Q&A: Chandler
SHE'S BUBBLY, WITTY AND MAKING SOME GOOD BEACH POP - She's Chandler. The young artist has found ways to continue to evolve her sound and isn't afraid to think outside the box. At only 19 years old, Chandler has begun to incorporate her love of languages into her music by making bilingual beach pop. Chandler's kind nature flows across her music creating a sweet but uplifting sound that charms the listener with each note.
This spring, Chandler hopes to incorporate that passion and knowledge of the Spanish language in her upcoming single “Baila/Dance” , with the goal of making her way into the exciting world of Latin music. Read on to get a better sense of how Chandler began her musical career, her background with Spanish and her future plans.
LUNA: How has your move to Los Angeles impacted you as an artist? How does the scene here compare to Houston?
CHANDLER: It sounds cliché of course, but ever since coming to LA for one of my first performances at age 13, I knew I was going to end up here, no matter what. Even though I’ve lived in the South my whole life, I still grew up playing the ukulele and doing yoga, while also surfing and listening to Jack Johnson. My parents seemed pretty intent on making sure I was a beach bum! LA seemed like the only place I could combine everything I was passionate about. After a few more visits to the big city (one of them facilitated by my placement on the Grammy longlist in 2016), the time for college applications rolled around and I saw my chance to finally make the move. I’m a pretty big nerd, so a serious academic school like the University of Southern California was definitely a dream for more than one reason! I’ve gone to school at USC for a year now, and it’s undoubtedly been the best year of my life. As an artist, I’ve never felt more empowered and enabled by the absolutely insane amount of opportunity that seems to exist around every corner. It has been such an encouraging journey and I am so incredibly excited for what the future holds!
The music scene in Houston is definitely different than LA, but still has its perks. After graduating high school in June 2017, I had a gap semester before coming out to LA the following January. Living in The Woodlands (which is about an hour north of the city) gave me the chance to up my performance repertoire and get gigs at some pretty high-end places while still making enough to pay for my own recordings. Even though I’m just outside the 3rd largest city in the U.S., I was probably only one of less than 10 active musicians in the area — so it really was a blessing getting to learn and gain almost unlimited experience in such a quality environment! Back then, I was playing 12+ hours a week for about 6 months, which is something I could never imagine being feasible in LA… (yikes!) I still pick up a few of these shows when I’m home, and I’m always humbled by the insane amount of gratitude I have for these little spots that have been (and still are!) direct contributors to me following my dreams halfway across the country.
LUNA: Why did you want to pursue an education in music rather than take it on as a full-time job?
CHANDLER: Something a lot of people don’t know about me is that I’ve been a music teacher as long as I’ve made my own music. I started teaching summer camps through a music school back home when I was 13, and since then I’ve given private piano, ukulele and songwriting lessons both out of my home and over video chat to over a dozen students ages 5-65! I’d say it’s my biggest passion and my hope is that one day I’ll be able to start my own music school.
Since being at USC, I’ve partnered with a Thornton School of Music program that has actually gotten me a job as an elementary school music teacher in schools throughout the South Central area. That being said, education is something I’ve always highly valued not only for myself but for others around me.
College was a non-negotiable for me, as well as my ticket to getting out of Texas. Since I’ve done music for so long (7 years!), to me it didn’t make much sense to go to college and learn more about something I’d sort of figured out on my own like performance or instrumentation. (Of course, there is ALWAYS more to learn - just wanted to invest my time and money as wisely as possible!). As much as I love school, it made sense to pursue something business-oriented like a Bachelor’s in Music Industry and learn about the other side of the business I’ve been in for so long. I also wanted to continue studying Spanish so I could start incorporating it into my music more. That being said, I absolutely LOVE my major/what I am studying! I could not imagine any other place being a better fit to fill in the gaps for who I want to be as an artist, teacher and businesswoman.
LUNA: Do you think your creative process has changed from your first project to ‘The Sages & Fools’?
CHANDLER: Oh, 100%. It never fails to amaze me how fluid my creative process can be, and I find that I learn something new about myself with every creative endeavor (photos, songs, albums, etc.). I feel like each project of mine, no matter how big or small, brings me closer to where I want to be as an artist. The creative process is sort of a constant battle between creativity and perfectionism, but I’ve found that the only way to get closer to my goals is to put content out as much as possible and embrace the vulnerability and growth that comes with those releases. I’ve gotten more comfortable with taking control of my direction as an artist and it is my hope that my music will eventually reflect a sort of timeline showing my evolution into my brightest and best self.
LUNA: Are there any artists that you find yourself always inspired by? Anyone recently?
CHANDLER: Since I started driving myself (in my yellow Jeep!) to high school my junior year, I’ve listened to Jack Johnson every single morning (4+ years!). He started out as my alarm to wake up, and since then has been an inseparable part of my day. Not only is the music great, it also acts as a sort of reminder of my goals as an artist and overall outlook on life. Some other artists that have never failed to inspire me are Alanis Morissette, Carole King, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Norah Jones. While snooping around for some examples of bilingual songs to show some of my 4th graders a few weeks ago, I came across an insanely talented artist named Ambar Lucid. She’s got a cute little bilingual ukulele bop called “A Letter to my Younger Self” that I am in love with. It’s so encouraging to find other artists making music music like yours — and succeeding!
LUNA: Can you talk a bit more about “Baila/Dance”? What made you want you to incorporate Spanish into your music?
CHANDLER: I’ve taken Spanish in school since Kindergarten, and this combined with living in Texas was definitely conducive to me picking up and maintaining the language well into adulthood. I’m now a Spanish minor at USC and still as in love with and passionate about the language as I was when I first started.
After graduating high school, my dad and I took a surf trip to Costa Rica where we stayed in teepee tents at a surfing hostel in the jungle. It was a once in a lifetime experience of surfing, yoga, and music and an absolute dream of mine. Of course, no Chandler experience would be complete without a little romance and one of the nights we went out on the town and I found myself paired up with a fellow surfer who was quite a fabulous dance partner! The entire experience was so perfect, I decided to trap it in a little song bubble (it’s what songwriters do!) and as soon as I came home I write “Baila/Dance” and sent it to him as a little memento. I’ve been excited about the song for a few years now, not only because it reminds me of such a lovely time, but also because it finally gave me the opportunity to open up a new realm of my songwriting in another language. Being a bilingual artist has been a long-term goal of mine for quite some time now, and I am ecstatic to see it finally come into fruition!
LUNA: Is there something you want people to take away from your music?
CHANDLER: Whether it be through their highest highs or lowest lows, my biggest goal as an artist is for my music to give people a way to feel seen and understood. I’ve never been able to write about anything I haven’t experienced personally and its frankly a relief every time someone affirms that they’ve had a similar experience. It makes this whole creative ordeal a lot less lonely when you realize we’re all going through the same stuff! I guess there’s something sort of unifying and poetic about that, and for me, that’s just originated from me trying to put out pieces of the most authentic version of myself.
LUNA: Big question so take this how you like - what’s next for you?
CHANDLER: The possibilities really are endless aren’t they? It’s almost comical how easy it is to get caught up in a perpetual cycle of planning (especially as a recovering perfectionist). Nowadays, I’m a big believer in things unfolding and I’ve got a lot of faith in myself and the universe regarding my future. I really do want to do it all, and I honestly believe I’ll get a chance to live out each of my dreams in their own time. I think I’m just going to keep putting in the work and being completely authentic and trust that something much greater than me has got some plans that are way cooler than I ever could imagine.
