2023-05-25 13:04:03
By Eva Waller
Dana Foote is from the east coast of Connecticut and lived briefly in Los Angeles, but because of the pandemic she left the city and went back to Connecticut. The story of Sir Chloe began in tranquil Vermont – also on the east coast. Dana Foote went to college there and majored in composition. Instead of writing a thesis, however, Dana put together a band and performed her own compositions. “Michelle” was one of Sir Chloe’s first songs, it went viral on Tik Tok and brought an audience to Dana and her band.
The mini-album “Party Favors” followed. The band had recorded the songs in the early hours of the morning, the only time the college studio was available. The rest of “Party Favors” was recorded in a warehouse that the band invested a mere hundred dollars in and turned into a full-on recording studio. With the success of the EP, Sir Chloe went with Portugal. The Man and alt-J toured and also supported the Pixies.
That was a few years ago, and now the first complete album is out: “I Am The Dog”. One of the songs – it’s a bit reminiscent of the band Garbage – is called “Salivate”, meaning “to salivate” or “to drool”. Dogs like to drool, but they will also occasionally growl, bare their teeth and bite.
“I am the dog under your couch,” sings Dana Foote in this subtly grungy song with great percussion played by Palmer Foote, Dana’s brother. Dana also has a dog leash ready: “Leash” is the name of another song. In any case, the spectrum of “I Am The Dog” ranges from submissive to threatening.
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Sir Chloe will play at Lido Sounds Festival in Linz on June 17th, 2023. Their debut album “I Am The Dog” was released on May 19, 2023.
Dana Foote grew up in a religious environment and also once wrote and released a song called “Wrath,” about anger, which is one of the seven “deadly sins” in the Christian faith. As a kind of good shepherdess, Dana Foote does not carry a dog on her shoulders in one video, but a lamb. Lambs are gentle animals, they also don’t have claws but hooves. “Hooves” is what Dana calls one of the songs on the new album. This creature has no shoes on, and hooves instead of toes. “No shoes on, hooves for toes”.
Sir Chloe’s songs are about the chaos of modern life, and musically they are inspired by a wide variety of musicians, such as the British PJ Harvey or the US alternative icons Pixies. Dana Foote loves 90’s guitar pop, and she also loves US Grammy winners Cage The Elephant because, she says, their song structures are so interesting.
Dana Foote also had a period where she listened to Bulgarian women’s choirs because she was so captivated by the singing of these women. Otherwise, they tend to stick to one of the great bands in rock history, namely The Velvet Underground, and current names like Mitski or St. Vincent.
The stage name Sir Chloe also has something to do with St. Vincent: one of the songs by this US musician is called “Chloe In The Afternoon”, and Dana is a fan of Annie Clark aka St. Vincent. Also, Dana’s mother almost called her Chloe instead of Dana. The word “Sir” stands for “Lord” and is a very polite form of address, also an honorary title or even a title of nobility. Dana Foote wants to emphasize her androgyny.
“I Am The Dog” is a strong debut album that Sir Chloe made together with US musician and producer John Congleton. John played in the guitar pop band The Paper Chase and has recorded with countless musicians – from Conor Oberst to Warpaint to St. Vincent – for his work with the latter John Congleton won a Grammy.
In the case of Sir Chloe, John Congleton made just a few adjustments in his calm manner and made her “fit” for a larger audience with “I Am The Dog”. After all, Sir Chloe are on tour with acts like Phoenix and Beck this summer. Despite all influences, Sir Chloe’s grunge rock is fresh and independent and impressively shows that guitar pop is alive.
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