From Touring With Gus Dapperton to Making Her Own Music: An Interview With spill tab
I am a spill tab fangirl. Unapologetically. And I think you should be one too. Although I feel caught between wanting to keep her my best kept secret (after all, putting her music on the aux with your friends and waiting for the inevitable “Hold up, I love this. Who is this?” is about the most gratifying experience you can have), and wanting her to be the most popular musician in the world, seeing as she’s recently signed with Arista and is touring with Gus Dapperton this fall, I suppose the secret’s finally out. Nevertheless, her rise has been an undoubtedly rapid one. Taking the unbroken time provided by an unexpected and all-consuming global pandemic (you can only do so much tie dye before you start looking for other quarantine hobbies I guess), Claire Chicha decided to finally give releasing her own music a shot. Working with producer and friend David Marinelli, her singles steadily accumulated, and by December 2020, she had created her debut EP “Oatmilk”, before signing to Arista in January 2021. So not a bad career arc then.
Musically, it is immediately apparent that spill tab is a product of the music she listens to. There is no one overwhelming sonic influence, or even two or three, and yet the music somehow fits together perfectly, taking cues from the different elements of her personal music taste to create a sound that is cultivated and expansive at the same time. It’s clear that experimentation is where spill tab is at her strongest, and she uses this element of surprise constantly. Like how the distorted, sing-songy vocal on her single ‘PISTOLWHIP’ gives way to electronic and synthy breaks that feel so rhythmic and trance-like you lose track of time, or on ‘Name’, a love song whose sugary chorus slows in the final 20 seconds to a woozy instrumental, like when you’ve been going too fast on a carnival ride and it suddenly comes to a stop. Then there’s ‘Cotton Candy,’ which combines electronic production and ukulele chords, or ‘Calvaire,’ which is sung entirely in French. So yeah, clearly there’s a lot she wants to get to.
spill tab’s newest track, ‘Anybody Else,’ which I can only describe as part ‘80s synth-pop homage, part angsty bedroom pop ballad, slots in to the spill tab aesthetic perfectly, carrying on the playfulness of her earlier work and the vibe of organized musical chaos she embodies so well. I sat down with Claire over Zoom about a month ago to discuss ‘Anybody Else’, the crazy success of this past year, making music with your friends, and where she’s going next. And oh yeah, if you want to see her on tour with Gus Dapperton, you should probably get those tickets before they sell out here.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So first things first, it’s so nice to meet you! To start, I wanted to know if you could tell Unpublished a little bit about yourself and your music.
[SPILL TAB:] Hello! I’m spill tab! I’m based in LA, I make music with my friends and I enjoy walks and also love dogs. I also grow plants in my home and I love Mexican food.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So what has your journey into the music industry been like up until now? I know you went to NYU, but what pushed you to take that leap and begin releasing your own music?
[SPILL TAB:] I think it was the fact that I found someone that I actually enjoy working with. I went to high school in LA and I knew of David [Marinelli], but we weren’t quite friends yet, because it was a big school. After I went to college we reconnected one summer and started doing sessions together and just became really good friends. When I went back to New York that fall we kept making music together, and I think it was just that I finally found someone that gets it. We both have similar tastes so it really worked out and that’s when I finally felt comfortable putting my music out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How would you describe your music to someone who hasn’t heard it before?
[SPILL TAB:] It’s music for people who really like condiments, especially barbecue sauce. I fucking love barbecue sauce. And it’s fun and it’s also hopefully a little bit weird.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So ‘Anybody Else’ is the new song. Congratulations! What was the process like behind creating that song and how did it differ from making your debut EP ‘Oatmilk’ (2020)?
[SPILL TAB:] I was going through a really big phase of singing like an ‘80s frontman (sings ‘Take On Me’ just like A-HA for emphasis). I thought that was so funny for an entire month and was singing everything in an ‘80s frontman vibe. David and I were at a session at like 9 or 10 pm, and we were so tired and not feeling inspired at all. I was laying down on his bed with the mic on my chest, not even touching it, and just started singing like that into the mic. I sang the chorus and David was just like ‘I love that!’ (screams), and so we just started it with that. I think in the spirit of ‘Anybody Else’ just being an era-inspired song, it’s much more straightforward in terms of production and instrumentation which is cool.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is your songwriting and composition process like for each project? Do you feel like it varies? Is it similar?
[SPILL TAB:] It’s definitely different every time. For a lot of the ‘Oatmilk’ stuff, I had the song already done and David would then help me build it out production-wise. Genuinely I think it differs every time, although I always like to do the songwriting entirely myself.
[UNPUBLISHED:] How involved are you in the production side of your music, especially given that current production technologies like Ableton Live allow you to DIY so much of the production?
