Interview: Chad Post never stays in one place

Chad Post crumbled onto the hardwood after an unexpected breakup. His heart was mangled and throbbing with unimaginable pain. He couldn’t move, gasping for air and lingering on what could have been. “I couldn’t believe what I (thought I) had was over. It just didn’t feel right, but I guess in the long run, it was exactly right,” he says. “In that moment though, I couldn’t see past my emotions and what I thought it was.

He began asking himself needle-point questions. “Is this really how it’s supposed to be?” he asked himself. But time, they say, heals all wounds. “You realize it’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all,” he tells B-Sides & Badlands. “Cliché, I know, but true. I wouldn’t trade those experiences or even the heartbreak for anything else. I have learned that it is always how it’s supposed to be. And to help me cope, I can just put it in a song and remember those times for what they were, whether good, bad, or probably, both.”

So, Post put pen to paper and wrote his new song “Safekeeping,” slathered in complex instrumentation that boosts the song’s emotional propulsion. Originally, he wrote the hook and melody several years ago. Later, he met up with Future Someone, bringing in the voice memo. In the demo session, Future Someone “started to lay down the drum pattern from what I had in mind, but we only met for about an hour that day,” explains Post. “Then the pandemic hit. I built a vocal booth and began recording my album ‘Kingdom and Exile’ and put that song and others on the back burner.”

“Once I found it again, I finished writing the lyrics, melody, and chords. I sent it to one of my producers, John Secolo, and told him I wanted an anthemic ’80s-inspired big drum track,” he continues. “He truly delivered. After receiving that track, I went into the studio with my incredible creative partner, Aria Jay, and she recorded my vocals, and she put on all of the sparkly finishing touches. What culminated is this track that I’m so proud of – especially because it really started close to five years ago.”

“I wrote you in a melody, and I keep it there for safekeeping,” crows Post, his voice reedy and tremendously roaring. Percussion bangs in the mix, tripping over the melody and peppered with star-struck other instrumentation and adornments. Post’s emotion is thorny like a thousand flowerless rose bushes have popped up where his heart should be. His voice clings to the windswept production, somehow piercing the heart with a dagger-like brutality.

“Safekeeping” anchors a forthcoming EP titled Static, which collects together a “group of songs from varying time periods that just fit so well together,” he says. “I had other singles planned to be on it, but this group of four songs feels like all the same mood and energy.”

As far as definitions go, “static” has many meanings. “Sometimes, it is the feeling of being stuck, sometimes it is a pause, sometimes it is confusing and infuriating. The string between these tracks feels so tight and complete.”

Chad Post’s Static EP drops on April 24.

Below, the singer-songwriter discusses his life, lessons from heartbreak, his greatest muses, and more.

In your life, has it been difficult to accept things as they are?

As a general personality flaw, I struggle with accepting things as they are pretty consistently. (Something I’m always working on!) I have a motto I live by, which is not to force anything – an ‘if they wanted to, they would’ philosophy. However, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t cause inner turmoil. Especially when it comes to romantic relationships, you can’t force an energy, or tell someone else how they are feeling. That submission of control is obviously very necessary. When you feel things are a certain way and that rug is ripped out from under you, it can be brutal.

What did you learn from your heartbreak?

This song was definitely part of a very long healing process. I was very closed off for a full couple of years after the heartbreak this song is about. I think my greatest lesson from it – which is written in the song – is that you can love someone from afar. You can ‘keep them in your songs, in your melodies’ and have them there for ‘Safe Keeping.’ You can refer to the love, the relationship, with fond and mixed memories, and also look at things you would have done differently. You can take something from every experience. A quote I have in my book of poetry, ‘Death by Poetry and The Lies About Me,’ is ‘Every time you give your heart the chance to break you give your soul the chance to fly.’ There really is no failure, just growth.

Did anything in particular help you heal, other than music?

