As I’m sure a few of you know, I’m new to Iowa. It’s been seven months since I packed up my life and drove 12 hours from Denver to Iowa City. While I’m enjoying settling in, it’s especially fun when my connections in Colorado mosey their way into Iowa. Most recently, that happened with an awesome band that’s on a national tour and stopped to perform at xBk.
Based in Denver, indie pop duo Cherokee Social has been climbing up the music ladder since 2023. Their sound reminds me of Still Woozy; bubbly, jangly, vibey, psychadelic bedroom pop that has a West Coast feel to it. Vocalist and drummer Julia Navarro and guitarist Alex Creighton are a match made in heaven, and it was only a matter of time before they found each other.
“There was a piano at my house when I was a kid, so I taught myself that. I was like six years old,” Creighton said. “As I grew up, I learned guitar and went to school for music and jazz. I was booking shows in the Denver scene and that’s how I met Julian.”
“My family had a recording studio, so I kind of just grew up doing music all the time,” Navarro added. “I think I was on a drum kit at, like, three and then I was a singer. Then I moved to Colorado and I ended up running into Alex.”
Live performance driving connection
Here’s the thing about Cherokee Social: they have fun. They’re one of the most authentic bands I’ve ever come across; Navarro excitable and witty, Creighton chill and contemplative. It’s challenging to bring a consistently high energy to the stage, but not for these two.
“It takes a lot to fuel the machine, especially touring,” Navarro said. “It’s harder to promote as a two-piece. But [we make up for it] with, I guess, the tenacity of how bad we want to do this.”
They make their shows special. Navarro brings out traditional drums and gives them to kids, who play alongside them onstage. Creighton breathes life into his guitar and swings his body into a hypnotic state. They hand out a bubble gun to whoever wants it in the crowd and tell them to go crazy.
And once they wrap up their set, they’re posted up at their merch table for the rest of the night. That’s how Cherokee Social makes most of their connections — through conversation with total strangers.
“As a musician, that’s half of my job, being a therapist,” Navarro said. “But I love it because if that’s what you need, to just be heard or because you are looking up to me as your big brother and all I’m doing is listening ... You’re going to be okay.'”
Don’t put them in a box
The duo has been working to increase Indigenous representation in the music scene, whether it be at a Native-led festival or shows with all kinds of identities hitting the stage.
“We’re actually getting to make a difference,” Navarro said. “We had some Native kids come up to us, like every show there’s at least one Native who’s just like, ‘You’re so cool, I relate to your sh*t way more than anyone else because it seems like you’re just in that same mind.’”
Cherokee Social has brought this mission of creating community all around the country, and is doing it all over again right now on their Eeyoko Mataylë Tour. There are always challenges with being a touring musician, but being an Indigenous artist in America can be even more difficult.
“I’ve seen a lot of prejudice and just passive aggressive comments, and overall racism and unfair treatment of Julian and the way he looks,” Creighton said. “It adds a layer of difficulty to touring because it becomes not just about the music sometimes, and it becomes about what you look like or what people have to say about who you are when really all we’re trying to do is tour.”
Their success is also a topic of debate among Indigenous communities, as the music industry has its drawbacks.
“[Other Indigenous artists] don’t want to play the game with everyone else, and they get mad when you do go and play the game with everyone else,” Navarro said. “They’re like, ‘He’s white passing, so that’s why he’s getting [gigs],’ and I’m like, ‘No, I’m just really good at music, and I’ve been touring since I was 16. I’m 32 now. You earn a little level of respect at some point from doing this.’”
It’s complicated, to say the least, to navigate identity while trying to survive.
“I love my Native artists, but every single one of us do not have to sing about the same f*cking thing, right?” Navarro said. “Like, ‘Get To Me’ is a story based on this girl I was super into and her dad died on the rez. You wouldn’t be able to f*cking tell that right from that song. That’s me giving back to the community, telling a story and people who know and can understand some of the dialogue.”
“I’m not saying I have it the worst. I don’t think I have it the worst,” Navarro continued. “However, when I’m being asked questions about my life, my music, what I’m writing from, I’m talking from my experiences. It has nothing to do with everyone else’s.”
Living the dream
Developing a band identity, finding industry connections and growing an audience takes time, money, energy and a thick skin.
“It’s hard when you’re living out your dream, right?” Navarro said. “Currently, a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, they’re influencers, and have no idea [what they’re doing].’ We are musicians first. It wasn’t rocket science, like all of the sudden we got here. We have been grinding.”
The grinding is clearly paying off. Cherokee Social has dropped a total of 11 singles this year and they have multiple ideas in the works for a debut album.
“It’s a business. It’s fun. It’s a career. I want to make it my life,” Navarro said. “There’s a super big difference between Alex and I and the local music scene, like hobby players. Music should be universal, but it’s hard when everyone has the same idea of like, what Alex and I are doing is achievable. And I tell people, it’s really not. It’s almost impossible unless you have this mindset of like, we don’t eat. All of our money [we’re making] on tour, we’re lucky if we break even. It’s taken us three years to even get [here], we toured in a Jeep Patriot for three years.”
This hopefully won’t be the last time they’ll be in Iowa. Everyone deserves to experience a Cherokee Social show at least once in their life.
