S1: In November of 1969 , a small group of 20 San Diego State students joined together and formed KCR radio.
S2: From take two.
S3: Welcome to Basin beats. KCR Radio's deep dive into the San Diego sound. Each week we bring you live sets and raw conversations with local artists , pushing boundaries and turning up the volume on the city's underground music scene. Avery Cochran joins us this week , weaving folk storytelling and indie melodies through the basement. Join us as they perform a live set from our studio and your radio , and stick around for a 1 to 1 interview with the band. Now on to their performance.
S4: Hey everybody , my name is Avery Cochran and this song is called Afraid to Die.
S5: Shake you , I wanna Shake you get out of my head. And if I could break you. You know what? Break you. But it have no effect. So get out of my head. I know you want me. I can hear your call. I know what I. I think I'm falling , but I , I've never been. So I , I give up the world just to be in your presence. And when you kissed me , it was just like heaven. But I I'm afraid to die. Over the ocean. Out from the surface I can feel you loving the motion? It's making me nervous. But you lead me down the hall. I press to the wall. And though I didn't plan on this at all. But pray for my soul. Start the funeral. One you don't wanna want. You get out of my head. And I've got a tattoo of something titled. We want you to know what it says. Gotta get out of my head. Yeah , I know you want me. I can hear your calling. No , honey , I I , I think I'm falling , but I , I've never been this high. Hi. I give up the world just to be in your presence. And when you kissed me , it was just like heaven. But I am afraid to die. Over the ocean. Out from the surface I can feel you loving the motion. It's making me nervous. But you lead me down the whole block. Pressed to the wall. And though I didn't plan on this at all. But pray for my soul. Start the funeral. In your eyes I'm alive. There's places they won't find a shout I'm certain your words mean something so sweet. Kills me. Over the ocean. Out from the surface I can feel you loving the motion. It's making me nervous. But you lead me down the hall I press to the wall. And though I didn't plan on this shithole. But pray for my soul. Start the funeral.
S6: Thank you.
S4: All right , this next one , it's called standards.
S5: Oh , God. Half past noon. It's overcast in mid-June , and I've got nothing to do but talk to the walls and more. The callous and their cruel. They're closing in on me too. I put my phone down and light a cigarette. I pray these walls burn down to give me a view. And we both know when you come home you'll call me up again. Just to piss off my mother. And just to call me a friend. Oh , it's been several years or so since I've had you in my bed. Now you wake next to another and I pretend not to care. I can't speak of roll my arms. When they asked me what we had. And I can't seem to understand why you would haunt me so casually. And you know that I've got standards before you. They don't matter. I'm swimming in the pool. The poor I used to meet you head first in my shoes. And the water's not as blue. Oh , I know we both know I sleep alone. Last night I dreamt of you again. I don't want to be held by another. Just awakening. Oh , it's been several years too. So since I've been clear in my head I can't confide in my mother in law I can't confide in my friend. Yeah , I can't speak of roll my arms when they ask me what we had. And I can't seem to understand why you would haunt me so casually and you know that I've got standards. But for you , they don't matter. Now I'm wasted at your party. You're off with the girl who's not me. You can't tell her what we had cause wouldn't let it try for mine. So I wish that I never met you. Cause these affairs get so convoluted. Whoa!
S4: Whoa! I can't play that chord.
S5: But it's not that I quit this. I just wish I did things different.
S6: There you. Thank you.
S4: This next one is called The Executioner.
S5: I had a dream I was some kind of executioner. My ex-lover finally made his fate. He said , spare me and I'll love you forever. So I spared him and he ghosted the next day. I should have seen it coming. All we ever were was nothing. I paid two grand for some medium. To take my sweaty hand and say. He's not the one. And you might think that's laughable. God help me. I am female to say I'm more than touchable. God help me. I am female. What can I do? It's all I know. Coerced me into kindness. That's all I'll ever know. What can I do? It's all I know. Coerced me into kindness. That's all I'll ever know. And I studied politics to get my fix of praise from you. It sure was fleeting , but the highs felt nice and the world was ever daunting. It was haunting because it slaughtered me. Now I'm a good girl. I didn't even better a wife. I should've seen it coming. My shrill voice amounts to nothing. I show skin on social media like it's the tax to pay for the space I take up. But is it enough? Is it enough? Is it enough? Yeah. You might think that's laughable. God help me. I am female to say I'm more than touchable. God help me. I am female. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. What can I do? It's all I know. Oh.
