Calvin College senior James Li is preparing the release of his first full-length album, “Bronze Age of the Nineties.” James sat down with Chimes to talk about his band, Liance, his inspirations and the challenges of being a student musician.

Chimes: What is the story behind your new album name, “Bronze Age of the Nineties”?

James: The album name is taken from a Richard Linklater film called “Slacker.” I’ve used it here to describe an extremely intense and specific period of my life that has been formative to my being.

Chimes: What was your motivation for starting Liance and when did the band form?

James: Liance is the name I adopt for my songwriting projects. I’ve been playing with my band members in different combinations since freshman year, and they’re some of my best and most loyal friends. We actually all lived on the same floor during our freshman and sophomore years. With the release of this album and the formation of the Pop Music Guild, I had the means to form Liance as a four-person band and play some proper shows. Before this I would play with just one other member, and we would have to literally count the number of limbs we had between us because we were multitasking that much. My motivation for Liance is to create something beautiful. We talk about vocation a lot in this school, and I deeply believe that this is my vocation. It’s certainly the most fulfilling and meaningful thing I’ve done with my life, and I will never stop doing it.

Chimes: Was there something that inspired you to write this new album?

James: Extremely dark personal turmoil made me more aware of the own underlying narratives and taught me to appreciate the now of life itself. Not to get into too many details, but the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong was a huge catalyst and so was my mental health. Somewhere between the fight and flight response, I decided to craft something beautiful instead.

Chimes: Are there any unique challenges or opportunities to being a musician on a college campus?

James: Oh, definitely! Just with school, the amount of time available and spaces on campus to practice are incredibly rare, which is why the Pop Music Guild has made our current four-member line-up a possibility. Also, I’ve run into some trouble with my songs. Since they feature my real friends by name and other true autobiographical elements, a lot of people have misinterpreted my music as being about them. Which is why I want to play off campus as soon as I can. I want people to value my music for itself and not for its dramatic implications.

Chimes: What do you hope that people will take away from listening to your new album?

James: I hope that they learn that there is beauty and the universal in even the most mundane of experiences and that the entire breadth of human experience is worthy of art and recognition.

Chimes: What or who are some of your influences artistically?

James: The biggest influence on this album was Sun Kil Moon’s album “Benji.” The last song on “Bronze Age of the Nineties” also describes my strange and serendipitous history with Sufjan Steven’s family and art.

I was also influenced by David Foster Wallace’s maximization of the mundane. His books “The Pale King” and “Infinite Jest” describe these incredibly boring day jobs in excruciating detail, but Wallace has a way of finding incredible universal truths in the most unlikely of situations.

Chimes: Your lyrics seem very personal and narrative like. Are most of your songs based on your life or do they follow fictitious narratives?

James: They’re 90 percent autobiographical and 10 percent mythologizing. It’s a very vulnerable and dangerous thing to do and I wouldn’t recommend it, but I wanted to make the most sincere and believable album I could ever write.

Chimes: What’s next for you and the band musically?

James: We’re playing a release show on Nov. 14 in the Recital Hall and opening for the Great Lakes Swimmers on Nov. 20. It’s been a blast to reinterpret the songs from the album for a four-piece band, and they’ve been turning out much rockier and exciting than I’d expected. Having three friends to work on these songs together has been bringing out elements of my songs that I didn’t even know existed. Music is an ever-evolving and growing process, and I’m excited to hear these songs take a life of their own.

“Bronze Age of the Nineties” will be available on CD on Nov. 14. You can follow Liance’s continuing story on facebook.com/liancemusic.