Pop-Culturalist.com

Chance Peña, hailing from Tyler, Texas, has risen as a defining voice of his generation. As a singer-songwriter and producer, he’s gained recognition for his introspective lyrics and haunting vocal prowess. You might recognize some of his chart-topping singles like “In My Room,” “Up, Up & Away,” and “War.”

His most recent release, “i am not who i was,” delves into Chance’s contemplation of personal transformation, stepping into a new phase of life that may leave loved ones astounded.

Pop Culturalist had the privilege of catching up with Chance, who recently wrapped up a tour alongside David Kusher, to discuss “i am not who i was,” his experiences on the road, his evolution as an artist, and his upcoming album.

PC: It’s been a few years since we last chatted, and there’s been so much growth in your artistry and songwriting. What has played the biggest role in your development?
Chance: It’s been about trusting my instincts. When I was younger, I was still trying to find my sound. I was exploring and learning things. When it came time to put something out, I would be like, “What’s the best thing? What’s going to be a hit?” Nowadays, I’m like, “This is cool. Let’s put it out and see what happens.”

PC: There are so many ebbs and flows when you’re pursuing a career in this industry. Having been on this journey for close to a decade now, what’s been the high for you?
Chance: That’s a hard question. There have been a lot of things. I’m trying not to give a cheesy answer, but a personal high is being able to do what I love to do and make friends who are doing the same thing. It’s cool.

As far as a career high, I would say it’s been this past year. It’s cool to have my artistry take off and that be my sole focus. The last time we chatted, I was doing more sync writing and writing for film and TV. That’s been really cool.

PC: You have a group of collaborators who you’re consistently writing with. As you’re heading into a session, do you know which artist you’re writing for?
Chance: The guys that I write with the most are my buddies from home. It’s Haydn Hubers, who goes under the artist name Hayd, Jeremy Fedryk, whose artist’s name is Sarcastic Sounds, and then my buddy Zach Seabaugh. Those are the three guys that I primarily write with. We normally go into a writing session, and the songs come out from us just hanging out.

Zach and I have had discussions like, “I think this song would be good for you. I think this would be good for you.” We figure it out. With Haydn and Jeremy, we’ll write a song, and we’ll know who it’s for. It’s kind of weird. As we’re writing, someone will step forward, and we’re like, “Okay, this is for you.” It’s an intuition thing.

PC: You are such a needed voice in this industry. While your songs have a lot of commercial appeal, it’s your message and willingness to talk about real topics like anxiety and mental health that set you apart. Have you found that those songs have resonated with your fans differently? Does it hit differently when you’re releasing a song like “I’m Enough” as opposed to some of your earlier work? Is it ever scary to be that vulnerable?
Chance: I wouldn’t say it’s scary for me to be that vulnerable because rarely am I like this person named X, Y, Z hurt me. It’s not specific. It’s more or less just feelings. By the time that these songs come out, I’ve already processed whatever I was going through. I’ve moved on and most likely healed. These songs are out there in the world to help other people that are going through similar things.

PC: Of all the music that you’ve released thus far, if you had to choose one that best encompasses who you are as an artist right now, which would it be and why?
Chance: At this moment, I’d say it’s the latest single, “i am not who i was.” I’m getting back to my roots because growing up I made a lot of folk music. I slightly stepped away from that when I was eighteen, nineteen, and even when I was twenty, twenty-one. But now, it’s just me and my guitar. I’ve been doing live tracking stuff which is something that I hadn’t really done until recently. It’s a lot easier to do programmed drums and fake piano on a keyboard. For “i am not who i was,” I did live tracks of drums and piano.

PC: How did that single come about?
Chance: Hayd, Jeremy, and I were working on some other songs. We just got done doing vocals for something. I picked up a guitar. Hayd was walking out of the room. Jeremy had headphones on. I started playing something. Hayd was like, “That’s pretty, Chance.” He came back, and we started humming stuff. Jeremy took off his headphones, and we sung whatever came to mind. It just came out of us. I imagine it’s like you see something run across your field of view, and you’re like, “Let’s go get that. Let’s chase that.” But as we were writing it, the story and message started to reveal itself. It was something that we all related to.

PC: You’ve also been touring a lot these past few years. How much do you use the live stage to test out new material?
Chance: We did a lot of that on this last tour with David Kushner. Half of the songs were ones that people knew, and then the other half was new stuff. It’s fun to play stuff that’s fresh in your mind and on your heart and see how people react to it.

PC: Has any song garnered an unexpected reaction?
Chance: When my buddy Wes and I were rehearsing for this tour, we wrote something. He was playing something on the guitar. I started a Voice Memo and freestyled these lyrics. I wasn’t think. It was just whatever came out of my mouth and it worked. We wrote that song in three minutes. We ended up playing that, and it got a great response. It’s called “Love You Right.” It’ll be on whatever this next project ends up being, most likely an album.

PC: As your catalog grows, is there a song that will always make the setlist? Is there one that never will?
Chance: “In My Room” has to be on there. In the middle of my set, people will be like, “Play ‘In My Room’.” I’ll say, “We’re not doing that one tonight.” I was obviously joking and we played it, but their faces would drop. [laughs]

As far as a song that would never make it, it’s probably something in that exploratory era of mine. There’s a song called “Panic” and one called “Drown,” they’re just different vibes.

PC: In your lyrics, you’ve always said that you’re a man on a mission. As you look ahead to the next five to ten years, is there a particular goal that you wish to accomplish?
Chance: I just want to keep growing as a person and an artist. I want the music to keep reaching more and more people because ultimately I want to keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully at a larger scale as time goes on.

PC: As this industry has become singles focused, you’ve continued to release larger bodies of work. Why has that been so important to you? How will this debut album differentiate itself from what you’ve done in the past?
Chance: Singles are easier. I still make and produce my own music, so singles are a lot less time-consuming. A couple of my EPs, the songs just felt like they were supposed to be together, so I put them out. The most recent one, I felt the same way.

This next album has songs that I wrote two years ago and some that I wrote last week. They’re songs that mean a lot to me, and I think they’re great. I haven’t decided if it’ll be ten songs or close to thirty, so we’ll see.

Make sure to follow Chance on Twitter, Instagram, Spotify, and Apple Music. Listen to “i am not who i was” today.

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez