Sound Source: Corn on My Dinner Plate makes music about love, change and vulnerability

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Tune into the latest episode of Audio Source to hear how five high school friends created a band that has more than 17,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Corn on My Dinner Plate discusses love, heartbreak, their songwriting process and the meaning behind their band name.

COLIN KOLASNY: I call up people respond to vulnerability. When you lot let someone meet that you're actually struggling or that you're actually doing great, you just let someone see what you really are. I recollect people like that.

[MUSIC Move Forth]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: From The Daily Northwestern, I'thousand Daniella Tello-Garzon. Yous're listening to Audio Source, a podcast tuning into music on and around campus. The song you're hearing is called "Move Along," by Corn on My Dinner Plate.

CHRIS SÁNCHEZ: My proper noun is Chris Sánchez, I'grand the drummer in Corn.

COLIN KOLASNY: My proper noun is Colin Kolasny, and I'm the keyboard actor and songwriter for the band.

[MUSIC Move Along continues]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Corn on My Dinner Plate is an indie band based in Chicago that started with a group of five high schoolhouse friends who just wanted to play music together. Bated from Chris and Colin, the band also consists of bassist Roan Quinn, keyboard player Branden Ma, tenor saxophone role player Weber Anderson and guitarist Jack Harris. Dorsum in high school, the grouping didn't accept things too seriously, hence the light-headed band name, Corn on My Dinner Plate. The proper name started with a picture of corn on a dinner plate that a one-time singer and songwriter in the band sent in their group conversation. Years later, the ring'south humor has stayed the same, but their craft has evolved.

[MUSIC Shrug]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Corn on My Dinner Plate is a very close group, and they thrive off being together. But the journey to becoming the close friends they are today has been a long one.

COLIN KOLASNY: Our commencement live performance was at our friend Delaney's altogether party, her 18th altogether party in loftier school. And it was at a friend's house who was known for throwing these crazy parties that would have live music and alive DJs. And then that was our first performance every bit a group.

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Colin Kolasny is one of the original band members. Today, years after their first performance, some of the original members have left, and there take besides been new additions. I newcomer was Chris Sánchez, who took the place of Jeremy Adams every bit the band's drummer.

COLIN KOLASNY: The original drummer of the band, Jeremy, started getting actually focused and making bang-up progress studying physics and studying fusion, and information technology really started to take up a lot of his time. And I felt that I really wanted to take this in a actually serious direction. I really wanted to meet other musicians gear up to dedicate their careers to this. But aye, at that betoken, he was going to exist gone for the summer and nosotros merely were like, well, we need a drummer. And Roan introduced the states to Chris.

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Later Chris joined the group, Colin's friend from St. Olaf Higher, Weber Anderson, accidentally joined Corn on My Dinner Plate as a saxophonist.

COLIN KOLASNY: I met Weber at higher and he was in my higher group Ointment Appointment. And so he kind of but sort of, like, joined Corn on My Dinner Plate every bit well, so he's in both bands. There came a point when Weber was, I think, like, "Hey, am I in this band?" And I'1000 similar, "Yeah, of course, what are you talking about? We've been playing together, haven't we?"

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Chris and Weber's first live performance with Corn on My Dinner Plate was 2 years ago at the Museum of Gimmicky Art in Chicago. To this day, Chris cherishes the memory of that performance.

CHRIS SÁNCHEZ: There'south a lot of cute musicians at that place. And information technology was really practiced to see everyone there and meet a lot of different people. We actually bonded there musically on that stage.

[MUSIC Filibuster]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: The song y'all're listening to correct now is called Delay, and information technology is from Corn on My Dinner Plate's starting time EP, "Ears," which they released in 2017.

[MUSIC Filibuster continues]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Colin wrote the song about his outset dearest.

COLIN KOLASNY: I wrote the song when I was sort of feeling in beloved for the first time in loftier schoolhouse. And it's just such a warm feeling, to accept that, only I was feeling you lot know, at the same time, sort of this anxiety about its fleeting nature, similar it wasn't gonna stay around forever. And I knew that. That feeling was giving me all this, like, alien free energy in my body.

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: As Joey Bada$$ would say, "Dear is only a feeling." But it is a feeling that many of us can chronicle to, and the raw vulnerability of expressing that feeling, and expressing feelings in general, is something that Colin believes attracts listeners to his music.

