be like, wow, I really just released the first single from an album. I've never done that before. I just want to be really happy, happy with the little victories, because I think that's really at the end of the day, all that life is is just finding a positive mentality for every situation.
Listen to Comfort Club and find him on social media below!
