The Indie/Bedroom Pop project This Coast Bias releases their groovy breakup hit with, "Who Are You Fooling."
Hailing from Oklahoma City, the Singer/Songwriter and Multi-Instrumentalist Clay Milford (a.k.a. This Coast Bias) describes his sound as 'breakup pop,' serving listeners spicy singles surrounding the annoyances of past relationships.
With his most recent hit "Who Are You Fooling," This Coast Bias serves heavy Maroon 5 vibes through the spunky electric guitar while making the track his own through clever and witty lyricism. This track stands out as a playful yet highly expressive piece, This Coast Bias brings an energy of optimism after reflecting on past turmoil.
"Who Are You Fooling" begins with incredibly groovy electric guitar, a lush bassline, and poppy drum patterns. As Clay Milford starts singing his reflective lyrics of a troubled relationship, he brings in textured analogies that paint vivid pictures of an unhealthy dynamic. His lyrics are incredibly calm alongside his poised delivery while he confidently asks, "Who are you fooling when it's only you around?" The supporting instrumentals bring us back the funk era through each distinctive melody and a gripping mid-tempo kick.
This Coast Bias ends the track off in a wise and unbothered state, allowing listeners to fully reflect on what's bringing them stress in their lives. "Who Are You Fooling" brings the ultimate groove for anyone to dance away with, while reminding listeners to keep the right people around.
Hello Clay and welcome to BuzzMusic. We love the tone and attitude you've infused within your single, "Who Are You Fooling." Was this song created to help you vent these troubling emotions? How long was the song in the making?
I am a big fan of quick writing. I have done the line-by-line song dissection thing when writing, and it just tires me out. I have found that my favorite tunes have come rather quickly. I truly believe you are most honest when you write quickly, and usually, they're boppier anyway. For this song, I laid down the drum, bass, and guitar track probably within an hour, listened to the instrumental a few times, and let melodies and words flow where they wanted to. All in all, the song probably took about 3 hours total to complete. Oddly enough, I wasn't upset when writing the song. I think I get to say things I've never known exactly how to express through songs when I write. For instance, I've never even thought about the concept of Who Are You Fooling. The idea is that if you are constantly trying to compete with everyone in every facet of life, eventually you will run out of people to compete with and find yourself alone. That never occurred to me until I wrote this track.
Where did you find inspiration for the song's instrumentals? Why did you want to capture this groovy and funky instrumental to back up your lyrics?
The vibe for the instrumentals definitely came from my love of disco. I love writing four-on-the-floor dance tracks because I always love those types of songs as a listener. I also love infusing not-so-positive lyrics with positive sounding tunes. ABBA, who I LOVE, does that a lot. Their songs are so sad lyrically, but so happy or funky musically. I think I decided on capturing this vibe, particularly for this track simply because of my recent listening habits as well, which include Tame Impala, Dua Lipa's new record, The Time, Prince (always), and Chromeo.
Could you tell us what your lyric writing process was like when channeling thoughts of past relationships, and the toll they have taken on you? Is it easy for you to be so open within your songs?
Honestly, I have no problem opening up through my songs. I like to think I am a pretty honest person, so being honest about how I feel may come more naturally, and even more so when I'm singing it. However, I do believe I have sung stuff that I've never said out loud to anyone. There are songs I will write that I will realize are about a high school girlfriend that I haven't even thought about in five years. I almost feel like I feel TOO much sometimes, which can make it hard to narrow down what my tone in the song will be.
Seeing as you create what you call 'breakup pop,' do all of your songs surround troubled relationships? How do you make each song different even though they capture similar concepts?
Most of my songs mention a past girlfriend. I honestly don't do that on purpose, it is just what happens! And I also don't feel any ill will toward any of them and am definitely not doing it to shame them or make them feel bad. I suppose it is just a way to get over things on my mind in a semi-healthy way. (or is it healthy? haha) I do have one track, Like a Dream, that covers my favorite Greek myth, which is that of Icarus. I have always been fascinated by his story. We always focus on his fall but fail to recognize how amazing it probably felt literally flying as a human before his wings melted. Besides that song, even with mostly similar concepts, I think every song ends up being different simply because we as humans are the most complex beings on the planet. For instance, if I wrote songs about apples, I could probably only fill up an album. But try and name one artist that doesn't have at least ten songs that are about either hating or loving someone. Humans and their complicated forays into love will be great subjects forever. Relationships between us all are also just as complicated, so I think I am just learning more about myself as I write, to be honest.
We've noticed that you have quite the discography that tells in-depth stories. Have you thought about creating an EP/album that captures a complete concept from top to bottom?
I would love to do an album and honestly have thought about prepping one for the coming year. The only reason I haven't is simply because of how playlist-driven music seems to be currently, and because I absolutely love releasing songs as often as possible. I love just pumping them out.