Today, we were able to sit down with Chiodosupply to discuss their inspiration to write music, heroes, and much more. Be sure to check out the music of Chidosupply on Spotify below after the interview.
Interview:
What is your inspiration to write your music? Is it your surroundings?
Yeah, my surroundings matter, but not in the postcard way people expect. It’s less about what I am looking at and more about how a place makes me feel. I’m inspired by the friction of everyday life: the conversations you replay in your head later, the loss, the resilience in it all, the redemption, the silence after you leave somewhere, the pressure of trying to do right by people while still trying to be yourself. Sometimes it’s the physical environment, small towns, long roads, unfamiliar streets, but the real fuel is what happens inside me. My songs usually start when something won’t let me off the hook. I write to make sense of it, but also to keep a record of where my mind was at when it hurt, when it changed, or when it finally clicked.
What type of music did you listen to growing up?
I grew up on the stuff that sounds like it has teeth. Singer/Songwriter stuff was my entry point because it is what I would hear the adults around me playing but Punk changed things for me because it gave me permission to be honest, to be loud, to be angry to not be polished. But I also listened to anything with real storytelling, even if it came from totally different genres. As I got older, I started drifting toward artists who could hit you with one line and leave a bruise, songwriters who didn’t need volume to feel powerful. That blend is basically the DNA of ChiodoSupply now: punk ethics and urgency, but with Americana/roots songwriting where the emotion sits out in the open. I still love speed and grit, but I’m more interested in songs that last. I think this next album will be a good combination of both worlds.
Is there someone you looked up to as a hero?
I’ve never had a single hero in the “poster on the wall” sense. It’s more like I collect examples of courage from different kinds of people. Some heroes are musicians who stayed honest when it would’ve been easier to sell a safer version of themselves. Some are people I’ve known personally who took hits, kept going, and didn’t let bitterness turn them into someone cruel. If I had to name the through-line, it’s anyone who can be strong without being performative, people who show up consistently and don’t need applause to do the right thing. That’s the kind of “hero” I try to be influenced by now. A perfect example of this today is Ken Casey and the Dropkick Murphys, those guys aren’t faking it. That’s the shit I need in my life nowadays.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing today?
Something that still involves building. I’m wired for creating, if it wasn’t songs, it’d be a different kind of structure: a business, a brand, maybe something hands-on where you can see the results at the end of the day. I have been fairly successful in my business life already, may more so than I have ever been successful in music. But music just happens to be the place where all my instincts meet, storytelling, energy, discipline, risk. But if you take that away, I’d still find another way to make meaning out of chaos. I don’t do “idle” very well. Anyone who knows me knows, I am built for the road because I don’t sit still for too long.
What advice do you have for our fans out there that want to create music?
Make the thing before you try to market the thing. People skip that part now. Write bad songs on purpose until you write something true. Don’t wait for confidence. Confidence is usually the reward, not the requirement. Also: finish songs. Even if they’re imperfect. Finishing teaches you more than tinkering forever. I tend to write songs in bunches and then can take months off before I pick up a guitar again. I would also say, write from a place that scares you a little, not because you need to be dramatic, but because the songs that matter usually come from the parts of you that you’d rather keep private. If you’re chasing approval, you’ll end up sounding like everyone else. If you’re chasing truth, you’ll eventually write a song that you can’t even play without crying. THAT will grow your confidence.
Music:
