Chaselounge

Five fun facts about Chaselounge:
1. Three-fourths of the band members are landlords.
2. The original piece of furniture that inspired the band name was orange.
3. The band has been together for eight years, which in musician years is multiplied times three.
4. Some of the band’s musical influences include Jimmy Eat World, Weezer and OK Go.
5. In a parallel universe, the band is called “The Quills.”
In this universe, Chaselounge just completed its third (technically second) album, Hush of Sound. The band is releasing the album in conjunction with a local “mini-tour,” a series of three release shows that ends Saturday with a performance at Molly Malone’s in Covington.
Hush of Sound was produced by Erwin Musper (who is internationally known and has worked with David Bowie and Van Halen, among other giants) and consists of 14 tracks that combine rich vocal harmonies, Killers-like keyboards and meaty riffs.
Lead singer and guitarist Shawny Scott describes the band’s music as timeless with a wide appeal. His description of the band is a little more cryptic: “We’re a touring band that doesn’t tour. We’re not a bar band, but we play bars.”
Scott’s logic-defying summaries fit well — the band is difficult to describe, not because they play some obscure style but because its genre is a broad one. Chaselounge falls into the category of Indie Pop Rock, all original, but not unusual. There are no gimmicks, no dramatic personas, no outrageous piercings, no “tough guy” photos.
In fact, band members look like college kids without a single wardrobe item that couldn’t be found in a thrift store. According to Scott, his look is based around a jacket and tie with slacks and jeans; bassist Aaron Scott prefers a sweater vest, sporting “grandpa chic”; drummer Adam Eilers goes for the “JC Penny Rock” image with a vintage T and jeans; and Chris Lambert is just “normal Rock” without makeup or tattoos.
Like their outfits, their music is simple and unpretentious yet inviting. Scott says their sound has universal appeal.
“We have something for everyone,” he says. “We have songs for young teens and songs grandmas would love. The biggest thing with us is we’re always looking to write a good song.”
Melody-driven and dedicated to high quality, the band has already enjoyed some success. Their first album, Mayday, Roger the Radio, attracted the attention of Musper, who invited them to join his label, YeaYeaYeah Records.
“Just being signed to Erwin means something,” Lambert says.
Musper recorded half of the songs from the first album at his Bamboo Room studio, combining them with new songs to create the band’s second album, Black Plastic Ordinary, an enhanced CD/DVD package that placed in the Top 200 on the CMJ charts in 2005. The band members spent the next few years touring throughout the Midwest until early 2008, when they decided to devote their energies to creating their third album.
This wasn't an overnight project, taking more than two years to complete. They painstakingly whittled down the best 14 tracks, adding extra bells and whistles in Lambert’s home studio and making sure every detail was perfect. Scott says they all believe in “trimming the fat,” ensuring that each element in the music has a distinct purpose and works in the context of the song.
Hush of Sound is not based around a concept but has familiar threads throughout. A theme of desperation in the lyrics is offset by cheerful chord progressions and upbeat grooves. Standouts include “Eyes Electric,” which has a modern, progressive sound, and “Nest Egg,” which showcases the band’s quirky side.
Chaselounge’s approach to music is old-fashioned: Work hard, create a product with commercial appeal, be persistent. Lambert says the band likes to have fun but is still serious.
“We are realistic,” he says. “We keep a regular practice schedule.”
Scott relates the band’s goal in music to the song “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman. He heard the song one night on the radio and realized that this was what Chaselounge was aspiring to: songs that stand up to the test of time. Chapman’s 22-year-old tune still resonated with him. That element of timelessness is what Scott hopes to capture with the band.
“These are the kinds of songs that are not here today, gone tomorrow,” he says. “The goal day in and day out is to keep the band viable and creative.”
While many bands seek shock value or strive to break new musical territory, Chaselounge is focused on crafting solid, catchy tunes with memorable melodies. It’s a strategy that wins fans, as evidenced by the full house at the band’s first release show at York Street Cafe as well as the excited audience watching them on Fountain Square the following evening.
- City Beat Magazine

"(Black Plastic Ordinary) is no nostalgia, retro album. It's a thrashy, guitar-driven rock sound that does indeed have a good beat you can dance to".
Rick Bird – Cincinnati Post - 2005

"The music on (Black Plastic Ordinary) isn’t ordinary at all. In fact, it’s downright pristine in the recording, mixing and engineering (and playing), yet, it retains its soul."
Dale Johnson – www.i-see-sound.com - 2005

"I implore you to pay special attention to Chaselounge's sophomore release, “Black Plastic Ordinary”.....the disc is beyond topnotch listening."
Hannah Roberts – CityBeat Magazine - 2005 - for Black Plastic Ordinary

If you're a Weezer fan and Pinkerton is your favorite album, then Chaselounge has a really good shot at being your new favorite local band. On the group's debut, Mayday, Roger the Radio (out Friday with a release shindig at York Street Café), the band puts forth a potent brand of Power Pop fueled by soaring, memorable melodies, spot-on three-part harmonies and tight, classic Pop-song structuring. For such a young band, they write songs like they've had a lifetime of studying vintage melodic Rock & Roll.

Singer Shawn Scott has a strong, unique vocal presence, solidly guiding the band through ardent tales of love and loss. There's an almost '80s-like vibe to some of the songs, as the band taps into the chugging, melodic mastery of early Knack or Joe Jackson. But there's a distinct contemporary feel to most of the songs, particularly in the octave-guitar riffery and generally interesting six-string interplay between Scott and guitarist Chris Lambert.