COLIN KOLASNY: Well, I write a lot near love. And I think what I try to do is when I feel stuck emotionally, or like at that place's not really a light that I can see, I try to repurpose that feeling into words and into poesy and into music and sounds and into art in full general. But what I really feel adept about afterward writing a lyric is that I've taken an emotion that'south in my caput and given information technology course, then that I tin then take something to look at and to freeze that feeling in time. And then it's existent.

[MUSIC She'due south Fine]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Beyond the lyrics, Corn on My Dinner Plate has a very personal songwriting process. Altitude and the pandemic have resulted in a lot of remote rehearsals, but Chris, the drummer in the band, said beingness together in person is primal to making expert music.
CHRIS SÁNCHEZ: When anybody'due south here, we really take advantage of that time and really sit down down and have some fun while we're at it, besides, 'cause that helps the music abound into what it is.
COLIN KOLASNY: When nosotros're all sharing infinite together and being in a identify together that we tin can really let our music grow organically, that'southward when the songwriting feels actually collaborative.
[MUSIC Arizona]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: I song that took shape with in-person collaboration is "Arizona," which is the song you're hearing right now. All six of the band members worked together and recorded "Arizona" equally a grouping at JoyRide Studio.
CHRIS SÁNCHEZ: I constructed the vanquish for that vocal. It's a really weird tune considering it's not like anything that you would hear on like whatsoever other Corn track. Information technology was much more progressive. Information technology's fusion. Simply it also has some elements of rock to it. And like groove pop-ish. I did some auxiliary percussion on that too, which really added to that. Like the congas and the bongos and tambourines and shakers.
DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: How did you come up with it?
CHRIS SÁNCHEZ: I played a lot off of what Colin was playing rhythmically. He's playing a lot more upbeat music. And in my mind I just went straight to Herbie Hancock, Billy Cobham. Billy Cobham is a drummer that I love, I took major influence from him.
COLIN KOLASNY: Oh, yep! I recall Roan creating his baseline too, which is like boo-da-doom (sounds out baseline). I retrieve that baseline rhythmically sent me into an idea and then besides rhythmically sent Chris into that kind of, like, directly groove.
DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: The instruments in the song include electric piano, electrical guitar, electrical bass, pulsate set, tenor saxophone, ii voices, congas, bongos, shakers and tambourines. On pinnacle of the instrumentals, the song also needed lyrics, which Colin wrote.
COLIN KOLASNY: I was thinking a lot about just how things are fluid in life. Yous know, things tend to only proceed moving and flow 1 affair into the side by side. And that's the space I was coming from writing well-nigh that. And then also, I was feeling a lot of similar, maybe, pessimism or cynicism nigh the state of the globe, besides. But alas, things continue flight on.
DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: What is a specific lyric that is your favorite?
COLIN KOLASNY: My favorite lyric in the song is, "If you return without a key, I would not exist asleep." And then I guess I'chiliad just trying to condolement whoever I'g singing to, whichever listener, to say that, you lot know, I'm here for you. You can come. And even if you don't have a cardinal to unlock the door, I'll exist awake to open up it for you.
[MUSIC Mi Alma Puede]
DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: Today, Corn on My Dinner Plate said they're working harder than always, and in v years they hope to be playing at Lollapalooza or Dillo Day at Northwestern. What you hear now is their latest release, a song chosen "Mi Alma Puede." You tin spotter the music video for "Mi Alma Puede" on Corn on My Dinner Plate'southward YouTube channel.

[MUSIC Mi Alma Puede continues]

DANIELLA TELLO-GARZON: From The Daily Northwestern, I'm Daniella Tello-Garzon. Thanks for listening to another episode of Sound Source. You can find Corn on My Dinner Plate on well-nigh music-streaming platforms such as SoundCloud, Spotify and Apple tree Music. Yous can also follow the band on Instagram and Facebook using @cornonmydinnerplate to stay updated on upcoming live shows and merch sales. This episode was reported and produced by me, Daniella Tello-Garzon. The audio editor of The Daily is Will Clark, the digital managing editor is Jordan Mangi, and the editor in main is Isabelle Sarraf. Make sure to subscribe to The Daily Northwestern's podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or SoundCloud to hear more than episodes similar this.

E-mail: [electronic mail protected]
Twitter: @daniellatgarzon

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