X Confidence is a sumptuous, retro blend of 80s synth, 2000s groove and today’s sensibilities, smooth at one turn and soulful at the next. Equal parts vibrant & dreamy, X Confidence is the girl who got away, the guy that stood you up, the lover who left while you were still sleeping. It’s longing, lustrous and a little coy, all wrapped in a neat, shiny package of tasty rhythms and hook-laden melodies. X Confidence plays synth-based Indie pop/rock.
In this interview spotlight I chat with X Confidence – specifically Bob Pittman, with input from Robin Schaffner – about the latest music, AI, dream collabs, and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Let’s get this hot topic out of the way from the start. What are your feelings on AI as a creative tool? Have you experimented with it? Or released any projects where it was used?
It’s here to stay. One day there will be an exceeding popular artist who isjust an AI creation. I don’t know how long that will take but it will happen. X Confidence has never used it in recording. Is it cheating? I suppose, but at one point in time I would have thought correcting your vocals or correcting the drummer’s timing was cheating. We certainly have done plenty of that. I have had much trouble lately writing lyrics. Thesaurus, rhyming dictionary, cheating? If I ever cave in to AI it will be to write that final verse of song.
What is your earliest music memory? Or a moment that sticks out for motivating you to write, record, and release music?
When I was a child, I used to carry vinyl records around like they were a security blanket. My mother says that the first time I saw live music being performed I asked, “Where is the round and round?”
What’s up with this latest release? Any cool back-stories, bloopers, or notable inspirations?
We have been trying to get on dreampop playlists on Spotify, to no avail. Our songs, as much as we try, only skirt around that genre. We can only seem to write what we write. We tried to do a knockoff of Julia Jacklin’s I Am Neon. We got the tempo and I recorded some dreamy crunch guitar double tracked with a very similar chord structure. I sent it off to Robin with the intent that she write some lyrics and sing the song. She sent it back to me with some synth parts and some lyrics and said I should sing the song.
It turned into the song Useless Illusion which is not dreampop at all. Maybe it’s grunge, but it’s not, we could never really do grunge either.
What keeps you going, especially on the “bad” days?
Robin Schaffner. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d find someone who I was so compatible musically and temperamentally. Never did I think I’d find someone who wanted to create exactly what I wanted. Without her keyboard work and angelic voice, I’d be nowhere. It is our collaboration and our ability to overlook each other’s quirks that keeps me going.
If you could collaborate with anyone – dead or alive, famous or unknown – who would it be and why?
Ah, I guess I have always had a hankering for innovative synth players. Brian Eno. His keyboard work on the early Roxy Music albums was phenomenal and shaped the direction of many synth pop bands to come in the 80’s and thereafter. His production work on many albums speaks for itself.
I know it’s hard…but favorite song (or artist) of all time? Or Top 3 if you can’t choose one…?
Oh, it’s not hard. My favorite band: Roxy Music. My favorite album: Roxy Music’s Country Life. My favorite song, the first track from that album: The Thrill of It All
Where’s the best place to connect with you?
On a five mile walk on a flat surface? Instagram messenger? A covered outdoor hot tub on a rainy day? We just opened an account on Bluesky?
I’m not sure what you mean here. Here’s a link tree from our website: https://xconfidenceband.com/links
I appreciate your time. Any last thoughts before signing off?
We need to give a shout out to our producer Gawain Matthews. He was simply phenomenal. He went over every drumbeat, every vocal line, every guitar riff, everything, with a fine-tooth comb. And he was incredibly fast and patient. He had us redo some guitar tracks recorded at home that were slightly out of tune, he removed some redundancy in No More Afraid of Fear to make it more dynamic, he insisted we add the synth part to the second chorus of Summertime Boy, we completely redid the ending of No Escape. His treatment of Robin’s vocals and synth is pristine. We were exceedingly lucky to have found him.
