Ready for the Breakout: A Chat with Tristan Clopet and His Brain

After Hours favorite and Miami singer-songwriter Tristan Clopet has found his voice - and his groove - with his new single, "A Chat With My Brain."  With that, Clopet will be finding a much larger audience in 2011.  


Clopet's previous recordings are a pleasant and intoxicating mix of blue-eyed soul and rock/funk thumpers.  On this new single, and the new album coming out next month, Clopet has found his indie rock groove and it's terrific.  With the song and the album, the Toronto-born singer worked with indie producer Raymond Richards, who gained well-deserved praise for last year's superb Local Natives debut.  

The song, driven by piano and drums, creates enough room for Clopet's vocals to soar.  The chorus features a great, addictive hook. It is one of the best indie pop songs you'll hear this year. I have been humming it for the past week.  

With the release of the new single, available for download on iTunes, Clopet took some time to chat about his music, the recording process and creativity's breeding ground.  

After Hours: The new song, "A Chat With My Brain" is more of a straight-ahead Indie rock sound than your past recordings.  Was that a conscious decision to go in that direction or more of an organic process?

Tristan Clopet: It was a conscious decision to try to be more organic in my songwriting. To really extract from a natural place. I felt like I've really come into my own on this record. Feels really good.

AF: How did you hook up with Raymond Richards and how has that been?

TC: We were fortunate to have a few options for this album. One day I was thinking about our immediate future and had Local Natives on in the background. It suddenly occurred to me that the sound of the new songs were very similar to the feel of Gorilla Manor. So I got on the internet and looked up who did it, emailed him and he really loved the demos. We talked on the phone, hit it off and the rest is history.

AF: After two EPs, this is your first album coming out in May.  How has the recording process changed for you?

TC: You know, not a lot. Obviously, its a different animal playing with the red light on and one gets better at it over time but the process itself is pretty much the same. I value the opinons of everyone in the room and I encourage a really healthy, lighthearted mood. Creativity really needs a healthy breeding ground. Great performances tend to come in between belly laughs.

AF:What was the best show you saw during the past year?
TC: Beach House at the Fillmore was great.  As was Foster the People at SXSW.  The latter is a new band that should be making some noise this coming year. 


Clopet will be touring this summer in support of the album.  Keep tuned for upcoming dates.