Comfort Club talks songwriting, romance, and new single “If You Got To Know Her”
I’ve been a fan of Los Angeles-based Comfort Club since the release of his debut album, Fear Of Moving On. A year and change later, I had the chance to catch up with him and chat about the process of writing his latest single “If You Got To Know Her,” the track’s Juno-inspired music video, and how his songwriting lens shifts as his career progresses.
The music video for “If You Got To Know Her” is inspired by 2007 film Juno and releases on July 21. Photo by Jenna Doolittle.
SKY: So “If You Got To Know Her” is your fourth release in 2025. How do these new tracks differ from the tracks on your debut album, Fear Of Moving On? What kind of evolution have you seen yourself take?
COMFORT CLUB: Well, first of all, thank you for even listening to my album last year. It’s cool to see that as a body of work, and then work on this new body of work – and exactly to the point of this question – kind of see how they compare to each other. An analogy came to mind when I was writing Fear of Moving On. It was the equivalent of being in the ocean, being thrashed by the waves and writing from that perspective, and now I feel like I’m on the beach looking at it. That distance helps me write about some similar feelings I’ve experienced in my life, love and romance and heartbreak. I feel like I have some distance from it now so I can write about it with a little bit of a different perspective. “If You Got To Know Her” and some of the other songs I put out this year are thinking a little more about love as opposed to heartbreak, even though, for me, they’re all kind of blended into the same part of my brain. It’s a very volatile situation, to be in love or thinking about love, because it’s so fleeting. I always feel like it could disappear at any moment. I think that’s where a lot of my writing comes from.
SKY: I love that analogy of stepping onto the beach and seeing things from a different perspective.
COMFORT CLUB: I was thinking about the analogy of being in the eye of the storm, and then being outside of it. I think the eye of the storm is usually calm. That analogy is almost backwards from the way I feel about it now.
SKY: Where did that initial spark of inspiration come from?
COMFORT CLUB: I’ve always kind of had this feeling when I’m in a relationship or any type of romantic entanglement where I feel like they have the higher ground. It’s that feeling that always puts me in a situation where I’m not advocating for myself enough or standing my ground on things that I should be. I always find myself justifying that to myself, to other people in my life, when somebody is hurting me. So I think it really came from that feeling of being like, this might look like this from the outside, it might look like I’m not holding my ground on things, but if you were in the same shoes that I’m in, you’d understand. It feels like a double-edged sword.
SKY: So the general mood and story of the song was what came to you first. That's interesting,
COMFORT CLUB: Definitely, yeah. I've always wanted to write about that feeling because it's very prominent in my life and I just hadn't really ever tackled it before, so it came out in full force on this song.
SKY: It definitely comes through. And this song is a little more of an indie rock vibe, I can hear that COIN and Pinegrove inspiration. Looking forward, what artists beyond those two are inspiring your writing on a broader scale?
COMFORT CLUB: COIN and Pinegrove are definitely two huge inspirations for me, and I feel like The 1975 has become a really big piece of my life in the last couple years. I try to channel that as much as I can, but they're such a one-of-a-kind band that it's hard to even try to replicate in a way that would be noticeable. They're so broad in the types of songs they make so it's really hard to draw direct inspiration from them, but the spirit of their music really connects with me. And Medium Build. Not that I would think that inspiration is evident in my music, but I've listened to a lot of that, and just [trying to be] a little bit more raw and talk about those deeper emotions like he does. And Valley has been a huge inspiration for me lately. I think I've just come to notice how perfect of a band they are, how great their songs are. I feel like however many albums they have, they're all just top-to-bottom home runs. So I've been drawing a lot of inspiration from those different worlds and trying to formulate that all into my own sound, and that's where I feel like I'm coming out with a little bit more of a raw pop-rock thing.
SKY: That’s a great mix. A bit of a Chase Lawrence universe happening there. I’m curious, what’s your favorite kind of song by The 1975? Is it the radio singles? The ballads? What’s your 1975 vibe?