What I have learned most about heartbreak is that you can’t avoid it. You can’t skip over it, you can’t pause it, or move around it. To work through your grief you have to fully feel it and sit with your emotions and misery. I think what allowed me to heal is close friends and family, my niece and nephew. When you’re feeling unloved, the greatest thing you can do is surround yourself with people who do make you feel loved. I also did a lot of oil painting and writing. But, I did build a vocal booth during the pandemic and just spent every night recording songs. So, music was definitely the biggest healer – though very painful at times.

How did you find that experience impacted your songwriting?

Getting your heart trampled on is the best way to have new material. (I’m joking, but also not)…I’m trying to get past the ‘tortured artist’ motivation, because I don’t think it is necessary, but I do think the more experiences you have in life (whether in love or not) the richer your writing and art will be. Sitting and feeling the emotions and not shying away from them will allow your heart to be as open as possible to write the truest authentic songs you can.

What led to the EP’s “departure” from your previous work? Was it a natural evolution or a more conscious creative decision to separate from that work?

People have called me a shape-shifter in my art a lot, because I don’t stay in a specific genre or subgenre. I love experimenting, and I just love music. I get influences from every genre of music. That being said, I do love pop music. I think this group of songs feels the most present I have ever been. I stopped trying to make things that they weren’t and didn’t force them into a certain pop category; I just made music that felt right to me. I made artistic decisions based on my heart and feelings rather than my head. I don’t feel like this project is ‘so different’ that people wouldn’t know it was me or feel it’s out of place, but it feels like a magnifying glass on a certain aspect of me and my music. I’d say ‘static’ area and subsequent and literal static sound. I zoomed in more on one specific feeling and sound and ran with that.

What challenges did that bring?

If I’m being honest, it didn’t feel like a challenge. I truly just followed the sounds I wanted to make at this time. And that growth of truly being present in the studio and writing sessions, versus trying to force something, made this project less about thinking. I experimented a lot on this EP. One song ‘C2MD (coded)’ is a really cool track. Something I might not have put out previously because it’s very experimental. Not saying I haven’t put out songs in that vein or without definitive structure, but I thought less about it this time. My executive producer, Aria Jay, learned a technique from working with Illangelo where he just puts four bars on loop and they just improvised writing for an hour or two. We tried that and recorded everything and literally reverse engineered the whole song. It was such a fun experience and now a practice we implement often.

Growing up in Connecticut, what were those records that have stuck with you most over the years?

I was heavily influenced by hip-hop, R&B, and pop music growing up. My siblings really immersed me in hip-hop. I’ve always had an affinity toward pop music, as well. Some of my favorite records are ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,’ Bob Marley’s ‘Legend,’ ‘The Score’ by Fugees. Then there is ‘The Bodyguard’ soundtrack, any Whitney or Mariah album, and any late, early 2000s mainstream hip-hop and pop music. Destiny’s Child, Murder Inc, Ice Cube, Fabolous, Remy Ma etc. What I loved about that time in music, is there was such variety. I was a kid during the pop explosion of the millennium and you had hip-hop, R&B, and then super pop like Britney, Backstreet Boys, and *Nsync. I loved it all, but especially the variety. In more recent years my favorite artist is Lana Del Rey. I, of course, am also always listening (like everyone else) to Beyoncé, Adele, Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj, Ed Sheeran.

As a poet, who are your greatest muses or creative inspirations?

Nature. I think and write in nature more fluidly and effortlessly than in New York. Your brain just sort of calms down and things just flow in nature. Other poets and artists inspire me, as well. I love reading poetry and short stories. Lana Del Rey is also a huge influence of mine. The world she has created is so captivating. Her first record ‘Born to Die,’ not only changed my life, but the entire music industry. I always have a pulse on what she is doing. She’s a songwriting genius and pioneer. I just love her.

What is your personal takeaway from the new EP?

Musically, not to be afraid to try new things in the studio. Experimenting is such a cool place to be. I used to go in every time with a nearly fully fleshed-out song, ready to create and record. While I’ll always do that, I’ve learned it doesn’t always have to be so rigid and thought out. Personally, static eventually clears to a clear picture.

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