Music Makers

Three Music Thingz with Comprador

We are so back with another rendition of Three Music Thingz, the blogseries where I ask musicians for three thingz that are essential to their music-making.

Today we have Comprador! That's the musical alias of Charlie D'Ardenne, the Philadelphia-based musician who recently put out* the excellently-titled album please stay off my ass via Yarn Spun Tapes. It's a something-for-everyone grab bag under a broad rock umbrella, almost like you're listening to a chunk of the schedule of an alt rock radio station one dimension over from ours, with a bunch of different bands (grunge, folk-rock, power pop) somehow all helmed by the same singer: Comprador FM. Everything is anchored by D'Ardenne's alluring voice: it's pleasantly melancholy, sensitively stoic, as appropriate for lullabies as it is for rip-yer-face-off rock music.

One of the "for fans of" descriptors of this album was Elliott Smith, specifically "we have Elliott Smith at home." And I can definitely hear some XO lushness in the mix, but like...here's the thing. I want more Elliott Smith at home. I wish more people would try to channel Elliott Smith, at home, in the office, or out and about. My favorite song from please stay off my ass is "Reduce Your Motion Blur," on which Comprador attempts to dodge some interpersonal bullets ("your cover's blown in the suck zone / policing all your tones / you're on your own"); the chorus features a roaming guitar riff whose appearance is so stimulating, it almost feels like it's poking you to make sure you're still alive. And I am! Oh I am!

Also, Comprador is D'Ardenne's solo musical identity, and they play almost all the instruments on the album, and they engineered it too...but they also play in a shitload of Philly bands and I love it when people do this so I'm going to list them here: Humilitarian (guitar), Caring Less (drums), Dante Robinson and the It's Lit Family Band (drums), Wonderful Life (guitar), EDEN (guitar), and sometimes with Caroline Quinn (drums or guitar), Koser (bass), Ernest Strawfield (drums or guitar), and Stone Cold Grace (drums).

Below, Comprador shares their Three Music Thingz:

Strich & Zeidler baby grand piano built sometime between the 1880s and 1930s

this lives at my parents’ place in the suburbs. I would noodle around on it as a kid in the 1990s but at the time didn’t make a serious effort to learn how to play. in like 2016 when I was living in Cincinnati I had an extended stretch of writers block on guitar, so I got a free upright piano off Craigslist with the help of a few friends (thanks Ryan / Sam / Gabe for helping me carry it into the house). I developed an approach that’s like a guitarist’s simplified idea of how to play piano, typically the root & fifth with my left i.e. fretting hand and picking out rudimentary melodies with my right hand. in 2019 I moved back to Pennsylvania and most of the places I’ve lived in Philadelphia are too small for a piano so I tend to make the trek to where my parents live to write and record piano parts. on the new album, this piano can be heard on ‘the purpose of a system is what it does,’ (reversed at the end) ‘perfect anyone,’ ‘pearl,’ ‘now is a CIA psyop,’ and ‘party buzz.’

Audio Technica AT2020 large diaphragm condenser mic

this is a pretty basic affordable cardioid (i.e. heart-shaped sensitivity pattern) condenser microphone. I read on like Reverb that Billie Eilish used one. I recorded almost all of my vocals on the new album with this, except I think the choruses of ‘constant state of shock’ which Karl Blau recorded using a Shure SM7b dynamic mic.

chronic insomnia

I’ve had problems sleeping and terrible sleep hygiene for as long as I can remember. many or most of my song embryos appear at like 3-4 AM sitting on my bed or watching my roommate’s tv with the audio turned most of the way down in a semi hypnagogic state. this is also when I proofread my Letterboxd reviews. annoyingly enough my insomnia disappears when I’m on tour but that doesn’t happen very much (eagerly anticipating the Caring Less tour in fall 2026!! and fingies crossed a way more extensive tour with a different band in 2027 that I’m not allowed to discuss yet >:3 )

*a note from Comprador: "please note I took my music off Spotify this year. I didn't organize this but I was inspired by and am now involved with Scenes Off Spotify, a group of independent musicians & organizers working together to help bands and communities fully divest from Spotify. more information on that here."

Thanks Comprador! Listen to please stay off my ass right now, and check out their link aggregation.

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