Cause & Effect: Little Chords / HAPPY TRENDY

It seems like ages ago when I tried to put together a compilation with a unique idea.  The first band/artist’s track would inspire the next and so on and so forth.  It started over a year ago with Jameson aka Teen Daze (aka Little Chords).  He created a song entitled “For You,” somehow combining the essence of HAPPY TRENDY and the essence of Teen Daze into one lush and powerful track.  I was floored.  It was then on for Dylan Khotin-Foote to counter with his own reaction as HAPPY TRENDY, but then real life happened.  You know; school…moving…relationships…touring…etc.  So the compilation faded.

When PORTALS came into being I thought it would be a good venue to resurrect the idea only in a briefer fashion – a two song split single.  Jameson was still interested and Dylan was inspired to take it to the next level.  So here it is – the Cause & Effect single:

Little Chords — “For You“

About the track:

“Little Chords is a project I started last winter, when I moved back into my parents place to do some recording/not pay for rent while I’m on tour.  I found myself set up in the guest room of the house, because of the space and the view from the window.  I started writing what would eventually become “A Silent Planet” and “The Ocean”, records for my Teen Daze and Two Bicycles projects.  In between writing and recording songs for those albums, which are both very conceptual, cohesive records, I began experimenting with some weird, more lo-fi pop sounds.  I wrote an EP, with one cover, and put it up as a free download on Bandcamp, to a surprisingly good reception!  Where Teen Daze allows me to work out ideas in electronics, and Two Bicycles focuses more on acoustic/ambient/folk sounds, I found Little Chords to be a great way to create songs with a more structured, guitar based feel.  This November, I came home from my last trip of the year, and began writing a new Little Chords record.  Inspired by some of my favourite “guitar bands” of last few years (Yuck/Real Estate/the whole Captured Tracks roster), “Afterlife” is one of the most accesible records I’ve ever made.  At least in my own head it is.  ”For You” is a song I wrote a few months ago that seemed to fit perfectly in the mix of these other tracks.  Commissioned by Laurent from Pasta Primavera for a mixtape he was curating, I was asked to write a song inspired by another artist on the mixtape.  Dylan, aka Happy Trendy, is a fellow countryman of mine, and I’ve always loved the way he can create a powerful moment, through “simple means” (usually a Casio SK1 and his voice).  So this was my attempt to create a more stripped back, simpler sounding track.”

HAPPY TRENDY — “Sweaty Palms and Allergic to Cats“

About the track:

“I was really excited to hear that Jameson had chosen to write his mixtape song influenced by HT. I’m definitely well acquainted with his work as Teen Daze, and I was really eager to see what would come of his HT inspired Little Chords jam. As Little Chords is a more personal and stripped down project of his, I decided to write a track that didn’t fall too far from my regular work as HAPPY TRENDY. A Casio SK-1, a mainstay for me, can be heard prominently throughout the track (organ sounds). I wanted to include some guitar as well in the song, as Little Chords is quite guitar based. I’m sure Jameson can appreciate my heavy shred. I’m not a good guitar player.”

Cover art by the infamous Jheri Evans