Today we’d like to introduce you to Tavis Balkin.
Hi Tavis, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been in bands since as far back as middle school, so it was my goal to start a band as soon as I got settled into my new life in Los Angeles. I linked up with my buddy Nicholas Morford, whom I met in college back when we lived in Chicago, and we started a band in 2012 called Slow Coda. It’s an alternative rock band that blends new wave and shoegaze with jangle pop and dream pop influences. We are both bassists but decided to pick up guitars for this project and go from there. The lineup has changed a bit over the years but the songwriting duo has always remained the same.
After years of playing shows and recording EPs, we finally got around to cutting our first full-length (self-titled) record in 2021, during the pandemic. We were some of the first musicians to book time at the recently-opened Gold Diggers Studio in Hollywood, back when the only other artists who had it booked were Billie Eilish and Leon Bridges (who apparently named an album after the studio). It was a great experience. We had the drums tracked in a large room that used to be Slayer’s practice space and worked with a producer who insisted on using a bunch of cool old analog gear. It really helped carve out a unique sound for the record.
When I’m not working on music, I have a little side hustle of selling pins and patches I design. It was formerly a business I started with my wife, Carly, under the name “Afterschool Spectral” during the enamel pin craze, but now I just use my own name instead of a company name. It’s much easier to do my taxes that way.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
In my work life, I’m a full-time graphic designer for a cosmetics brand, so finding time to make a band happen while also running my own side business can be daunting in and of itself. The biggest struggle is definitely finding the time to make it all happen. There aren’t enough hours in the day. Luckily, I have some very talented artist friends who have helped me along the way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
When I have free time, it’s usually spent coming up with ideas for new designs or new songs. I have stacks of notebooks all over the place with ideas that will probably never see the light of day, yet I still feel the compulsion to write everything down.
In terms of projects I’ve been the most excited about, I would have to say my band’s most recent music video for our single, “Mall Walker,” is up there. The whole thing came together with help from some of my good friends I’ve known for over a decade. Abigail Childs spent a year building out a handmade miniature mall food court featuring tiny restaurants and a fountain which would be used as a stage. Then, with some green screen magic, the band was shrunken down and placed inside of it by the director, Rothwell Polk. Matt Hoodhood shot the video with a special scope lens that let him film the tiny details. The whole thing ended up looking like a retro Saved By the Bell fever dream.
Aside from that, Nicholas and I were hired to write and recorded some songs for a meditation app a year ago, which was a somewhat challenging experience but definitely a fun project to be a part of.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I find that it’s an especially interesting time to be in a rock band. It’s definitely not the popular genre it once was. In fact, even the concept of being in a band, in general, is beginning to feel a little quaint by today’s standards, but that’s OK by me. I’m totally content with being lame and making the music I want to make. I just wish being a musician in 2023 didn’t involve so much dancing around on TikTok & de rigueur Instagram self-promotion. I think I speak for almost everyone when I say we’re getting tired of that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.slow-coda.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tavisbalkin/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@slowcoda
- Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/tavisbalkin
Image Credits
Rothwell Polk, Matt Hoodhood, & Patrick McCormack (LP cover)
