Chux Beta

ANRGIRL said of "Different Kind of Crazy" - "Well written song. I like the sound of the music. Pretty melodies and great hooks."

Anrgirl is Holly Hutchison - a music business veteran of 24 years who has held A&R executive positions at Capitol Records and Atlantic Records in Los Angeles prior to the creation of her own free agent A&R entity ANRGIRL.

- anrgirl.com

Chux Beta lets loose

• Ryan Dunn admits it took a while for Chux Beta to find its way.

The Penn Hills band started out in the mid-'90 as a teenage garage band with a mission to rock but no real plan of how to do it.

"We would be a genreless band and go out and play this kind of song and that kind of song," says singer Ryan Dunn. "It wasn't very cohesive and ended up just really messy."

Now, the band has matured enough to just embrace what inspired them in the first place, which was early '90s grunge like Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and ... "I'll even say it ... Nirvana," he adds. "For a time it was very uncool to wear that on your sleeve, but now we're getting older, I don't care anymore. We'll be who we want."

It seems to be working out for the post-grunge quintet that took its name, as you might guess, from a guy named Chuck who had a Beta player. Chux Beta won the X Winter Rock Challenge last year and this year took best indie single at the debut of the Pittsburgh Rock Music Awards.

Now, the band returns with a new album, "Heartbroken Underground," loaded with polished, radio-ready alt-rock anthems produced by Dave Hidek at Treelady Studios.

"This is the second album that we've taken seriously. For so long, it was like 'Let's be punks and not care.' Eventually you have to prove yourself."

The release show is at 7:30 p.m. at Mr. Smalls, Millvale, with Fist Fight in the Parking Lot, Wet Darlings and Atlas. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 1-866-468-3401; www.mrsmalls.com



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11111/1140720-388-0.stm?cmpid=news.xml#ixzz1KAEgtxtY - Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Chux Beta joined our video team at Treelady Studios for a live session and an interview hosted by Tarra Layne. They are currently promoting the release of their new album, Heartbroken Underground, which releases on 4.23.2011. The songs are engineered by Dave Hidek of Treelady Studios (www.treelady.com). The video was directed by Joe Stammerjohn of Eyes to the Sky Films in partnership with The Pittsburgh Scene (www.thepittsburghscene.com).

- ThePittsburghScene.Com

One thing I sometimes admire in bands (as well as people) is transparancy. Sure the beauty of pop music is being able to shroud your intentions; you can lure listeners into your world with catchy hooks and vague song titles and lyrics. But Pittsburgh's own Chux Beta does not fuck around with such showbiz nonense. They lay it all out there for you at the door before you hear a note. Just glancing over the tracklist of their new album, Heartbroken Underground, tells you the general tempermant you can expect. Song titles such as "Reckoning", "Fooled Me Twice", and "Twisting My Arm Until It Breaks Off" suggest an angsty , post-emo musical excursion that only angry rock dudes can deliver.

I'm happy to report that the music on Heartbroken Underground is even better than advertised. The band members were obviously raised on a hefty diet of flannel wearing 90s grunge rockers and the influences are worn proudly, like an MMA fan sporting an Affliction t-shirt. The Foo Fighters comparison seems the most obvious, but I also hear tinges of TOOL, Mudhoney and Queens of The Stone Age peppered throughout the album. Fans of powerful no-nonsense straight ahead dude rock can apply within. Leave your hipster pretensions at the door (but the flannel and PBR are always welcome)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chux Beta are playing an album release show for "Heartbroken Underground," at Mr. Smalls in Millvale this Saturday, April 23rd at 7:30 pm. I won't be able to make it, so I look forward to hearing reports from my readers! - The BNAC Music Blog

Chux Beta prepares to release new album, 'Heartbroken Underground'
Share | by Patrick Varine Editor
April 14, 2011

A few years ago, Ryan Dunn, 30, a Penn Hills native and lead singer for Pittsburgh rock group Chux Beta, had one thing on his mind: "How can I get a hit?"

"I would think about my friends, and go, ‘Well, this guy likes straight-ahead pop,' and I'd try to write that type of song. Then I'd think ‘This other guy likes this,' and we'd do a heavier, metal song to appeal to that person," Dunn said.

"We'd gone through every other style," said drummer Rich Murray, 30. "We finally settled on this one."



"This one" is, essentially, doing whatever makes the band happy.

