Introducing: Convinced Friend – Convinced Friend & 3 Questions

I have to admit, the idea of having 3 stable questions was great. All the features are awesome and you should check them out.

I love going to our submission inbox and discovering music I can then share on our blog. I like this simple method of getting to new music and it is more personal. Austin Wilson aka Convinced Friend released his newest album on another amazing label Relief Map Records. He mentioned also other sites (which I recommend checking out) that wrote about the album:

“The singles have premiered on Post-TrashThe Alternative, and Various Small Flames, where they described it as “an intimate and attentive sound in the lineage of Jason Molina and David Bazan, push[ing] beyond the melancholic surface so common to indie rock, looking instead to explore the deep possibilities beneath.” 

I like when bands are trying even a little to reach blogs and make the process of discovery much easier for me (us). Especially in case, when I am enjoying the music as much as this indie rock/slowcore album.

Melodic, sometimes dreamy, or melancholic indie rock is the exact thing I can enjoy at this stage of my life. I am not sure why it is like that, but I do not question my taste. Somehow softer guitar sounds are connecting with me on a deeper level than something that is more overwhelming. However, the stronger, rocky guitars in this album are getting me as well. The combination of both these guitar sounds with more experimental parts in songs creates a perfect balance. I like how the atmosphere changes within the songs and within the album. Something you can rediscover after every listen of the album. Listening to this album was a musical pleasure.

If you want to read more about the album’s story, head to the Bandcamp page, and, of course, do not forget to get a cassette.

I have asked Austin our 3 standard questions:

What inspired you to start making music and what keeps you making music?

I’ve been writing and working on music since I was a teenager. Growing up in a small town at the birth of the internet, it was the main source for forming an identity: friends, values, politics, etc. I had always felt a pull to write in some form or fashion, and songwriting became the main medium for that practice. Starting there, it has gradually become one of the only things I’ve ever cared about getting really good at, and pursuing a craft as far as it can go seems like a pretty good way to spend a life.

In terms of what keeps me doing it, it’s a huge part of my own self-conception (for good and for ill). There were a few years in my early 20s where I went to grad school and tried to make academic pursuits a more respectable placeholder for those desires, but wound up feeling adrift. Songwriting keeps me attentive to how I show up in the world, and helps me to avoid sleepwalking through life.

What was the most challenging thing in your music (artistic) path?

Like I mentioned above, there were periods in my life where I had some failure of nerve about taking my musical desires seriously, so a challenging part of overcoming that has been a sense of lost time in thinking of ways I could have used those previous periods more productively, less hemmed in by self-doubt.

Another challenge is just the existential overwhelm and frenetic pace of digital life – how you have to shout into a void to grab people’s frayed attention amidst a million other things to listen to something you’ve spent years of your life crafting.

What would you dream to do if anything was possible?

Own a home. But let’s keep it musical – I’m extremely limited in terms of gear and technical proficiency when it comes to recording, but I’m really inspired by records from late 70’s or early 80’s where you can tell how much time and gear songwriters had to tinker with in the textures of their songs (John Martyn’s One World comes to mind, especially the title track). Having the time and wherewithal to write in that setting sounds lovely. Or to combine the dreams, owning a home with a little backyard studio and a few Echoplexes.

Go and support the artist and the label.