The Cedar sat down with Portland-based singer-songwriter Chris Pureka. Learn about Chris’ recent release exploring pandemic life titled The Longest Year, and her thoughts on legacy and maintaining one’s identity with integrity.
Catch Chris Pureka at The Cedar on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 on a co-bill with Nat Harvie.
The Cedar: Where are we reaching you today?
Chris Pureka: I’m home in Portland [Oregon] today.
The Cedar: You're not originally from Portland, though. Where are you from?
Chris: I grew up in Connecticut and went to college there. Then I moved to Northampton, Massachusetts. I lived there through my 20s and that's where I got my start with music, and then I was in Brooklyn [New York] for about a year in 2013.
The Cedar: What drew you to Portland that made you want to move across the country?
Chris: I always had really been drawn to Portland. It was a smaller city. I don't like really big urban areas, and there's a lot of access to the natural world from Portland. It's like a really green city, and the music scene out here has always been pretty great. There's been a lot of like, a lot of singer-songwriter support, a lot of kind of indie folk bands kind of getting their start here, especially around that time, I think I've been kind of a nomad for a couple of years even though I lived like I didn’t really have a place for a year. So when I moved to Portland, I was really eager to put down roots. I bought a house, and I was in it to win it. I already had some friends and community out in this area.
The Cedar: You’ve been really prolific in your work over the years. How do you feel it’s evolved in your songwriting? Specifically, what is happening in the world being mirrored in your work?
Chris: My most recent EP, The Longest Year, contains pandemic themes. The title track is about being in this kind of darker time that we're going through. I think throughout my work, throughout my own albums, there has always been sort of, a little bit of a dark thread, but always like a hopeful element. That's definitely present in this newer work and even more so I would say, mostly because I think people needed it.
The Cedar: What was your intention when you first started writing for this record? Was it to just get stuff out or was it intentional to put it on an album?
Chris: I definitely did not set out to write a song about the pandemic or anything like that. It was really whatever was in my subconscious. It's just what came out. The title track is definitely more focused in that way. Once I realized that I was sort of writing a song from that perspective, I leaned into that. I developed that song in that direction. I started writing, and I wasn't sure what it was about, and then I wrote a chorus, then the bridge brings it all together. In terms of the tone of the song, it's a super hopeful song.
This album is very interesting. It's the first album I've ever released where all the songs are in a major key. So it's like it has a different tone to it entirely. It has this kind of more cheerful quality, which is really interesting that that's what came out during the pandemic.
The song “Airplane Man'' is a song that I wrote for a fan who passed away. Their family reached out to see if I could make something for them. The song includes the sentiment that he had always wanted to be famous in some way. I interviewed his whole family and wrote from his perspective. I learned a lot about him in the process of writing. He has this chip on his shoulder, and he wanted to be famous and never really achieved that in the way that he wanted during his lifetime. So I put a spin on it, and it’s funny now he has a song about him. In this little way, he has this little moment of fame.
The Cedar: I apologize. I thought that was autobiographical in how you wrote it. Do you think it's tragic that he actually never heard it?
Chris: Actually it's, it's one of the songs that if I listened to it, I can get really teary. It definitely makes me a little bit sad. It is a little bittersweet, but it's a really thoughtful way to honor him. He was an older man when he died, so he had a full life. Children, partners, a lot of family. You know, there was all of the stuff that, you know, happens throughout a lifetime of relationships, and it's complicated. But his family really loved him and I think it was a really sweet thing that they did. They got to play the song at his memorial.
The Cedar: Did you see yourself in that song? More so in where you see your career and where you would be, regarding how far-reaching your music is? I mean, you've been doing it for over two decades. You could be opening for Neil Young, since you covered him on this album. Did you see yourself doing that? I see a lot of parallels with you and Brandi Carlile in your songwriting.
Chris: It’s really different choices. I started out through a pretty DIY, queer, alternative, almost radical feminist background. That whole community – and also just coming out of the 90s and being a fan of like Ani [DiFranco] – I came into my career feeling really like I wanted to be independent. I wanted to make all my own decisions. I didn't want to sign with a label and do all these things. So I made those decisions pretty early on. It really influenced my career a lot and in different ways. It really just depends on your value system and like what you're going for. I've had friends that their goal is to be famous and make a lot of money and that was never my goal. I always wanted to be respected and have a solid career. I've been releasing records on my own individual record label, Sad Rabbit Records.
Chris: Somebody like Brandi Carlile took a really different path. She's been signed with labels, and I don't have anything negative to say about her choices, but she also wasn't out for most of her career. She came out like pretty recently, and she's not genderqueer. She presents very heteronormative and that honestly makes a really big difference when it comes to [the] music industry. You have to make those choices, and I know a lot of people that have made those kinds of choices because they want the career they want.
It’s about marketability. We live in a capitalist world. It's about making money, and that's the end goal with record labels. There are some really great ones and I think there's some that have done really well for artists and really care about the art, but I would say most record labels don't care about the art. I care about whether or not that art is gonna make money, so it's just a different formula. For me, I always just wanted to be able to write the songs that I wanted to write and wear the clothes that I want to wear. I want to have the album art that I want to have. I've been fiercely independent since the beginning, and I think I could have probably seen more mainstream success if I had compromised those things. It's tough, and also maybe not. You just don't know. But I also feel like I have had some really amazing successes in my career and I don't have any regrets about it.
You want to fill a room and you want people to connect with people. That's what keeps me doing what I do — is that level of connection that I find with my fans, and when people don't really feel like the music moves them anymore, I would probably stop the music.