S6: Thank you. Thank you very much.
S4: I wrote that song at the gym. I don't know why I never go to the gym. Ever. And the one time I did , I was in the weightlifting section , and the first verse , just , like , kind of came into my head , and it was like , floating around , and I just , like , went home. And it was great because I needed an excuse to not be at the gym anymore. I was like , whoa , I just thought of a cool lyric. So I went home and I wrote it. But that's called The Executioner. Woo!
S6: Woo! Thank you. Thank you very much.
S4: Um , I've got one more. This next one I wrote , I wrote about being a college graduate , almost , and wanting to be a musician. Like , there's nothing scarier than that. So anyways , this one's called blowing up. Burning out.
S5: Read it on the paper. Teenage girl is breaking records. And I think I'm getting sicker every day. It's not that I'm bitter , but I'm not getting any younger. So little time was so much left to say. I think I'm going Half insane. Sweet melodies don't sound the same. Hate the players , hate the game. It goes on and on and on. You're blowing up I'm burning now. You shouldn't. Feels I'm shutting down. Even the devil won't buy my soul tonight. To lay my head among the rest of tired minds. Who tried their best. Is to settle in cynical comfort tonight. Oh , God , I'm losing my grip. I can't climb the corporate ladder. I'll always slip. Morning affirmations I won't starve myself today just cause I woke up feeling angry at the world. Spray tan salutations. Could I be any more fake? I'm like a walking contradiction. So absurd. You can't get it. No one does. I wanna myself because songbird says I'm not enough. It goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on. You're blowing up. I'm burning out. You shouldn't deals. I'm shutting down. Even the devil won't buy my soul tonight. To lay my head among the rest of tired Minds who tried their best is to settle in cynical comfort tonight. Oh , God. I'm losing my grip. Proud boy on the web said my music. I can say it don't affect me even though it did. But I won't climb the corporate ladder. I'll always slip.
S6: Thank you. Thank you very much , everybody. Hello.
S2: Hello. Hello.
S6: Hello.
S7: Today we are here with Avery Cochran , and she just did an amazing performance. Pervasive beats. Thank you. Say , probably the best I've seen. This is my first time.
S4: Oh my God , shut up. Thank you so much. Is that so sweet? Thank you. Um.
S7: Um. But. Yeah. Our first question for you is , are you in any other bands or have you worked in any other bands.
S4: Other than middle school garage bands? No , I just kind of do my own solo stuff , but I've been lucky enough to have a band. Except for the Basement Beats session that we just did , because I just did that acoustically. But most times I play have a great band that goes to Sdsu and we all play together.
S7: And then , um , in terms of like , you know , playing solo , do you prefer playing solo or in a group.
S4: Like just like what I did just then? Yeah.
S7: Just being on stage alone. Or do you like having a band?
S4: Yeah , definitely prefer having a band because there's just more of , you know , there's more energy. I if like , it's intimate to just be plucking your guitar and then just feel like you feel so alone , but also it's a cool feeling. And if I was better at guitar , I feel like it would be cooler. But it's so much fun with the band and you can just kind of , if you screw up , then you can be like , hey , JP's going to take a solo and then. Yeah. You know. Yeah. So , yeah , it's nice.
S8: I like how you and JP , like , build off each other.
S4: Yeah , yeah , it's super fun. It's it's really fun when we have the whole band and we've got drums and another guitarist and bass.
S8: So I heard that Avery from slacker played for you before.
S4: Yes , yes. Avery Nelson is my bass player and she's awesome. She's in three bands. She's also in a band called Stingray. So she. Yes , I , I discovered her. I didn't actually discover her. I texted in the group chat and I in the Aztec Music group group me. And I was like , hey , I need a bass player. And she responded to me. I was like , oh my God. Another person named Avery. And then she joined my band and then JP , JP and then another band realized how freaking awesome she is. She shreds. And then she got scooped up by the other two bands. Yeah.
S8: Yeah.
S4: That's cool. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. So you guys just met , like through via group. Group do you? Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Just the. Yeah. It's cool. Aztec music group. Totally.
S7: Totally. Um , and then one of your songs is kind of about this , you know , you just graduated and you're kind of focusing on your music career , but , like , what are your next steps? You know , what do you want to do?
S9: I don't know.
