The Sunday Music Drop is a weekly radio series hosted by the KQED weekend news team. In each segment, we feature a song from a local musician or band with an upcoming show and hear about what inspires their music.
Songwriter and guitarist Christina Busler of the Oakland-based band Christina’s Trip describes their music as alternative 90s rock-inspired with elements of distortion pop.
“We try to be like a little bit edgy but and have that distortion, but I definitely write like very poppy melodies and lyrics and stuff, and I kind of like to weave it all together,” Busler says. “If I were to define it, [distortion pop] comes from that kind of sound of dissonance and fuzz. So distortion is when it comes to like the sound quality of everything. So pairing that with pop and pop chord progressions and pop sounds.”
Regarding the origins of the band, Busler says the name comes from two references in indie rock: the band Sonic Youth and their song “Eric’s Trip.”
“I’m obsessed with both Sonic Youth and ‘Eric’s Trip,'” she says. “And so I decided Christina’s Trip. My name’s Christina. I decided that would be the band name.”