Start Listening To: Immaterialize
Chicago duo Immaterialize turn years of quiet collaboration into dream-tinged indie rock that balances grief, memory, and shimmering guitar work.
Immaterialize might be a relatively new name, but the partnership between Alana Schachtel (Lipsticism) and Erik Fure runs much deeper. After more than a decade of playing and experimenting together, the pair finally shaped their shared vision into a project in 2024, building songs at home that blur the lines between indie rock, dream pop, and experimental textures. Their latest single, ‘It’s A Vision’, captures the surreal edge of dreams while confronting loss and memory with fragile beauty. With their signing to Angel Tapes, Fire Talk’s emerging artists imprint, Immaterialize are carving out a place in Chicago’s DIY scene that feels at once intimate and expansive.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
Erik: We’ve been based in Chicago for a while, which is where Alana is from. I’m originally from the Seattle area. As Immaterialize we’ve been making indie rock, dream pop, and the like.
You’ve both been collaborating for over a decade, but Immaterialize only emerged as a project in 2024. What made now the right time to give it a name and fully commit to it?
Alana: We have a long history of writing music together on instruments, just jamming, but it was hard to understand the recording process. We realized we both work well in a solitary way, so we decided to take turns working on the songs and the recorded versions finally started to come together. We also had a lot of discussions surrounding loosening our grip on perfectionism and I think that helped too. On a practical level, we set up a production/recording space in our apartment which made it more conducive to creating this record.
Erik: Yeah I think right place, right time, right state of mind, right vitamins and supplements. Ultimately I think it was a change in perspective about how to go about writing and recording - from thinking we should put a band together and record in a studio to realizing we’re more likely to finish our collaborative guitar music tracks if we just worked on making it happen ourselves at home.
Your new single ‘It’s A Vision’ was sparked by a dream. How often do your songs start in that kind of subconscious or surreal space?
Alana: I don’t think I often write lyrics inspired by a dream, but this dream was so haunting and horrific and it impacts me to this day. Fortunately I’m not always having dreams like that. I think the subconscious probably influences every lyric I ever write, I’m often trying to translate the subconscious to the conscious. An example of this is “I move through time and sacrifice the rest of you that I hold on.” Here I’m trying to capture the effect time and aging have on memory. Memory can feel like all we have of someone after they pass, and it’s heartbreaking that as we age our memories can become blurrier and harder to access. We grieve the person after they pass and then we grieve our memories of them.
Erik: As far as writing on guitar I would say songs or parts often start from a subconscious place in the sense that I’m basically just exploring or playing until something feels like it connects with me in the moment. I don’t really sit down with the idea to write a specific style of song or part. For lyrical themes, I think this song is the most clear instance so far of being inspired by the contents of one particular dream. Dream sequences have made their way into lyrics in our other songs as well.
The track feels both deeply personal and otherworldly. How do you navigate turning grief and loss into something listeners can step into?
Alana: I feel bad sometimes subjecting people to it lol. I don’t think a ton about the listeners' experience listening to a track about grief and loss, I just often feel like what I want to say lyrically emerges from that place.
Erik: Yeah I think it was something we had to be able to step into ourselves first and treat it in a personal way. I imagine that hoping beyond reason, dreaming of or thinking you see someone who isn’t here could be part of the grieving process that others may be able to relate to. This was one of those instances where as soon the theme started to develop it just felt like the dots connected and this was the right musical and thematic pairing.
Sonically, ‘It’s A Vision’ draws comparisons to ML Buch and Snuggle, but it also feels firmly rooted in Chicago. How does the city shape your sound and outlook?
Alana: It’s really interesting to think about place and how it impacts musical output. I am not sure but since I draw from memory a lot while writing lyrics I think Chicago must impact the output. I grew up in this area so a lot of my memories have the backdrop of long bleak winters, strip malls.
You’ve signed with Angel Tapes, Fire Talk’s new emerging artists imprint. What drew you to the label, and what’s it like working with them?
Alana: I like how Angel Tapes has this cohesive catalog of releases that lean on the indie rock side of things, but within their catalog there is variation on that theme. It felt like a really good fit for us, continuing the themes of indie rock but adding a new flavor. It’s been a really good experience working with Angel Tapes! We feel very supported.
Erik: It’s cool how each release has its own distinct fingerprint while the label also maintains a cohesive throughline. Jon-Carlo has been really helpful and supportive, great to work and talk with and run into at shows. I also met Roman from Jawdropped (also signed to Angel Tapes) around when we signed and he had nothing but great things to say about Angel Tapes (and Jon-Carlo) so that was nice feedback to have.
Alana, you also release music as Lipsticism. How does working in Immaterialize differ from your solo practice?
Alana: I will often write vocal melodies and lyrics atop songs Erik has fleshed out for Immaterialize, or I’ll make the foundation of a song and send it to Erik to recontextualize. I don’t do these two things in Lipsticism, it’s a breath of fresh air and has taught me a lot to work with someone else.
There’s a lot of talk about ‘genre-blurring’ with your music. Do you think about genre when you’re writing, or does it only become part of the conversation afterwards?
Alana: I sometimes think about genre while recording but I mostly think about the whole album we are creating and what makes sense sonically within that world. I’d say I mostly think about genre after and feel confused about what the right words are to use to describe the thing I made.
Erik: Immaterialize is basically a blend of writing with and recording the live instruments available to us and combining that with our computer music practices. For my part I’m just trying to write songs that move and delight me. There are some songs we’ve done where I’m coming up with parts that somewhat sound like genres I’m only vaguely familiar with, or don’t even necessarily consider myself a fan of, but there can be a glee to just accepting what’s unfolding instead of self-consciously steering a song in a particular direction. For the latest songs we’ve worked on the writing has primarily been done on guitars and bass first so that lends a cohesion.
You’ve been part of Chicago’s DIY and indie scenes for years. What do you think is unique about making experimental pop in the Midwest compared to coastal hubs?
Alana: I’m not sure, maybe there are less “career” opportunities here than in the coastal hubs? I’m really not sure though.
Erik: Seems like the coasts are more of a destination. A lot of artists I meet or admire have ended up moving away from Chicago but there’s always new stuff to find out about. There’s some great experimental electronic and dance music stuff going on here that I’m more attuned to.
What do you love right now?
Alana: music, friendship, food, running, going through the criterion collection movie catalog and discovering a lot of beautiful movies.
Erik: Spending time with family and friends, reading, shooting hoops, magnesium, Tarkovsky, Mimi Bow videos, the Silent Hill 2 soundtrack, “Wanted To Show You” by Lipsticism.
What do you hate right now?
Alana: corruption, tax dollars funding war, wealth inequality and how it seems to just get worse and worse.
Erik: Genocide, oligarchy, AI, to name a few.
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
Alana: Life For Rent by Dido. It’s just so good.
Erik: Shepherd Moons by Enya. Enya’s music was on a lot when I was a kid, and it scared me. Now I’m able to enjoy and appreciate where it takes me. It’s also surprisingly similar to other music I’ve connected with over the years so it seems like her music may have been more of a gateway for me than I realized.
When someone hears your music for the first time, what do you hope sticks with them?
Alana: I hope it gives them some kind of feeling they enjoy or find interesting.
Where do you see Immaterialize heading next?
Alana: We both love making music, I’m ready to make some more!