[SPILL TAB:] Yeah, for sure. So ‘Name’ (from ‘Oatmilk’) was a song that I had produced for the most part and David just helped me make it sound good because I was literally downloading kick samples from YouTube and converting them to Mp3. It was so bad. But with ‘Name’ specifically, the building blocks of it I just produced myself in Ableton. My approach to production differs from song to song depending on how I’m feeling about it, but David has inspired me to learn more and has taught me a lot of the things, like plugins and other stuff, that I now use. We’re sort of staying in this world of sound together which is really cool.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Where do you think you find inspiration for your music, either sonically, lyrically, or in terms of visuals?
[SPILL TAB:] I listen to a lot of different music so I think that helps. I just like stuff that’s a little bit weird, a little bit different. I always try to make things that are dynamic. I like the idea of things having softness and loudness; grit and gentleness. I like when there is a lot of movement within song.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there anyone right now whose weirdness is particularly appealing to your own process?
[SPILL TAB:] Actually, yeah. There’s a song I love right now called ‘Break It Off’ by PinkPantheress. The drums are really fucking fast on it and the vocals are weird; her choices are so weird and I love it. It just sounds gritty and cool and I’m just obsessed right now.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any collaborators that you like to work with, besides David? Like producers, friends, mentors, or even anyone you’d love to work with in the future?
[SPILL TAB:] So far it’s just David and some of my homies who produce helping me figure things out. In terms of dream collaborators, I’m a huge Still Woozy fan and I think everything he makes is phenomenal, and I love Bon Iver and Moses Sumney. I think I’m at a place right now where I’d be way too intimidated to work with any of those people so I feel like I need time to feel ready to work with people who are that talented. But those are definitely some of my inspirations.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So from what you’ve shared it seems like your current music setup is pretty small. Do you think that’s how you work best? There seems to be a huge trend in music right now with skipping the big studio thing and recording at home or keeping your circle small. Do you think that smallness helps your creative process?
[SPILL TAB:] I think it just means there’s no pressure. I’ve been asked to book out studio time a lot before, but honestly, I don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars to be somewhere way too nice and then cut vocals and feel that pressure of time. I hate feeling like I could be doing something better with my time if I hadn’t made this commitment and spent that much money. When I do things at home I do them whenever I want. At the studio I always find myself thinking logistically like ‘are these vocals going to be worth the money it took to record them’ and that’s just not good for creativity.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have a favorite thing you’ve released, whether you’ve already put it out or it hasn’t yet been released?
SPILL TAB:] I don’t really know. I feel like once I put something out I just let it leave my brain forever. Sometimes I remember little hooks or something that I think I want to expand on later. But I’m also such a perfectionist that when we’re releasing stuff, I’ll listen to it constantly and on repeat, so once it’s finally out I don’t ever wanna hear it again. I think it’s an ever-rotating door of finding things I like right now and then they eventually pass me by once I’ve used them.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So 2020 was your breakout year. What was it like for you essentially seeing your rise musically and also in terms of popularity in such a surreal year where everyone was stuck inside and you weren’t able to promote your music as you normally would’ve?
[SPILL TAB:] It’s been super weird. It’s this confusing scenario where the pandemic actually gave me an excuse to do music full time because I was just at home, so that was really nice. But it’s been weird. Originally, I was supposed to tour manage and work on the business side of music throughout 2020 and now spill tab is my full-time job. So the turnaround has happened entirely over this pandemic.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you feel like you’d ever go back to tour managing? What are the contrasts between that and now being on the creative side of this industry?
[SPILL TAB:] I think now it’s just more all-encompassing. Because now, like when I do music videos, for example, I’m still running the numbers, I’m still doing logistics. I feel like there are a lot of the logistical things that you get with tour managing, but now I’m also doing the creative stuff. I do think I’d enjoy tour managing a homie for like a short tour, but the only thing is that when you’re tour managing you don’t have time to do anything else, so that would be the only drawback in that regard.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So I read that you tour managed Gus Dapperton? Is that true?
[SPILL TAB:] No! I did the merch for Gus Dapperton. Someone printed that wrong and now it’s become a thing, but I feel so bad because his tour manager is incredible. He’s an insane human being who’s so good at what he does. But I did the merch for that tour and it was just like two months of hanging out with great people, eating really good food, and going on adventures. It was so fun. I loved it.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You have both French and Korean heritage and released a song entirely in French, ‘Calvaire,’ in 2020. How have you found it merging different styles, cultures, and languages, like being French and choosing to record in French when you typically only create English music? Do you think you’d do it again?
[SPILL TAB:] Absolutely. It’s super fun. It’s a comfort thing. David doesn’t speak French, but I feel comfortable around David and I think singing in French can just so easily be a bit pretentious. I definitely want to do more of it in the future. Singing in French is a cool switch-up. I think in French it’s a bit easier to be, not sassy exactly, but French people are definitely more straightforward and they love to be upset or annoyed with shit, so I think it’s sexier to complain in French.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any advice for someone who is maybe finishing high school or college and knows that they want to do music but hasn’t yet figured out how to make that happen for themselves yet? Advice for anyone just starting out?