"I gave up trying to write what I thought people wanted, in an effort to stay true to the music that we love," Dunn said.

The result was 2009's "Now We Rise and We Are Everywhere" and their latest, "Heartbroken Underground," which will be released April 23 in conjunction with an album release party at Mr. Small's Theater in Millvale.

Formed in the early ‘90s, Dunn said Chux Beta came of age in the barrooms of Pittsburgh, honing their sound and building a loyal fan base, culminating in the past year, during which the band has won a 2011 Pittsburgh Rock Music Award for "Best Indie Album," and were among the nominees for "Best Indie Band." Chux Beta also won the 2010 Winter Rock Challenge hosted by rock station WXDX 105.9FM.

For his part, however, Dunn said he didn't think it needed to be a competition.

"When it came down to the final vote, you had our fans booing the other band" — coincidentally, it was another band with Penn Hills roots, The Composure — "and vice versa," Dunn said. "And I mean, you really shouldn't be booing anyone."

Dunn said the situation is symptomatic of the Pittsburgh music scene.

"If the rock scene was a little more networked and put together, and a little less cutthroat. I mean, we've played with so many great Pittsburgh bands over the years, and so many of them aren't together any more," he said.

"We're in the music business in a sports town," Murray said.

Winning the Winter Rock Challenge, however, boosted the band's profile, and its members soon found themselves opening for national acts like Candlebox and Spacehog.

"We got a really good reaction, and the crowds were great," Dunn said.

"It was a unique experience, that's for sure," Murray added.

Dunn, Murray and the rest of Chux Beta — JT Bendel on guitar and Ryan's brother Jim Dunn on bass — are hoping that their fans will have a unique experience of their own listening to "Heartbroken Underground."

"By far, these songs are our best work," Dunn said of the album. "It's about the negatives of human behavior and how no one is immune to that sort of behavior. But it's also hopeful in a way."

The album's sound is a dense blend of Dunn and Bendel's dual-guitar attack with a driving rhythm bed provided by Murray and Jim Dunn. Ryan Dunn also gave credit to Treelady Studio producer Dave Hidek.

"When we started working with Dave, there was just a trust and a comfort level immediately," Dunn said. "He was the first person I completely trusted to tell me what to do with a song or what to try with a certain track."

"Heartbroken Underground" will be released on April 23. For more, visit www.ChuxBeta.com.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


UPCOMING SHOWS

There are plenty of places to hear Chux Beta in the coming weeks, including:

• April 15: The band will play a show at the University of Pittsburgh Student Union to benefit Habitat for Humanity. The 6:30 p.m. show is free, but a donation to the Greater Pittsburgh Habitat for Humanity is requested.

• April 17: The band will be featured on "Edge of the X," on WXDX 105.9FM

• April 23: Chux Beta will host an album release party and show for "Heartbroken Underground," 7:30 p.m. at Mr. Smalls Funhouse in Millvale.

• April 30: The band will participate in "Art All Night" at the Iron City Brewery in Lawrenceville. For more information, visit ArtAllNight.org.

- Penn Hills Progress

Hey yinzers! Wishing it were still Friday? Of course you aren't, because while Monday does mean the workweek has started, it also means that I have a new mp3 for you. Since I can't turn back time, a track from Chux Beta's upcoming album, Heartbroken Underground, will just have to suffice.

"Different Kind of Crazy," the fourth track from the album, is sure to ease your Monday morning pain because the Pittsburgh natives know a thing or two about alternative rock. Make sure to look for their album when it drops on the 23rd. Did you catch that? The album won't even be released for another couple weeks and you can get an exclusive sneak peek right now. How's that for celeb status?

- Pittsburgh City Paper

“Heartbroken Underground is pure rock, no b.s. added. Chux Beta reinforce why they captured the crown at last year's Winter Rock Challenge - this album is a tour de force from start to finish." - Craig Anderson, ThePittsburghScene.com

If it's been awhile since you checked in with Chux Beta, that's understandable -- the local four-piece has been kicking around town for over a decade, and hasn't really gone out of its way to curry favor. So it's a nice surprise -- even a shock? -- to pop in Now We Rise and Are Everywhere, the band's latest album. On the record, the band packs way more punch than you probably remember, with classic-sounding indie-fuzz guitars that recall Built to Spill or Chavez, and tight vocal harmonies. - Pittsburgh City Paper