Indie popster Chloe Day here Saturday
By Gerald M. Gay

ARIZONA DAILY STAR Caliente Section | Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.05.2006

Chloe Day is the indie-pop princess of Southern California, filling Santa Monica clubs and coffeehouses with her eclectic brand of bubble-gum rock.

"There was a time when I was going out to perform five or six nights a week," Day said in a recent phone interview from St. Louis.

The singer is now on her first cross-country tour, which will take her through Club Congress, 311 E. Congress St., on Saturday.

She has a steadily increasing fan base and recently celebrated the release of her sophomore CD, "Pixie Runway."

Not one for convention, Day doesn't stick to any one form on "Runway." Tracks run the gamut from the 1950s pop throwback "Lolly" to the beat-heavy electronica melody "Dirty Little Secret."

"I don't ever want to fit my music into one genre, because every song needs to develop the way it wants to," Day said.

"It has to have its own feel and vibe. I'm noticing that songs can be way across the spectrum and still fit together and tell a story."

Day said the self-produced "Pixie Runway" was infinitely easier to put together than her 2003 debut album, "The Return Of . . ." "This one came together really fast," she said. "I had more confidence this time around to figure out what I needed to do. On the last one, we got a lot of help. This time, we were on one song, then another, then another. You never know when song ideas are going to bite you."

She adds that one of her favorite songs on the new album, "With You With Me" — which talks about the need to find your own voice in music — was also one of the quickest to write. "I was on a nostalgia trip," Day said. "I was in a really happy kind of space. That one just felt like it came from somewhere beyond me."

Day comes through Club Congress to play a special mixed revue with flamenco group Tesoro and local DJ Buttafly. The musician says she is excited to play a venue with such history attached to it. "I've known members of other bands who strongly recommended we call up Club Congress and check them out," Day said.

"I have a friend who spent a lot of time there when he was living in Tucson, and he just raved about it."