S4: Graduation post-grad. I mean , currently I'm a waitress. Actually , no , I can't even say that. I don't even like that. Cool. I'm the hostess , and I get to , like , wait tables sometimes if one of the servers calls out. But. And then I work at a country club as well , but I. And it's kind of embarrassing to say like , oh no , I want to do music , but obviously that doesn't pay the bills.
S8: It's not embarrassing.
S4: Yeah , I know , I know , I know , I know , but it's just I feel a sense of shame when I say that because I got my degree in political science , so I feel like I should be doing that , but I don't really want to do that. Yeah. Um , but my next step , ideally , is to make an album and then see what happens with that. But I'm not.
S7: Sure they look forward to that.
S4: Thank you.
S7: Um , and then so your degree is in political science , as you mentioned. But would you say that there was anything that you learned while you were studying political science , that you've applied to kind of your music career and like , you know , has any of that helped you at all?
S4: I would say no , not in the sense of I would say like just kind of what I've learned makes me very upset and pessimistic and adopt , like kind of a class consciousness that I hope to kind of use in my songwriting. But it's like , honestly , studying political science was depressing. And so it kind of fueled my fire a little bit , you know?
S7: But motivation. Exactly.
S4: Exactly. Yeah. So yeah , I , I didn't really learn much on like , oh , what's going to benefit me? I just kind of learned like , yeah , every like industries kind of.
S8: Give you like some good writing material. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Exactly. Yeah I would say so like already I'm like kind of like , oh my God , oh my God , what do I do? What do I do? And based on what I learned in school. I guess , but yes , it it did give me a good learning. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. Like although it wasn't like for you essentially like it helped you in a way like to make songs and you know.
S4: And it's also really I mean , I'm really glad I studied it. It was so interesting. I love to read and write. So it was kind of doing it was it was honestly kind of creative. I liked writing essays , so it was good in that sense.
S8: So we were doing some stalking on your Instagram earlier and we saw that you have a DJ set. Yes. Yeah.
S4: Yeah. So I'm from Seattle originally , and I would say that I play more shows up in Seattle than I have in San Diego. And there's this one festival. It's pretty new. It's called Day In Day Out. And they've always it's they've only been playing post-Covid. It's only been the festival post-Covid , but they've had amazing lineups the past two years. They've had like Bon Bonnie Bear , Mitski. I don't know. Just , just some really cool names. And they emailed me last week , super last minute before they announced the line up. Line up.
S8: Yeah , yeah.
S4: And they asked if I would do a DJ set and which I've never done before really. And yeah. And so because it was with the same kind of production music festival production company that does this festival called Capitol Hill Block Party , which I played. So cool. And thank you. Um , I played my own music for that festival , but that one highlights , I guess , more live local artists. So that one had , um , Sophie Tucker was a headliner. Denzel Curry , goth babe. That was goth. Yes. It was so cool. My drummer got to meet Gough Gough backstage. It was insane.
S8: Griff , right? Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Yeah , yeah. And , um , it was it was a really cool festival. But they. The same people do this next one day and day out and day in , day out I think is a bigger festival with maybe slightly bigger names ahead in the hearts headlining Bleachers and Suki Waterhouse , there was one more that I can't.
S8: Remember , man , I trust I saw.
S4: Man I trust. Yes , yes , so good. So I think they still want to be able to highlight local artists , but it just because their their budget is more towards the bigger artists , I think they're like , I'm not going to be playing original music. I'm just going to be like , sing it on stage. Yeah , I know. Yeah.
S9: Yeah. I just I started getting into deejaying , really. It's so fun. That's so cool. What do you DJ for?
S7: I mean , we've honestly been doing workshops here at KCR.
S9: Oh , that's so cool.
S7: So it's.
S9: So fun.
S4: I have to get in on that because.
S9: I have no idea what I'm doing. You have some boards you could practice on. Sweet , sweet. Yeah , I.
S4: Got my friend to do it. He DJ's for University of Washington party , so he he's gonna help me just be on stage and I don't know , I'm just going to be doing that the whole time.
S9: Yeah , you'll look cool. That's all that matters.
S4: Yeah , that's.
S9: All I care about. Thank you.
S7: And then so what instrument did you pick up first as you were , you know , starting to get into music and.
S8: Piano , right?
S4: Yeah , yeah. Piano. My , I remember my mom pawned a huge keyboard that you plug in when I was like , maybe 14 or something , and I didn't really understand why. She just kind of showed up with it. She's like , I got this at the pawn shop. And then I just started noodling around with it and I was like , hey , this isn't actually so hard. It looks daunting , kind of. But then when you learn just like basic chords , you can , I don't know. So I picked up piano and then I wasn't until college I started playing guitar. Yeah.
