Q&A: Renny Conti’s Self-Titled Album Is A Delicately Woven Tapestry Of Life’s Deepest Fears, Joys, Anxieties, And Wonders
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY SULLIVAN JORDAN ☆
Photo By Melody Berkery
HUMMING WITH A COZY AND NOSTALGIC FAMILIARITY, Renny Conti taps into a more rustic folk sound that embraces his precise, yet whimsical lyrical storytelling. Soft strums of acoustic guitar and melancholic piano notes are met with crashing percussion, hearty drums, and raw electric guitar instrumentals. While the swirling musical landscape of Renny Conti sends you spiraling into a mesmerizing and calming trance, each track acts as a hyper-specific vignette that unlocks a memory or feeling you didn’t realize was left lingering in your heart.
Deeply personal and crafted with an immaculate attention to detail, Renny Conti carves a path forward through grief, darkness, and the anxieties that plague us in our quotidian. Conti’s emotional depth showcases how life’s greatest moments aren’t the ones we think we’ll remember forever and continue telling stories about, but the ones in-between. The moments hidden in the corner, that we must look for closely. The moments when we fail, or the moments where we must learn to let go, or the moments when we fall in love so deeply we scare ourselves. Through his discoveries, Conti finds peace in the fact that life’s moments can be as big or as small as you want them to be. When you take a step back, you will see that our lives are just a blip in the starry universe: “Fishes go swim/And birds go and fly/People talk/People walk/And then people die.”
Conti ruminates on the routines of life and the accompanying anxieties about the past, present, and future with tracks such as “Workhorse,” “Room to Room” and “Looking at the Geese”. Rich instrumental mixes allow listeners to dig into the everyday moments in our lives and discover what makes the small moments special, meaningful, or emotionally impactful. Conti’s vocals take on a soothing, 70s-like cadence that invites the listener to reflect and find peace alongside him.
Renny Conti concludes with an echoing instrumental track, neatly wrapping up this collection of chapters in his life with an isolated, plucking acoustic guitar. “Andrew Plays” feels like one of life’s in-between moments. A time to pause and take in everything around you. Nostalgic and hopeful at the same time, the instrumental track offers a warm hug to listeners craving more from life, but also wanting to find peace in the present moment.
We chatted with Conti about how his self-titled album came to be, the musical inspirations behind it and how community has helped shape his sound. Catch Renny Conti at All My Friends Vol. II with Pan Arcadia, Mary Shelley, Bay Faction, and DJ mer marcum at Sony Hall on January 22nd - grab your tickets now!
LUNA: Despite your self-titled album not being a debut, it still feels like an introduction for you and a culmination of your artistic journey thus far. Can you tell us a bit about how this project came to be and why it was important for you to release this body of work at this stage in your career?
CONTI: From 2020 to 2024, I was writing really frequently. Half the songs would go toward the records that I’d record at home and half would get stashed away for an eventual studio record. I was always just waiting until the opportunity came up to make the studio record but it felt like such an impossibility. Finally, the opportunity came along and I brought those stashed away songs in and that’s what eventually became the self-titled album. It felt like a major transition for me at the time as I’d never recorded in a studio for a solo record before. It was daunting and such a switch up from home recording but the outcome made it all really worth it. The process definitely changed my relationship with music making. I think after that experience, I feel way better working with other people.
LUNA: I love the artwork for the album cover! I’m sure there is a story behind each photo, but would you mind sharing something about one of the photos?
CONTI: Tate Shockley made it - he’s a visual artist and screenprinter based out of Brooklyn. He does my merch too and I love his work. The photo in the center is me at a drum kit in 5th grade, probably at a talent show or something. I’ve never loved music as much as I did when I was that age. I put it on the cover because it feels like the root of all my music making and I was so curious and musically free at that age. It felt like it made sense with the album being self-titled and all.
LUNA: Along with the album cover looking like a collage of moments from your life, each track feels like a thread, all woven together to create something beautiful. What artistic references, emotions, and memories have you pulled from on this album and what references do you pull from to inform and inspire your sound in general?
CONTI: Thanks! So many things - other music, books, and paintings too. While I’m working on a record I’m always thinking of the people in my life who I admire as artists. I have two very close friends who are prolific painters. The conversations I’ve had with them about their practices have been very very inspiring throughout the last few years and have changed the way I work on music.
When I was making this record I was listening to a lot of classic 60’s/70’s songwriters and lots of 90’s rock. I was reading Scott McClanahan books and bouncing around sublets in the city. I think it all informed the record somehow.