There's also an Emo feel to the album, but you get the sense that Chaselounge just sort of happened into the sound indirectly through their honest approach. Scott's passionate vocals and pining lyrics will draw the most Emo linkage, with youthful fretting like "It hurts to be alone" and songs with titles like "Watery Eyes." The album's best songs -- "Paid Vacation" and "If This Is Over?" -- are probably the most Weezerly, but they also happen to have the best hooks, the writing of which is the band's strong suit.

The album occasionally feels one-dimensional -- the bulk of the songs seem to have interchangeable parts -- but, for a first effort, Mayday, Roger the Radio is remarkably accomplished and more than likely a sign of bigger, better things to come. Chaselounge have the personable, I-can-identify-with-that kind of songs that could build them a huge, fervent fanbase. (chaseloungemusic.com)

-Mike Breen

- CityBeat

After playing with a band for six years, fizzling out and taking a year off, Shawny Scott began to stockpile new songs, amassing a dense library of melodies - lovelorn tales that teetered between autobiographical and fictional renderings of real life.

The songs were for his own peace of mind at the time, but they now form the foundation of his band Chaselounge's debut CD, Mayday, Roger the Radio.

The band's sound, heavy on '50s doo-wop influences, is what you could call "doo-rock." It's a power pop band big on melody, but the songs are not simple throwbacks. Live, the band brings to mind lively Britpop - more 1970s Europe than mid-century America; the interplay keeps things kinetic.

"We all like melodies, and if it's not singable, danceable and foot-tap-able, then we tend to stray away from it," Scott says.

ON THE DISC

The 11-track disc is solid, with a mix of playful guitars, irresistible hooks and the band's ability to effortlessly change gears - from somber to upbeat pop. The '50s-friendly, doo-wop influences are ever-present, but the songs are given an ample slathering of rock. (As you listen, Scott's junior high influences - both Sid Vicious and Ritchie Valens - begin to make perfect sense.)

The album opens with "Days Good Work," a pretty song that satisfies like a good Weezer song. Hit-single-worthy "If This is Over?" is a downhearted song about lost love, but the driving beat will keep you dancing.

Closing track "Goose Down Lady" was thrown onto the disc at the last minute. Even with just Scott on acoustic guitar and bells, this bare-bones tune is still super-catchy.

"I wanted a song that was a departure from every other song," Scott says.

The album is entertaining both for the soap-opera stories it presents and the charm of its prodigious pop sounds.


WHAT'S NEXT

The band has already found success in Cincinnati and on the road, but it's not necessarily hungry for label support. "I like the independent thing that we have going," Scott says.

For now, he wants more people to hear his band. "When I started, my goal was to play on a regional circuit on a regular basis. Now I just want to keep broadening that circuit."

For the first time, Chaselounge has a CD to support its cause. Cincinnati's finest doo-rock band has finally come into its own.

--Kari Wethington - CinWeekly

It could have been a typical story: A college cover band plays regularly for four years, but the musicians are all just a little ... uninspired.

They probably don't practice their instruments outside designated practice times, so they don't get all that much better as a band.

Eventually, things fizzle.

But Shawny Scott's story doesn't end there.

When the musician and his Athens, Ohio, college band put down their instruments, Scott picked up a pen and began writing songs that veered off the classic-rock path and into an upbeat pop-rock mode.

About 18 months out of the spotlight, Scott acknowledged how much he missed gigging.

"The atmosphere - just kind of everything, from loading equipment to getting in front of people and playing," the 29-year-old said in a phone call from his Cincinnati home.

Armed with his new tunes, he put out a call for other players.

Veteran musicians bassist Aaron Scott (no relation), guitarist Chris Lambert and drummer Adam Eilers joined the lead singer and guitarist in creating Chaselounge.

On Friday, the band will play at Kilroy's Sports Bar, promoting its debut album, "Mayday, Roger the Radio."

It's the group's fourth trip to Bloomington since it formed in 2002, but it's the first as a headliner here.

Things seem to be coming full circle, at least for Scott, whose tunes make up about 90 percent of the band's all-original stockpile.

He describes his style as "doo-rock" - a term meaning "'50s alternative" - and points to a fascination in middle school with all things '50s. Especially music.

"I listened to nothing but that kind of stuff," he said.

But following Scott's retro musical phase was a skater-punk time, which had him listening to the Misfits and the Sex Pistols.

The merging of those influences is the basis for Chaselounge's sound, which is rich in three-part vocal harmonies. (Check out the song "Other Girl" on the Web site, www.chaseloungemusic.com. The other tunes there smack of Foo Fighters with a doo-wop flair.)

Everyone in the band brings something to its sound, though; drummer Eilers is all about new music, such as Jimmy Eat World, for example.

The quartet plays live several times a month, generally touring a regional circuit including Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. At home, you most likely will catch the group at an all-ages venue.

Like most musicians, Scott dreams about earning his living doing what he loves while keeping his creative freedom.

In the far future, Chaselounge wants to join the ranks of popular-enough indie rockers - meaning not so big that the shows are no longer intimate.

A good example is Nada Surf, a group Scott describes as solid music makers with a core following at its shows.

"They're out of the bar scene, doing the club scene, where people are really coming to hear the music and hear the songs," he said.

But for now, his primary goal is not to think too far ahead - just get better.

"My goal is to be a better band tomorrow than we are today, to step up," he said. "If you always keep improving, then I think good things will happen."
- Bloomington Herald Times