Hi, everyone! I recently got to talk with Colin Croom, keyboardist and producer for the Chicago-based indie rock group Twin Peaks. The band consists of him, Cadien Lake James (vocals, guitar), Clay Frankel (vocals, guitar), Jack Dolan (vocals, bass) , and Connor Brodner (drums). While the band formed in 2010, Croom did not become a member until 2014. His first contribution to the band was helping them produce their beloved record, Wild Onion. Over the years, the band has opened for groups like Cage the Elephant, Wavves and Portugal. The Man, as well as performing at big name festivals like Bonnaroo, Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. However, their biggest gig came when they performed in front of the entire city of Chicago at the Cubs' World Series parade in 2016. They received a formal invitation from Cubs owner and Twin Peaks fan Theo Epstein, and were in the presence of city legends like Eddie Vedder and Bill Murray. I'm incredibly fortunate to have spoken with Colin, as I am a huge fan of their music myself!
bazzreviews: Which artists or albums made you want to pursue a music career in the first place?
Colin Croom: I don’t necessarily come from the most musical family, but music was always playing in my house. My dad has always been a big music fan, especially of the Beatles and the Stones. I grew up on that, for sure. I remember when I was like four or five and seeing Jimi Hendrix: Live at Berkeley was on TV. I told my dad that’s what I wanted to do. I also liked a lot of blues and soul music as well, that rounded out my musical palette.
br: I know that the three original members of the band, Cadien, Jack and Connor all met in high school. How did you end up meeting them and joining the band?
C.C.: I joined the band in 2014. When I was in college, I played in a couple other bands around Chicago. We played a few shows with Twin Peaks on a number of occasions. Cadien and the other guys asked me to help produce Wild Onion, so I produced that with my buddy, Andrew [Humphrey]. I had never really played keys or piano before excessively beforehand, but they asked me to join because I had been playing a lot of different parts.
br: In the past, you guys have done tours with Wavves and Cage the Elephant, how have those experiences helped your career?
C.C.: It definitely expands your reach. You’re playing for much larger audiences. At some points, it’s frightening, but some people are there to just hear the songs they know. However, there could be some people at the show to just discover some new music. The energy might not be as ever-present in those types of crowds, but it helps to do stuff like that sometimes. We appreciate those bands for allowing us to tour with them.
br: I also saw that you guys got to perform at the trophy party for the Cubs when they won the World Series a few years back. I don’t know if any of you guys are big sports fans, but what was that experience like?
C.C.: I’ve always liked baseball, Jack and Connor are huge Cubs fans. That experience was pretty wild. Theo Epstein (Cubs owner) became a fan of our music and asked us if we wanted to play at the parade. It was not something we had done before. Bill Murray was there, doing Bill Murray stuff, a lot of old Cubs players coming back. I’ll always remember as we were getting ready to play, this short guy came up to us and asked if we knew any Tom Petty songs because he wanted to come up and sing with us. Turns out, that guy was Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam. We had never rehearsed any Petty songs, but I knew some. The band didn’t know any, so I was like, s--t, we should have prepared some. It was still an amazing time, though.
br: Can you describe the process for how you and the band make a song?
C.C.: It differs from song to song. For a while, we would bring a demo to the table that wouldn’t be completely fleshed out. It might have a drum groove or some guitar parts, usually things that had been written as ideas before we all came together. As of late, it’s been a pretty collaborative force with everyone adds something to an idea. We’ll typically expand or jam on someone’s idea. There’s something really gratifying about that, having everyone’s fingerprints getting on a song.
br: What’s more important to you- lyricism, or production value and instrumentation?
C.C.: That’s tricky. When I first started playing, I was taught that music comes first, not the lyrics. It still is that way for me, lyrics flow afterwards. Now that I’ve grown older, I pay more attention to lyrics and care more about them. It’s still beneficial to try and press yourself to make something new and unique, but I try not to hyperanalyze myself like I did when I was younger. I don’t want to worry too much about saying things in a certain way. In a lot of ways, music and art is a balance of technicality and emotion. You don’t want to get too technical, but you don’t want to get too emotional either. That’s what happens when I write vigorously. I ask myself, “Am I trying too hard?”, or do I think that it’s not enough? John Cleese once said in a lecture on creativity, “The tricky part about creativity is that there’s two modes of thinking: open mode and closed mode.” You can’t be creative in closed mode, because it’s an obligatory and logistical way of thinking. You have to think about who you’re going to call, what you have to do that day, and how you’re going to get there. The open mode is more playful and creative; you can take an idea and f--k around with it and know that everything might not stick. You think in the open mode, but get reflective and gain a wider perspective of this idea in the closed mode.
br: In your lyrics, I’ve seen themes of both love and loneliness- would you say that the music you guys make is a reflection of your own lives?
C.C.: I think for the most part, everyone’s music is a reflection of their own lives. Even if it’s not about their lives, it can be something they related to or were inspired by. I’d say our lyrics are pretty personable. As we grow, our lyrics resonate a little more within ourselves.
br: Do you guys have any upcoming projects that you’re working on right now?
C.C.: Yeah, we have something in the works. I can’t really say too much about it, though. All I can say is that there will be new music coming soon. We just wrapped a tour with another band recently, but we haven’t been out on the road in a while. We’ve been writing and demoing, and we were out in Wales for three weeks to record some stuff.
br: What music goals would you say that you have for the future?
C.C.: I hope that I can keep making great music with great people. and keep playing the number of shows we do. More importantly, I want to try and continue pushing forward as an artist, and grow as a creator.
Thanks so much again to Colin for giving me his time for an interview. I figured I would reach out to them, and I never expected to get a response back from one of the most respected indie bands in the scene. To those who haven't given them a listen, I strongly suggest you do so. Thanks again to all of the readers of this article, more great bazzreviews content is coming your way soon!
To check out some of Twin Peaks' go to https://music.twinpeaksdudes.com/
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