Landon Conrath on Figuring Himself Out Through His New Album, Nothing Matters Anyway
Photo by Stephanie Nardi
[UNPUBLISHED:] I am so excited to get to chat with you today! For any readers who may be new to your music, can you give a quick introduction of yourself and tell us how you got started in your music career?
[LANDON CONRATH:] Yeah! My name is Landon and I'm a solo artist from Minneapolis, MN. I grew up playing all sorts of instruments but mainly focused on the drums. I always dreamed of being a touring drummer when I was a kid, and I didn't start singing until high school. I wrote my first song in the summer of 2019 and randomly decided to put it on Spotify after a friend and I produced it. I never pictured myself having a career as a songwriter, but I just kept putting out music and ended up here! It has been an incredibly stressful and crazy 3 years since that first song but I wouldn't trade it.
[UNPUBLISHED:] I also want to give you a major congratulations on your newest release “Science Fiction!” How are you feeling now that the song is officially out?
[LANDON:] Thanks so much! It feels great to have that song out into the world. We had been playing it as the last song of my live set for a few months before the song was released and it was always one of my favorite moments of the show. The crowds always reacted so well to the massive instrumental guitar breaks in the song and it just had this insane raw energy when we played it. "Science Fiction" feels like one of the truest views of myself as a songwriter/producer that I have released to date. All the production feels like the direction that I want to move more and more towards, really just leaning into the massive guitars and big programmed drums.
[UNPUBLISHED:] “Science Fiction” discusses your intimate experiences with depression and other people’s perception of that, layered over an expressive guitar line in true Alt-Pop fashion. What was the process like for you creating this song?
[LANDON:] The song came really, really fast. I produced the bulk of it in under 2 hours and had mumbled a bunch of random words over it with the melodies all finalized. I took it over to my friend Alex Kimball's house and we wrote all of the lyrics together. He added a few guitar layers and the song was essentially done. I had been going through this period of my life where I would drag myself to the studio every day and sit in my dark, windowless room and just labor over random songs without ever really feeling inspired. "Science Fiction" was the first glimmer of hope I had seen in a long time. I finally felt like I had struck something that felt genuine, and something that I was excited about. I tried to dump every feeling I was experiencing into the lyrics. Basically just trying to communicate the fact that I didn't feel like myself. I felt like I didn't have any governance over my feelings, I felt entirely captive to the chemicals in my brain.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Do you have any personal favorite lyrics from “Science Fiction?”
[LANDON:] I think a lot of people have commented on the lyrics "My chemistry owns me" and those have become some that stick out to me. They illustrate a common ground that a ton of people share. Just this feeling of complete helplessness over their current emotional state. It's so frustrating to be able to recognize that you're feeling down, but not being able to do much about it. Some other lyrics that I love and wish people would talk about more are "Paramore, I'm miserable and outta business." I thought I had something with those lyrics but haven't heard much.
[UNPUBLISHED:] You’ve dropped a variety of other songs this year such as “Trader Joe’s” and “Casanova,” all leading up to your upcoming album Nothing Matters Anyway. What can listeners expect from this album sonically and storywise?
[LANDON:] I’ve never considered myself to be a "visionary" artist. I don't have grand story arcs for albums and songs like Kendrick or artists like that. This album has happened over such a long period and has covered some of the biggest changes that I have gone through in my lifetime. It's hard to feel like it has any sense of cohesion. But I think when I step back and look at the album I can put the pieces of a storyline together. It seems like a lot of the songs begin to have this conversation about apathy, and how it seems to be the easiest solution to your problems. I felt like there were so many issues in my life that I wanted to address but just never had the motivation or the time. It seemed like it was easier to just say "nothing matters anyway" and move on. I don't want this to be the message that people glean from this record. I just want people to know that I'm struggling too, and I don’t have a lot figured out in my life. I think people like to look at Instagram, Spotify, etc., and just think that artists have their lives together. I can confidently tell you, that's not the case, haha.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What was the process like creating Nothing Matters Anyway?
[LANDON:] It happened over the course of almost 2 years and what felt like a few completely different lifetimes. I started the record as a college kid with no real plans for a future in music and I finished it, signed to a label, and fought tooth and nail trying to be a successful artist. It was made across different states, with different people, and with no real rhyme or reason. I was finishing songs as they were coming out and spent a year and a half barely making deadlines. I'm hoping to have more of a thought-out process for my next project, and maybe be able to even finish the album before the first single comes out.
[UNPUBLISHED:] If you can share, will there be any show announcements on the way so fans can check out Nothing Matters Anyway live?
[LANDON:] The only for-sure show I have on the books right now is in Minneapolis on September 23rd at the Fine Line. There are lots of things in the works for the Fall and Spring and I'm crossing my fingers to get on the road so that more people can hear the music!
[UNPUBLISHED:] When you’re not making music, what else do you like to do in your free time?
[LANDON:] Nearly all of my friends are also my music friends which consequently makes them my "work friends" as well. Our crew of friends finds it challenging to step away from music, and it can be difficult to take any sort of rest. I enjoy mountain biking, disc golfing, and any sort of outdoor activity. In the winter I love skiing out west in Montana and Colorado. Also, my roommates and I just recently got back onto Fortnite after an almost 8-month sabbatical, and it feels GOOD to be back.
[UNPUBLISHED:] What do you have on repeat lately?
[LANDON:] I've been obsessed with an artist named Indigo De Souza. I have listened to her albums more than anyone else this summer and they've been a huge inspiration to me. Other artists that I've been digging are Dora Jar, Slow Pulp, and Tokyo Police Club to name a few.
[UNPUBLISHED:] As you’ve grown and changed throughout your music career, is there any advice you wish you had been given when you were first starting?
[LANDON:] Oh gosh, I could write a book to my younger self about dealing with management, record deals, and the whole business side of music, but that's not very interesting. I think I would just try and remind myself as much as possible that the key to surviving in the music industry is enjoying the process of things. You can't survive if you only enjoy the success or the parts where things are going right. You're 100% going to have parts of your career where you feel like you're moving backward, and it's gonna be rough. The only thing I've found that helps me through those moments is to remind myself that music is still what I love doing the most. If I worked a 9-5 job, music is still what I would choose to do in my free time. So I am always just trying to remember that.
[UNPUBLISHED:] Is there anything else you want our readers to know?
[LANDON:] I want the readers/listeners to know that I genuinely care about them and am extremely grateful that anyone would take three minutes out of their lives to listen to one of my songs. There is so much incredible music in the world and it blows my mind that anyone would care enough to listen to mine. I hope everyone knows that when they sing back the songs at a live show, or even send me a DM about how the music has affected their lives, it makes my whole day better. I just want everyone to know how appreciative I am, and that I truly don't know how I got here. I'm just thankful. Also, my secret fact is that when I was growing up I was the "hunting and fishing kid." People would never suspect it but I used to spend all of my money on ice fishing gear.