COMFORT CLUB: That's an incredible question. As much as I am a fan of their older stuff and what I would consider the ‘bread and butter’ of The 1975 (including what I think The 1975 thinks is their ‘bread and butter’), Being Funny in a Foreign Language is my favorite album from them. I think that's a perfect album, top to bottom. I feel like people and the band always rate that as their least favorite album, and it's my very favorite effort from them.
SKY: There are so many reasons why I agree with you. I love that album. How do you know when a song of yours is finished?
COMFORT CLUB: For me, it's when I get the lyrics finished because for the most part, that's the last piece. I get the production stuff done pretty quickly because I love just throwing guitar ideas at a song. I can sit in my studio all day and keep adding another guitar layer because I love twinkly, atmospheric guitar parts, which I feel like I get a lot from The 1975 and Pinegrove. But that part falls into place a little quicker. Then lyrically, I feel like I always have shoes to fill in the song where there will be a line that I didn't knock out of the park yet, so I keep revisiting it until it feels like I’m really packing in as many line-for-line blows as I can in a song. That’s really important to me as a listener and as an artist. Once I feel like I’ve locked the lyrics into place, I’ll maybe go in and add a little more atmospheric stuff or a little transitional stuff based around what the lyrics are doing. I’m always trying to chase the lyrics down until the last minute, and then when those finally lock in, I feel relieved of my duty as a songwriter. It’s the duty I love the most, but also the one I work the hardest for.
SKY: That makes sense. If you love it, you’re going to work hard to do the best you can.
COMFORT CLUB: Totally, yeah. I really try to not have any filler lyrics in my music. I can't necessarily defend my entire catalog and say there's no filler lyrics in there, but that's something I really like as a consumer and as an artist. Lyrics are my number one focus, and sometimes I will hear songs where I can obviously tell someone just did it for a rhyme or to get that part of the song done and move on to the chorus or whatever. The lyrics mean so much to me that I don't ever want to take a shortcut on them.
SKY: It’s clear that every word you’re writing is intentional, and that’s so important as a songwriter. As any kind of writer, really.
COMFORT CLUB: That’s all I’ve got, to be honest. I think that’s my calling card.
SKY: It shines through. So beyond the release of “If You Got To Know Her,” what’s next for you?
COMFORT CLUB: We’re putting out a music video a few days after the song release. I’m very excited about it. We went for a very stylized approach where we sort of played off the movie Juno and used character inspiration and kind of created our own storyline off of it. It’s almost like the prequel to that movie. I feel like this is the first music video potentially in my career, or at least in a long time, where we really took a step back. We were going to shoot it multiple times and we didn’t feel like the idea was strong enough, so we really hunkered down and made sure that we created a video that stands on its own. So I’m really excited about that. And then we’re going on a co-headline run with Pretoria at the end of July and into early August in the southwest United States. We’re doing five dates in five days. I’m super excited to get out on the road again, and this is my first co-headline run. It feels like another step in the right direction for touring and being a live artist. As much as I am a studio artist, I’m really excited to go back to some cities and play places that we haven’t established in as much as we want to. And then I have a couple more finished songs that are going to come out shortly after this one. Between production and writing and just general artistry, I feel like I’m in a really good place and making music that I’m a fan of and that I hope will transcend whatever I’ve made to this point.
SKY: That’s the best way to be. I love that music video concept so much, I'm obsessed. I can't wait to see the full thing!
COMFORT CLUB: Same, I feel like it's a really fun idea! And I got to pretend to be Paulie Bleeker, I got to wear the track uniform and everything. There's even a scene where I do that thing he does at the beginning of the movie where he puts deodorant on his inner thighs to not chafe. We tried to do a couple shot-for-shot things to pay homage to the movie. It's going to be fun. I'm excited to put out a music video that has some sort of cultural reference. I think it'll be interesting to see what the reaction is.
SKY: Phenomenal music video, first co-headline tour – it does sound like you’re in a really great spot. I’m excited for you!
COMFORT CLUB: Thank you so much for taking the time to hear the story of the song. I’m excited for it to be out, and there’s more to come beyond that!