LUNA: The collection of songs on this album feel incredibly intimate and calming, like something warm and familiar, even when some of the tracks explore heavy subject matter. I find that despite heavy lyrics, the instrumentals give listeners a sense of hope and positivity. Has music and your sound always been a place for you to find comfort? In other words, would you say your instrumental sound has evolved to help listeners and yourself navigate difficult emotions?
CONTI: As a listener I’m not necessarily drawn to hopeful or positive music. When writing I get pulled into a chord or a change and just follow the idea without really thinking or judging it. Sometimes it feels comforting and comfortable to make, sometimes it feels dark and difficult to make, but I think if I like how it sounds in the moment, or if it matches how I feel, I’ll usually follow the thread without much thought.
LUNA: Change is a big theme throughout this album. Over the course of making these songs, how do you think your sound and musical journey has evolved?
CONTI: Definitely has helped me see music as a more collaborative process. Also just kind of widened the scope of what is possible with album-making. Working with other people who are super deeply locked in their respective field gives so many opportunities to try new things and see where songs can go. It’s been a real special thing to let my friends play on my music as opposed to me doing it all alone. Listening back to their work is so gratifying and I’m so glad I get to work with them. The songs take on a life of their own with a band involved. It becomes way less about me.
LUNA: Is there a song in particular off of this album that underwent the most change sonically and/or lyrically?
CONTI: “Life On Earth” was just a piano demo. Isaac Stalling added the big swells in the chorus with his lap steel and I played those chaotic drums over the second chorus and when Adrian Olsen did the mix it just felt like listening to an entirely new thing. I was so excited the first time I heard it. I recorded the piano and vocals in one take with one mic at my parent’s house on their piano, and listening to that first demo it’s like a different song. We did keep the same take from the demo though.
LUNA: At what moment did you realize the album was complete? Or was this more of a feeling?
CONTI: I’d say when the tracklist and sequence was finalized and we were nearing the end of the mixing process. Because there were so many b-sides to navigate and decide on it really felt like a different album for so long.
LUNA: Along the theme of change, you explore many of the ups and downs associated with life in your twenties. Hypothetically, if you could jump to the future, is there an era or moment in your life you would want to write and make music about? And/or is there a time from your past you want to explore further?
CONTI: I’m becoming more interested in writing about things outside of myself and my past. I’ve spent a lot of time writing about my relationships and grief and things like that and I’m starting to look more outward. Lately I’ve been writing about the world, or America and all of its faults and complexities, or even nature. I’d like to explore new things I’m curious about rather than just run the same themes into the ground.
LUNA: I read that you are originally from the Bay Area, how do you feel your sound and creative process has changed sinced living in the Bay Area and now in New York City?
CONTI: The first EP I ever released came out the month I moved to New York in 2017. I wrote and recorded it in San Francisco when I was living there but all the shows I played to promote it were my first shows in New York. New York is where I really learned to navigate being a working musician and where I learned the process of writing and releasing music. When I think of the Bay I think of learning instruments and playing in high school bands and it’s very formative in a different way. The Bay will always influence my music though and my memories of growing up there are in everything for sure.
LUNA: Moving anywhere new requires a lot of courage. What are your feelings about pursuing art in New York? How have you navigated these feelings through your music and other outlets?
CONTI: These days I live further into Brooklyn in a really quiet neighborhood and it feels almost suburban sometimes. I’m able to work a lot from home and dip into the city or the culture and the artistic community when I want to by going to shows or hanging with musician friends. I think the city has provided me with so much opportunity that I’m really glad I’ve had throughout my twenties. New York is one of my favorite places in the world. Moving here has only changed my life for the better I’d say.
LUNA: Community is huge in any aspect of life but especially when it comes to art. How have you been able to find community within music and how does community impact your creative process?
CONTI: My community is a massive part of my creative process. I’m deeply inspired by my friends and their art. We play together and send each other music and overall I’ve become a better musician since my community has grown. I met most of my music buddies through going to shows and playing shows and just releasing music endlessly.
LUNA: Looking towards the future, what are you most excited to explore more of in your work? Are there certain sounds, emotions, or references you want to experiment with?
CONTI: I’ve been enjoying experimenting with song structure lately. Trying to write unorthodox songs. As well as moving away from the acoustic guitar and playing louder and heavier. Or employing the acoustic guitar in those ways. I’m always just interested in surprising myself and making things that feel totally new or scary or odd to me.
LUNA: Is there anything you can tease about what you are working on next?
CONTI: I’ve just finished an album and it’ll be out this year!
