“I believe in projects being a natural thing that happens for artists. Sometimes we are meant to create different songs and ideas to put out into the world. But it’s not necessarily something that’s gonna end up as a project,” said musician Clemente Calandra. “But this for me was so different.”
Calandra (who uses “they” pronouns) is talking about “CASI ANGELES 3,” their debut record under the name Heartgaze. Scheduled to drop at the end of this month, “CASI ANGELES 3? is a snapshot of post-adolescent life through the filter of dreamy, multilayered pop music.
Born and raised in Bueno Aires, Argentina, Calandra grew up in a family of casual musicians. By age 8, they picked up a guitar and began playing. At the time, Calandra largely listened to Argentine music, but their dad and others around them introduced them to new artists in different genres, including American hip hop and nu metal. Calandra said artists such as Linkin Park, Tyler the Creator and Childish Gambino were early musical inspirations. By age 13, Calandra began experimenting with music production, using tools like GarageBand, they said. “Discovering that is what led me to wonder and pursue music.”
After moving to Chile, Calandra created their current project, Heartgaze. By the time they moved to the United States in 2019, Heartgaze was a fully fleshed-out musical identity for Calandra, with a sound incorporating moments of shoegaze, emo and pop.
Calandra describes “CASI ANGELES 3,” their debut Heartgaze album as a “conceptual mixtape.” Composed of eight songs, the record is a narrative exploration traversing the turbulence of a post-adolescent life. Many tropes of the time period — from living on one’s own to trying to make sense of life after being a teenager — appear lyrically on the record.
And that makes sense. Calandra began work on the record in late 2021 when they were 20 years old. Thematically, they were speaking in real time.
“What is moving at the moment? What is exciting at the moment? Where’s my head at when I’m doing something?” Calandra asked about songwriting. “I capture moments with my art. It’s like capturing different moments and different eras and times of my life and experiences.”
They liken that capturing to a soundtrack, one that allows them to frame and articulate the highs and lows of a brief period in time through new eyes.
“The project was centered on me discovering a lot of technology with music as well as my own voice through it,” they added. “Like how do I express my own emotions and feelings through sounds from technology?”
To accomplish that, Calandra used tools like synthesizers, drum machines, samplers and tape recorders, creating an eclectic sound that sounds equal part nostalgic for a bygone sonic era and absolutely fresh. “I created distorted soundscapes and stuff like that to create an alternative pop record, in the end, which was super fun.”
The largely Spanish-language “CASI ANGELES 3? project also includes collaborators such as popular indie artists Victor Internet and Elijah Who, as well as artists from Calandra’s native Chile and Argentina. “For me, collaboration is key in music. It’s like my favorite thing — to invite people to be on my songs and just have fun with that,” Calandra said about the record. “I’d hope people still get to enjoy, listen to it and relate to the music and find something they love out of it and find pockets of the moments of what they love in it beyond language barriers.”
Having finished the record back in March 2022, Calandra has since dedicated time to creating a visual accompaniment to the record. Working with collaborators from Honduras and Kentucky now living in Chicago, Calandra said translating their music visually has been an organic and enjoyable process.
“My plan right now is to keep building my artistry with everything I do, and just keep creating and experimenting,” Calandra said about what comes next. “I want to keep meeting people, keep working with people, keep sort of building on the community here in Chicago and in the U.S. in general.”
6 p.m. April 29 at Chop Shop, 2033 W. North Ave.; tickets $14-$20 (ages 18+) at dice.fm
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.