Landon Conrath talks career and life

By Vanessa Tran A&E EDITOR

Landon Conrath, Minneapolis-based songwriter and producer, played as the opener for the indie musician Windser, at The Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz on Friday.

Conrath debuted his first album, “Nothing Matters Anyway,” on Sept. 9, 2022 with a deluxe release on Dec. 30, 2022. He said it was about the troubles he faced throughout the year up until the release.

“It’s funny because I feel like the album, it’s kind of like, I’m writing about the album itself, but it ended up just kind of being about this struggle to feel like anything I was doing had any meaning,” Conrath said. “I’m just another dude, why did I need to put out music? Why does anyone care?”

Santa Cruz resident, Chloe Blue, attended the concert not knowing of Conrath but came out wanting to listen to more of his music.

“I felt that there was a lot of attention to detail of instruments, including the vocals and harmonies,” Blue said. “All of the songs had distinctive qualities that made them all unique, which was very cool to experience.”

Conrath said his favorite thing about touring is being able to meet and interact with fans.

“I think that’s something that me and my band really try and do is just like, we want people to feel seen and like leave a concert feeling like they had positive interactions with us,” he said, “I want them to leave a Landon Conrath show and be like, ‘I felt valued, I felt like he cared about me actually and didn’t just want to sell me a T-shirt.’ ”

Matthew Swinnerton, who is the founder of Event Santa Cruz, an event management company that showcases creativity in the city, said Conrath connected with the audience instantly and kept them entertained.

“First of all, being an opener for any show is harder than the actual main performer because like a lot of people are not going there for you,” Swinnerton said. “But Landon connected

Conrath said overcoming massive amounts of self-doubt and imposter syndrome were daily obstacles he faced when making the album.

Imposter syndrome is a psychological occurrence in which an individual doubts their skills, talent or accomplishments, according to a June 20, 2018 Time Magazine article.

“Science Fiction” is his favorite track off the album because of how much he was able to unpack his thoughts and admit that how to play piano and eventually moved onto chasing his dream of being a drummer in college. He randomly wrote a song after a breakup and partnered up with a friend who had just started producing music. with the audience instantly, and made it entertaining.”

He said he didn’t like the process of having to fork over his creative vision to someone else, but ended up giving songwriting another shot and enjoyed it.

“I mean, there’s a million white dudes who are 23, making music. And it’s just like, why do they care that I’m another one? And so it’s like, it’s hard to find some meaning in that sometimes,” Conrath said.

Conrath said he also struggles with social media and being confident in front of a camera. He said he has never been the type of person to whip out his phone and record himself, but is aware that he’s slowly getting better at it.

Conrath said he wasn’t able to craft an overarching story arc for the album because he had to constantly chase deadlines ever since signing to Nettwerk Music Group, an independent company that strives to help artists grow, according to their website.

He said he came to the conclusion that he was pursuing music because he genuinely enjoyed it.

“At the end of the day, we’re all struggling with a lot of the same things,” Conrath said. “And I don’t know, it was just kind of trying to piece that all together and realize that everything would be okay.”

Landon Conrath songwriter and producer

he was depressed.

He said the song resonates with him because he felt so captive in his own mind throughout 2022, and it allowed him to break him free from his self-doubts.

“I wrote the song just about kind of the realization that I was depressed for the first time in my life, I never realized that, I think I just kind of shoved that aside. And I like to bury myself in work a lot. And I love to just stay busy,” Conrath said.

He said he often compares himself to his friends, who are also musicians – diminishing his motivation and will to create.

Conrath said he grew up learning

“I think part of it is just that I’ve been kind of reluctant to do it. So maybe I’m not gaining those skills,” Conrath said.

He said he believes the biggest downfalls of the music industry is artists being expected to be full-time content creators, something that he finds extremely hard.

Swinnerton said, despite not knowing any of Conrath’s songs, he thought it was enjoyable and catchy.

“I also like the alternative vibe that he has, which is kind of more my music taste.

So from the very beginning, he hooked the audience well,” he said, “And I think that Landon really complimented Windsor as well. Just having them two together, I thought was a great pairing.”

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