A tell-all documentary about the Deborah Solo Trio would be pretty tame.
There are no stories of behind-the-scenes strife between bandmates or creative differences leading to volcanic blow-ups that would typically make for dramatic Behind the Music fodder. In fact, to hear them tell it, everything in the Denver-based indie group’s camp has been copacetic since coming together for their 2017 debut Real Love.
“I’m just so grateful to work with these guys — we write our songs together, we’re just best friends,” Solo, 40, says of her relationship with cellist Kari Clifton and multi-instrumentalist Chad “Chadzilla” Johnson. “We collaborate so well. Everyone has skills to bring, and we just lean on each other.”
Solo initially teamed up with Clifton before Johnson joined the fold as a drummer in 2018. The outfit’s 2021 follow-up record, Not Your Daisy, offered the first glimpse at the new Deborah Solo Trio and their shift from standard folksy acoustic tunes to the current alt-rock flavor of the band’s latest album, 1 a.m. Parade, released last February.
Written collectively during meetups at Johnson’s 25 BPM Studio in Washington Park, the new album also marked a shift in lyrical themes from the previous record. For Not Your Daisy, the approach centered around opening up about personal struggles and each member’s mental health journey.
“There were song ideas I thought were really scary to say and really scary to write,” Solo says, pointing to tracks “I Don’t Have To” and “What Do You Hope Gain?” which grapple with forgiveness and navigating the day-to-day realities of living with anxiety.
“There were a couple ones we wrote about mental health and really dug in collaboratively and started writing music from top to bottom as a band and not really having that singer-songwriter, ‘Let’s make this an arrangement’ vibe anymore.’”
Holding space
1 a.m. Parade is more fully realized sonically — due in part to Johnson’s prowess on the drums, guitar, bass and piano — and emotionally, thanks to the collaborative songwriting sessions Clifton considers “group therapy.”
“One of us will be going through something, and usually we all have different experiences we can relate to,” the 33-year-old classically trained cellist explains. “We’re all sharing our experiences and getting to the root of what we want to portray. It’s usually bits and pieces from all our experiences.”
Clifton shares the story behind the song “If You Break,” which at first seems like a straightforward heartbreak ballad — but it’s actually an exploration of her feelings following what she thought was a “fatal accident” suffered by her beloved cello.
“I talk about it like it’s a person. My cello had this huge, two-foot crack in it, and I thought it wasn’t going to be able to be repaired,” she says. “The song is really about the shock of the loss and having to say goodbye to something I wasn’t ready to.”
Thankfully, Clifton’s cello is back in action after a six-month stint in sick bay, though she used a rental replacement during part of the 1 a.m. Parade recording stretch. Talking about it now, Solo and Johnson are just as relieved as Clifton. It’s that type of collective empathy that helps the Deborah Solo Trio churn out such soulful serenades.
“I joke online that Not Your Daisy feels like, ‘OK, these people are in therapy,’” Solo says. “But then 1 a.m. Parade feels like, ‘Oh, yeah, these people have been to therapy. They’ve done the work.’”
Lean on me
Dwelling on big feelings doesn’t have to be a bummer. For the Deborah Solo Trio, it also includes reflecting on the positives of their communal bond. The band’s latest single, “Take Me Away,” released last month, is upbeat in that sense.
“[It’s] about how depression can come for us at any time, regardless of what’s going on in our lives, but there are people in our lives that help alleviate that loneliness,” Solo explains. “It’s OK to lean on them and let them love you and take you away from the sadness.”
Johnson, 53, who guesstimates he’s played in hundreds of local bands over the years, shares a telling sentiment about his current crew.
“This is the most collaborative group I’ve ever worked with,” he says. “When you have the freedom and you know you’re in a room with like-minded, loving people who care about you, almost every idea we have is the right one.”
ON THE BILL: Deborah Solo Trio with Chariots & Charioteers and the Dollhouse Thieves. 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 1, Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $19