Presented by Spirit of 68 Adult Mom, Chris Farren
Adult Mom began as the solo project of Stephanie Knipe in a Purchase College dorm room in 2012. Adult Mom now falls between the playful spectrum of solo project and collaborative band with beloved friends and musicians Olivia Battell, Mike Dvorscak, and Bruce Hamilton. Through reflections and explorations of the personal and hidden, the crux of the writing produced by Knipe is focused on excavation. The dredging out of secrets, putting it all in a pan, waiting for the gold to rise. Honesty and intimacy form as Knipe writes clever pop songs that offer a glimpse into the journey of a gender-weird queer navigating through heartache, trauma and subsequent growth.
With their debut LP, Momentary Lapse of Happily, Adult Mom bravely shined a light on the darkness and allowed the listener to experience and feel those moments along with them. Soft Spots, the project’s sophomore LP, is an exploration into the physical and emotional acts of opening up, the vulnerability that produces love, and then ache. With this record, Knipe proclaims that everybody has soft spots. Spots that get cared for and tended to, that grow and fade, that produce feeling that can linger for years and years. Knipe shares with us their process of learning how to cradle and understand their own softness without finality, a story without an end.
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Chris Farren is one of those names that is always on the tip of your tongue. Though he’s been
heavily involved in music for years —and he’s become wellknown for his inventive merch,
including his take on the classic The Smiths shirt — Farren is still working on breaking out in the
large world of singersongwriters. After experimenting and honing his solo work on a few
memorable EPs and a Christmas album called Like A Gift From God or Whatever, Farren is
ready to release his fulllength Can’t Die. With it, he’s poised to become known on his own terms
and with his own unique sound.
“I definitely wanted to make something that wouldn’t just sound like another Fake Problems
record,” says Farren. “ I wanted to make something that was poppier and a little less aggressive
— but still energetic and entertaining. Lyrically, there’s some sadness involved but I didn’t want
it to be a bummer to listen to.” The result is a clever blend of pop and gloom, the sort of record
that will keep you dancing even when the lyrics cut deep. Farren, who cited Coconut Records,
Belle & Sebastian, and Magnetic Fields as his influences while recording Can’t Die, has crafted a
record that has a true indiepop sensibility and remains musically upbeat throughout.