Meet Chad Leaf | Musician/Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Chad Leaf and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chad, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I’ve spent the last 8 years of my life pursuing my band Modern Color. I feel that virtually every step we’ve taken has amounted to some sort of risk whether it be financial or just related to our overall well-beings as people. It is a long road for any person pursuing music or any type of art as their main course in life so I think that those who choose it will at some point have to trade in certain comforts in order to make it work. I think that as long as working on your art is bringing you joy, the trade offs can be easier to accept.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Modern Color’s music represents a lot of different things. There has always been a sense of melancholy and nostalgia to the music but each of our records feel like a different season, casting a different light and hue on our musical identity. In the band, I enjoy the dynamic of being just one of multiple contributors to our music. Although we aren’t all referencing the same bands and artists all the time, it is interesting to see where the other guys are coming from and how our multiple different perspectives can come together to create something unique. It is the differences and compromises that make our music distinctly its own.

Aside from the band, the solo music I make is a purely personal exploration for me. The tape I put out titled “Incidental” was a sort of soundtrack based on found sounds that represented my environment during the pandemic in 2020. I blended melodies and different musical layers with the found sounds to imbue the recordings with a personal feeling rather than let them be a purely objective document of what I was hearing around me at the time. It is a more self-indulgent way of working and it doesn’t require compromises in the way collaborations do however I think there is a value in exploring projects in this way.

There are a lot of things I’m proud of in my music life. Every record Modern Color puts out feels like a personal milestone and the physical records to me feel like tangible symbols of the work we’ve completed. Less tangibly, traveling overseas to perform has been totally inspiring. We played several shows in Japan in 2019 and that’s something I still think about often.

I would say I got to where I am today through being hyper focused on this single pursuit for a considerable chunk of my life. As far as the group dynamic goes, communicating and working together has been crucial for most of what we’ve accomplished. I believe the unwavering efforts of my band plus our absolute love for writing and playing music is the reason we are still around and doing what we do today. If the world needs to know anything about us it is that right there.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Some spots I would recommend in the South Bay are Reverent Coffee Bar, Hi-Fi Espresso, Racer Tea, Proudly Serving, Jus’ Poke, El Tarasco, and Green Temple. As far as the general LA area goes, check out San & Wolves Bakeshop, Baker’s Bench, Pine & Crane, Bodega Park, Osteria La Buca, and Bake n’ Broil.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My success wouldn’t be possible without my family – my partner Charlsey and our dog Mila, my brothers Vince, Fleming, and Chris, my parents, Leslee and Bill and my sister Chanel. Shout out to Tom and Jeff at Other People Records for enabling us for so long and shout out to our brother Corey Coffman for making our records sound top notch. Shout out to every single person who has supported our band in any way. Thank you!

Website: https://chadleaf.bandcamp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leafychad

Other: https://www.instagram.com/moderncolorband

Image Credits
Kevin Allen, Charlsey Kellen, Carly Boomer, Kevin Allen, Ian MacPhee, Kevin Allen, Kevin Allen, Samuel David Katz