Soundbooth
Meet Cocordion: A do-it-together sonic shift
Colorado Springs alt-electronic wizards talk Solange, indie cred in the internet age and creating music with family.
By John Bueno
Indie Rock as we know it is dead. Duh, right? Depending on who you ask, it was murdered when underground punk rock luminaries Hüsker Dü defected to a major label eons ago in 1985 (the very first to do so), while others contend the rise and, untimely, fall of Nirvana and other flannel-clad hucksters in the 90s was the final nail in the coffin for any “true” underground indie movement. Whatever, nevermind.
However you choose to see it, Rest In Peace to the old guard that was indie. In its smoldering wake, however, something exciting has arisen. This new batch of indie-inspired kids isn’t exactly DIY anymore. If anything, now it seems more like do-it-together — as a village.
Cocordion, a Colorado Springs three-piece group, embodies this new class. Sonically inventive and naft, Cocordion’s soft and intimate brand of musical expression holds onto the collaborative, community-driven and cool sensibilities of indie. But even with all the passing similarities to conventional “norms” of this subnormal scene, Cocordion and indeed the entire indie genre itself is undertaking a seismic sonic and aesthetic shift.
The songs and music dubbed “Indie” are suddenly all over the place, with the genre’s biggest new acts taking on some serious pop and RnB worship. Artists like Adele and Solange Knowles are no longer seen as cultural enemies, but the archetype for tomorrow, and no longer is every band in the indie world straight, white, and male with loud guitars.
It’s a brave new world.
So what does Cocordion mean exactly?
Mitchell Macura: A while back, I was planning on recording an EP of these one-a-day songs I was writing when I was at college in Boulder. But I didn’t have a name for them, and I didn’t want to use my actual name. Cocordion is from a long list of band names, and it’s the idea of combination of both a concordia, which is this kind of whacked out instrument, and the idea of the prefix co-, which is something I am obsessed with; the togetherness of it being summed up in two letters.
Your brother plays in Cocordion too, right?
MM: Yeah, my brother Mason, who isn’t here because he’s at work right now, plays drums. We’ve played together for like 11 years. We used to hate it.
Hate playing with each other?
MM: Oh yeah, he thought I was a power trippin’, narcissistic jerk. And I am (laughs) But then he joined some other bands, and then he decided he wanted someone to play music with that he says “who knows exactly what they want to do and play.” I’ve been in bands where I’ve had a lot of leadership roles, even though I have always had a problem with authority.
I guess I just feel like when the rules are clear it’s a lot nice and easier. I just try and keep open and honest communication with everyone.
Issac Martinez: I write a lot of my own music, so I’ve kind of always thought I would have to be a band leader. And kind of dreaded it. So when I ended up in a band that someone else was leading, someone who’s musical ideas I respect, it’s a dream I’ve had for a long time. It’s just a perfect fit for my environment.
Do you ever feel like you’re trying to bridge a musical gap and reach the largest amount of people you can, while staying within the indie scene?
MM: Yeah. Well, no. I think that there’s something to be said for going toward being palatable and approachable. Not just in music, but in life in general. Unless your intention is something big, like truth or something. But it’s something we all trip out on a lot — the truth. Because I don’t think that actual truth is always culturally relative. It’s like Pop music; It’s awesome and great, but it’s usually dishonest in its quest to be sincere. It’s not very creative to me, because you have to stretch to be so palatable. It’s not true.
IM: But, when a pop artist springs up that has that appeal and keeps that sense of sincerity, they’re clearly on a different cosmic level than the rest of us. Like Drake. I love a lot of his music, but it has a broad appeal, top-tier pain that I think everyone has felt at some point.
Does your music change with pop ever in mind?
MM: Oh, totally. We all try to bring in sounds that are novel enough so that it doesn’t taste stale, but familiar enough so that it’s not jarringly uncomfortable that you can only communicate with the most fringe underground people. The ones that are always searching for the newest stuff.
Because you can’t just cater to that anymore.
I don’t think we live in that kind of world anymore. How do you feel about stuff like keeping indie credibility?
IM: I feel like indie cred in this internet age is such a malleable term. You have to go deeper in these days. Solange (Knowles) has indie credibility now. Her album was just named Pitchfork’s album of the Year.
MM: And fourth on Rolling Stone’s.
Wow. Ten years ago, Pitchfork wouldn’t have touched an album like that.
IM: Exactly. And it was surprising to see that her art, which is so RnB and pop at its core, got picked over something like Car Seat Headrest, who came up through the indie circuit the old way. Indie rock and through word of mouth. You would expect their cred to win out over Solange, who has such name brand recognition. But, Solange is Beyonce’s sister, which probably contributed to 90% of her success. Not to say she doesn’t deserve it or that her album isn’t great. It is.
Do you think that says something about the way so called “indie” music fans are looking at music now? Are there no rules anymore?
MM: 2016 was a huge year for people in power to have to acknowledge that position of power and be responsible. And it definitely wasn’t time for a straight white dude to win album of the year. It’s even f**ked up we still have to keep having the power conversations, it’s important that we keep having them.
IM: Indie credibility is an afterthought now. Before it was the template. The way the music was supposed to sound, the way you were supposed to dress or perform. Ten years ago, Solange would not have had any credibility in the Indie world. She would have been considered just an on-the-rise pop artist. But now, she gets that indie cred because she pulls from indie sources and has such an indie sensibility.
So you’re saying the equation has flipped? Where does Cocordion fit in this new music spectrum?
MM: I don’t even know. That’s what we’ve been talking about the most — what steps do we take now in a way that will benefit us the most? At this point, it’s hard to know what route to even take. I don’t see trying to be a part of any independent record label any time soon. The internet has made all of it such a crazy way and an insane place as a band trying to do something and wriggle around in. Chance (the Rapper) is arguably is one of the biggest rappers out right now, is not on a label — doesn’t want to be on a label and doesn’t need to be on a label.
In the 90s, that was how it worked, you know? That was how you made it. Now, seeing all the ways it can be done, you look at labels and it’s like, meh.
IM: Now it’s not a matter of how you came up; it’s a matter of who you are and what you represent.
Cocordian’s newest EP “COS(home=Audio)” is out now on Bandcamp. For fans of warm and intimate electronic-tinged Indie music; Best at ¾ volume with a warm beverage curled up under a blanket. Purr-fect.