S8: Yeah. When you make songs , is it usually like your songwriting happens on the piano and you , like , translate it on the guitar?
S4: Um , no , it depends , because I feel like when I first started writing songs. Yes. But then as I got more used to the guitar and I could learn how to finger pick a little bit , it just they both sound so different. So I whenever I start a song , I'm like , okay , am I going to start on piano or guitar? Because I can do both. But my I think my core knowledge is a little more limited on guitar. Like I just learned bar chords like two months ago.
S9: They're so hard.
S4: They were so hard. It was my New Year's resolution to learn them for like the last two years. And I just always put it off , put it off and off. But I've been really trying to incorporate them , but they're so hard.
S7: I even have long fingers , which makes it easier. But still , even then.
S9: It's like.
S7: They're so. Hard.
S9: Hard. Yeah.
S7: And then like , what's your favorite venue you think you've played out of all your shows? Oh.
S9: Oh.
S4: In San Diego or anywhere? Yeah.
S9: Yeah.
S4: I really did like the stage. I played for Block Party because it was an outdoor stage , and that was my first and only time playing an outside stage , which was really cool. And in San Diego , I would say I did an acoustic set once at the holding company , and I really like the holding company. I don't know if you guys have ever been there , but it's a really cool , nice venue. Yeah.
S7: Lastly , I was looking at your merch highlight on Instagram and I have to say , the shirts that say Kiss Boys Trust Funds. You know , that's very , very cute merch.
S9: Thank you. So , um , you.
S7: Know what inspired. That?
S9: That? Um.
S4: The kiss the Boys with the trust Funds merchandise comes from a lyric in one of my songs called summertime. And basically the whole chorus is drive the car with the top off , Kiss the Boys with the trust funds. And that was the summer after Covid. I wrote that , and I don't know , I had just gone through a breakup or something , and it was like my hot girl summer song.
S9: Oh yeah. Totally.
S4: But it's kind of ironic because I've been dating a woman for the last two years , so it's like , okay , like , but I still I love that lyric. I was apprehensive to release it at first because , I mean , it's not like I don't want to come up with the image like , oh , I'm a gold digger , you know?
S9: Yeah , but.
S4: But it's like. And my mom was like. Hey.
S9: Hey.
S4: Is that the image you want to put out into the world? And I was kind of. Like.
S9: Like. Why.
S4: Why. Not?
S9: Not? Why not? Yeah , yeah.
S4: I'm not ashamed to admit it.
S9: That's valid.
S4: Just the people I kissed. Happened to have trust funds. It wasn't like seeking it out , right?
S9: Yeah , exactly.
S4: That's where the lyric came from. And , yes , that I thank you for the compliment on the merch. Yeah.
S9: Yeah.
S4: That's a good question. Nobody seems to ever notice that merch. I have only sold a couple of shirts , so thank.
S9: You for noticing. I would have bought one if you had one.
S4: Yeah , I'll make more.
S8: Where can people get your merch? Yeah.
S4: Yeah. Um. Oh , that's actually , um , I'm trying to make a website right now because I would love to sell more merch. I mostly just sell it at shows , but I'm trying to make a website so I can just ship it out. So it will be. Avery Cochran. Com when I finally figure out GoDaddy and Squarespace and how to make a website , it's right.
S9: It's so hard. It's that.
S4: Barcodes and making a website , it's just like , I don't want to deal.
S9: With it. Struggles.
S4: Struggles. It's so. Hard.
S9: Hard.
S7: That's all we have for you today. But thank you so much.
S9: Thank you.
S4: Guys so. Much.
S9: Much.
S4: Thank you so much.
S9: Thank you so. Much.
S4: Much. Isaiah and Joe thank you so much.
S10: Awesome show. Woo.
S11: KCR with another heavy hits.
S3: That's a wrap on this week's Basement Beats. I'm your host Connor O'Toole. And the interview was done by Joe Kurtzman and Isaiah Huerta. Sammy Thomas is our producer. Rudy Shroff and Nolan Conrad are recording , mixing and mastering engineers. Caleb is our audio editor and sound designer. The theme is created by Muthoni. Special thanks to Leah Isola on our production team. If you like what you heard , find the full session interview on our website edu or follow us on our socials at Bassman. See you next week with more local music and fresh voices.