[SPILL TAB:] I think for me, the thing I realized is that it takes a fucking village. I mean not for everyone; I know some people do everything completely DIY and they just make it all themselves because they’re just that good, but for me, I love people and I lean on people. I think my main advice would be just to be kind to everybody you’re around, even though it’s corny, and especially in the music scene where everything comes back around. People talk and it’s a really small community, at least in LA, so just being good to everybody and being kind will get you pretty far.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What is the hardest decision you’ve made thus far in your career? Was there a moment where you weren’t sure you could do music or felt particularly tested?
[SPILL TAB:] For sure. I think it comes in waves. I went from doing music as a fun thing that a few of my friends listened to and then turning it into a business. Now I have a manager, a label, a lawyer. It’s a business. Learning to manage a business was a whole new skill set I had to learn to do music correctly. You hear way too many stories about people getting completely fucked over from contracts and that’s the last thing I plan on happening. Reading all the contracts and understanding everything is really important to me. That’s another piece of advice I’d give. Don’t let anyone tell you what something is. Read it. Find out for yourself and get everyone’s advice, not just a few key people.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So when did you sign to your current label Arista? Had you released anything at that point?
[SPILL TAB:] Yeah, so I signed in January. I released ‘Oatmilk’ independently, but ‘PISTOLWHIP’ was released under Arista.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Shifting briefly for a moment to your signing with a major label, what has that transition been like, especially as it relates to reading contracts and being savvier with the admin side of the industry like we were just discussing? Also, this is a bit rambly, but I think a criticism that gets leveled at lots of artists who have a DIY sensibility but choose to be represented by larger labels, whether this criticism is fair or not, is that there’s a feeling of ‘selling out’, or at the very least a loss of creative autonomy. What’s your position on all of that? Do you feel like signing to Arista has been inherently beneficial to you and do you ever feel a distinct tension between the projects you want to make creatively and your obligations under the label?
[SPILL TAB:] Not much has changed, honestly. Before I had a manager and all of this stuff I was doing everything myself, down to the music videos, and so I don’t need someone to come in and introduce me to people and tell me how to do things because I have a good idea of what I want already. My label was very clear that they weren’t gonna change anything. ‘Oatmilk’ had come out already, independently, and done very well so I think it was good to know that they were like ‘we’re not here to change what you’re doing. It’s already working.’ They were pretty adamant that they are just here to support my music, distribute it, and act as a sounding board. I also love my A&R. I’m super happy so far, so I have no complaints. But I also do know people who’ve had really bad experiences and it’s a different experience for everyone across the board.
[UNPUBLISHED:] So what’s next for you? I know ‘Anybody Else’ is out, and you’re touring with Gus Dapperton in the fall, but do you have anything else coming?
[SPILL TAB:] I wish I could say I have anything! I honestly don’t know, because since the beginning I was always operating through a single release process. I get bored easily too, so the idea of creating a body of work that’s supposed to exist together, like an album, doesn’t appeal to me right now. I’d rather just make a two-minute song that sounds a certain way and not think about what the next thing will be because then it can be different. Even with ‘Oatmilk,’ it was like ‘oh we have four songs out, let’s put them together.’
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any favorite songs, albums, artists, or podcasts you’ve been enjoying at the moment that you’d recommend?
[SPILL TAB:] So I’ve been listening to Alice Phoebe Lou
[UNPUBLISHED:] I saw her! I saw her at a festival in 2019.
[SPILL TAB:] Cool! Yeah, I love her and love what’s happening there. I just got into girl in red, which is funny because I know she was already huge, but she’s so sick and so talented. There’s also a band called L'Impératrice from France and they make the best music ever. I’m a huge fan of Grace Ives and think she makes sick music. Yeah, across my Spotify I don’t usually save albums, I mostly just save songs from different artists so it’s quite all over the place.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any Desert Island albums? Like top three albums if you couldn’t listen to anything else for the rest of your life?
[SPILL TAB:] I love ‘Aromanticism’ by Moses Sumney because it’s a beautiful album but it also came out when I was living in Prague, so it reminds me of a really special time in my life. Also ‘22, a million’ by Bon Iver, and ‘Let it Die’ by Feist. The song ‘Lonely Lonely’ off of ‘Let it Die’ is so beautiful.
[UNPUBLISHED: Finally, if people wanna check you and your music out, where can they find out more?
[SPILL TAB:] I’m on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, although I’m probably the most active on Instagram (@spill.tab)
via Kelli Tomashoff, Arista Records
Buy tickets to spill tab’s upcoming 2021 tour opening for Gus Dapperton (from October 17th-November 6th only) here.
Listen to spill tab’s newest single ‘Anybody Else’ and spill tab’s 2020 EP ‘Oatmilk’ on Spotify here.
Check out spill tab’s music video for ‘Anybody Else’ here.
Watch spill tab’s video for ‘PISTOLWHIP’ here and her live performance of ‘PISTOLWHIP’ on Vevo DSCVR here.
And make sure to keep up with spill tab on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.