Coral Z On the Making Of “Americano”
How does "Americano" reflect your musical journey and growth as an artist?
This song actually witnessed my biggest transition from country style to a bit more rock style. I wrote the song in 2018 when I was in California, and I met my best music buddies Sean and Nathan, where we would have some weekly practice sessions playing music together in a garage within our college. With their additions on electric guitars, bass, and drums, my songs gained many more layers and tastes from the simple acoustic accompaniment which I would’ve done myself. In particular, “Americano” was the first song we started playing together as a band. The punk-ish strumming for the chorus, suggested by Sean, has been kept until now as you can hear in the final release.
Were there any challenges or breakthrough moments during the songwriting process for "Americano?"
Not really. I write my songs as a way to express my own emotions, normally anger, sadness, emptiness, loneliness – the negative ones. When I’m so swamped by those negative emotions, I’d feel a strong urge to find an outlet, and some melodies and lyrics will just start forming in my head simultaneously, and thus the whole songwriting process, for each of my songs (or at least most of them), will only take less than 20 minutes I’d say. Then it’s done.
Were there any memorable or standout moments during the recording sessions for "Americano?"
Not exactly during the recording session, but I think the hardest part was in fact knowing that I could actually initiate this process myself (I’ve always thought that getting your song recorded and released is impossible before you’re discovered by some record labels and are signed or are famous already) and how to find a studio. The song arrangement and vocal recording all moved along pretty smoothly, but mixing was what took the longest time.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got started in music?
I started learning piano at the age of 5, then picked up guitar and a little bit of drums in high school; I started writing songs in middle school, then gradually learned how to translate them better to fit the chords and tempos after having learned guitar. And as mentioned before, I enjoy playing music with others and thus started forming bands over time.
Can you share a memorable experience from a collaboration that enriched your music?
There were lots of good memories playing music with others, from playing casually with other peer musicians in California to playing with another singer/songwriter friend in college dorms in upstate NY (I transferred), then now I’m playing with my band in Cambridge – especially gigging around has always been fun! I think the most fascinating part, besides these people who I played with regularly, is to be able to jam with someone at some events/parties I just randomly met, as well as having other friends all gathered around to be our initial audience. It’s always a good way to connect.