The global pandemic brought about difficult circumstances for all of us, including musicians and producers. However, many found that in the unfamiliar conditions imposed by lockdowns and quarantine, they were compelled to create in a new way. For Los Angeles-based musician Chris Adams, who records under the alias Pendant, this served as the impetus for his latest album, Harp, which saw him forced to abandon the guitarcentred approach that defined his earlier work and experiment with new techniques and sounds, embracing electronic influences that had previously lain dormant.
Released on cult indie label Saddle Creek this April, Harp still bears traces of the punk and shoegaze that Adams was raised on, but it filters these through a lens that’s coloured by the shades of ’90s house, ’80s pop and abstract electronica. Pairing processed vocals with raucous breaks, warped synths and abrasive sonic textures, Harp takes an impressionistic trip through the mind of an artist unafraid to transcend his influences and produce something entirely new.
When did you start making music, and how did you first get started?
“I started playing the drums when I was
