EPR Chronicles: Chloe Saavedra

It's Saturday, 1:30PM and 95°F amidst LA's blistering heatwave, and Chloe Saavedra is setting up for her solo-debut performance at this year's Echo Park Rising festival. Anticipantly waiting at the front of the crowd at Dada Echo Park's stage, I'm nursing a margarita and pressing it against my cheek, taking advantage of the ice cubes before they melt. But it's all the name of the game - I've been listening to Chloe's discography for weeks since I saw her name appear on Dada's programming for this year's EPR, and I am filled with curiosity. It's always interesting to see an artist you enjoy perform for the first time, and Chloe Saavedra surpassed expectations. After her set, we chatted about her experience at this year's EPR, overcoming little sister syndrome, and her forthcoming solo project.

Text and interview by Alec Manning

Photography by Priscilla Mars

Chloe Saavedra

(Drummer/Producer/Songwriter)

From: Seattle, Washington

Pookie: Your set was amazing, congratulations. How did you feel on stage?

Chloe Saavedra: "Hot. I felt insanely hot. But surprisingly, it felt almost emotional playing the new material for the first time. Something about the heat, combined with all of this new stuff all at once, I just felt pretty emotional. I actually almost started crying for the song 'Borderline'. It was weird that it was affecting me like this, but it was fun."

This being your first solo performance, which of your songs was your favorite to perform?

“I would say the song called “Haunt Me”. Yeah, I mean it’s not out yet. But that one. It’s always such a good test to play new material in front of a crowd because you really can feel in real time what works and what doesn’t. That song felt like it was resonating. It was a good litmus test.”

What finally called you to start your own solo project?

“I’ve always wanted to pursue a solo project. I think I’ve had little sister syndrome my whole life, always thinking that I need to be a supporting role or supporting character to someone else. I’ve always seeked out drumming for a bunch of different artists and for these very strong female characters. I think after doing that enough, I just finally kind of realized that it’s time for me to be the main character in my life. And I’ve of course been very inspired by a lot of the musicians I’ve played for, but it’s also humanized things and made me realize that ‘oh I can do this too’, you know? So it’s finally me taking the front seat in my own life.”

“Something that made me excited to do a solo project as well; I realized in drumming for other people that there’s a lot of big egos with like, front people and bands and artists and stuff, way more than people realize on the outside. Like, fans don’t know the real reality of that. And there’s a lot of like, you know, trying to put other people in the shadows to be in the front. And I’m of the ethos that the more amazing energy that you have, especially with women, the better. Highlighting one person highlights you, too. So that’s something that I really like with this project. Doing collabs with other women, and having Alisa play keys today, and yeah. I wanna really highlight other players. That’s a big part of it for me too.”

Have you been to EPR before?

“Yeah! I used to live in Echo Park before, and just by nature of being here I’ve been to a couple of them.”

Are you sticking around for the rest of the festival? If so, who are you excited to see?

“I have a bunch of friends playing! I wish that I could stay until the evening, but I have to go to a different thing, so I might just roam a little bit and do a little bit of the like, white wine Echo Park Rising day drinking, sweaty thing - but yeah I would’ve loved to see my friend Sedona play.”

Your latest single Cash Girls is excellent. What was your intention when creating this track?

“I feel like that song, is very much me, but it’s also like a mood that you’re in. I made that song when I was home alone. I live with my boyfriend and we both tour, I think he was on tour and I was alone. I just got drunk and I was feeling like, going back to my roots of that like indie-2007 era, kind of punk energy I guess. Really just wanting to lean into that. And this for me, I think that identity, is the way I feel sometimes when I’m feeling rowdy. Like drinking and just wanting to be like 'Woo!'. It’s an androgynous energy, it's not feminine. It’s like my in-between genderless kind of energy. And that song was very stream of consciousness. Most of the lyrics were done in that evening that I was making it. I feel like the lyrics are up for interpretation in that sense. I think it was a little bit satyrical at first, with the lyrics of 'Dumb it down nothing lasts', it was me feeling just a little upset about the current environment and culture of like tiktok, and artists, and short attention spans, and people catering to that. And me just kind of wanting to make fun of that, rather than being earnest about it, I wanted to just be like 'Yeah go ahead, dumb it down because nothing lasts anyway'. And lean into an apathetic, facetiousness".

Any parting words for us?

"I’m gonna do an album release show early fall. Showcasing the whole album with a full band. This solo project, this performance, and the album that I have, its very me at my core, and journalistic.”