Detroit’s grunge-pop singer-songwriter Zilched (Chloë Drallos) shares her newest single + video, “A Valentine.” It’s the first half of a special two song release, serving as the A-side to her fuzzed out take on the Stevie Nicks classic “Stand Back.”

 Lyrically, Drallos says “A Valentine” is “about realizing you don’t need to conform to anyone’s expectations of you, romantically or otherwise,” while the video, shot amongst friends one night in an abandoned church, and co-directed by Drallos, brings to mind a Bauhaus or Love and Rockets-helmed Madonna video fit for 80’s-era Top of The Pops or 90s-era MTV. Paired with “Stand Back,” the two song outing is linked by a shared sense of resilience. “I think both songs share the same, secure, conviction; choosing to stick your own guns against adversity,” Drallos says. 

What’s your story as an artist?

– I started playing guitar around 12 and started writing shortly after that. Mostly acoustic

Bob Dylan worship and dark, melodramatic folk songs about running away until high

school. Then I got into punk, grunge and The Jesus and Mary Chain, formed Zilched

shortly after that at age 17 when I realized I wanted to sing and haven't really stopped.

What inspired this single, “A Valentine”?

– Lyrically I had just been really frustrated. Felt very boxed in within my relationships. I

originally was calling the song my “I’m an asshole that’s hard to get along with” song,

until I realized it’s really about my refusal to just “get along”. Anyway, musically I think it

sounds like a big release. I was listening to a lot of Siouxsie Sioux and Yeah Yeah

Yeahs. With everything that I’ve written since this song I’ve focused a lot more on

singing in a way that feels good and calls for more of a release from others.

What are some sources of inspiration for your storytelling?

– Aside from life itself, other writers. Bob Dylan was the first artist to impact me in any way.

His writing was kind of my formative education on that front. I love how Courtney Love

tells a story. The quadruple entendres and how the brutal and the soft go hand in hand.

This one sounds corny but I was given a book of Edgar Allen Poe writings a couple

years ago and it became a bedside staple for me while writing this album. The title “A

Valentine” comes from a poem of his actually.

Any funny anecdotes from the time you were recording or writing the album?

– Unfortunately not many haha. Although I have been experimenting a lot more with

dancy-er rhythms and sounds. So that’s resulted in some funny demos for me.

Tell us about the music video and the idea behind it?

– I watch old MTV and Top Of The Pops pretty regularly and one of my favorite kinds of

video is just the classic, staple, rock show performance. Like the song itself, I wanted to

make it as dark but pop as I could while being true to myself. The reference I made for

the crew was Bauhaus or love and rockets does a Madonna video. (And everyone in the

crowd is a vampire)

What’s a record that shaped your creativity?

Listening to DIIV lead me to listening to German prog or “krautrock”. I think when I first

learned all about that scene and those sounds, I thought about arrangements and

instrument rolls very differently. Neu! By Neu or Viva by La Düsseldorf primarily.

Who is an artist or band you look up to today?

– Cant list just one. DIIV, No Joy, Cat Power, The Paranoyds, Miss June, Sky Ferreira,

Heaven Honey.

Any future projects?

– I have a second record demoed out. I think there’s still a little left to be written as my life

kinda keeps shifting. I think by mid winter I’ll be recording, hopefully with plans of its

release 🙂

Top 3 dream collaborations?

– I want to make a pop song with a noise or shoegaze heavy hitter like DIIV or No Joy. I’d

also love to work with Jorge Elbrecht and see what he could make of my songs.

Everything he’s done with Tamaryn or Sky Ferreira blows my mind. I guess for no. 3 I

would like to sit down with two acoustic guitars and Kurt Cobain. Haha

What does music mean to you?

– Most things.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you?

– Noisy, poppy, dark rock and roll