#new chums

TOO GOOD TUESDAY INTERVIEW: New Chums

New Chums may be a Phoenix based band but their roots extend from all over the country. The foursome includes Seth from California, Ben from Boston, Matt from Nashville and Cassandra from Michigan. Their diverse backgrounds have come together to form this indie rock band that is still riding the wave of the release of their debut EP, See It For Myself. The EP brings together big energy, heavy guitars and shining vocals that come together to form a sound that is both unique and familiar at the same time. Lucky for Too Good Music, the foursome recently took some time to answer some questions about the EP as well as their song, “Come On Come On.” They also discuss how they promoted their EP in a vending machine, what they would like to see before they die and much more below!

TOO GOOD MUSIC: So diving right into it, how did you guys come up with the name New Chums?

SETH (vocals/guitar): I got the name New Chums when I was on holiday in Sydney, Australia. I was in a history museum when I read a placard that described how when new prisoners were arriving in the Sydney harbor the current prisoners would say, ‘The New Chums are here.’  Something about the idea of random people coming together as New Chums resonated with me.  When I was putting the band together, and seeing how none of the band members knew each other when we started the band, the name New Chums only seemed fitting.

TGM: Interesting! So yeah going off that idea, you guys are from all over the country…how did you guys all meet and end up becoming a band?

MATT (guitar): Yea, like Seth said, no one knew each other before the band. All of us moved to Arizona over the past few years for various reasons, so we are all transplants to this area. Since I was new to town, I had just put up an online ad if anyone needed a guitar player for some paid gigs to reach out. Seth ended up emailing me and sending me a few of their early recordings. I liked what I heard and thought my guitar playing could really fill up their sound as there weren’t really extra guitar parts on the demos. We met up and jammed and got along really well, so that’s how it began for me. Same thing with Ben before me and then the 3 of us auditioned Cassandra a few months after I joined and it all clicked. So the current line-up formed pretty quickly and then 2 months later we went into the studio to record our first EP together.

TGM: Speaking of the EP what was the inspiration behind “Come On, Come On” and what does that song mean to you guys?

SETH: To me, “Come On, Come On” is about the overall feeling it leaves you with.  That feeling is going to be different for everyone who hears the song but my hope is that it fills people with energy and excitement, especially at a live show, and keeps them coming back as our shows get bigger and better.  What does “Come On, Come On” mean to us?  Hopefully it means we’ll be cashing huge paychecks in the not-so-distant future.  We can be a little sarcastic and dry if you can’t tell…

TGM: Ha! I can see that. Continuing on the EP, its titled See It For Myself – what is something that you’d like to see for yourself, in person before you die?

CASSANDRA (bass): On a large scale, I'd like to see the end of "us vs. them" mentality that seems to be pervasive right now. We are more alike than different, so I'd enjoy seeing people realize that and take a breath from all the narrow-minded BS. Smaller scale (and admittedly more selfish), I'd like to see a large venue filled with people who are singing along with all our songs.

SETH: A world tour with The Killers. Is that too much to ask for?

BEN (drums): I, personally, love seeing new countries. I’d love for the band to be able to travel overseas and play a bunch of shows. Touring elsewhere is a ton of fun, and it’d be a blast with this group.

MATT: I just had my first daughter 5 months ago, so I’ll be mushy and say I’d love to live to walk her down the isle at her wedding someday. Also, of course, along with the guys, I’d just love to get to the point where we were headlining tours and had a strong, sustainable fanbase across the US and abroad.

TGM: When you released your EP, you did it in a clever way involving vending machines. Can you tell more about the story behind that and how that happened?

CASSANDRA: First, you pour all your energy and focus into writing and arranging songs that you really like. Then you pour all your energy and focus into recording those songs, making them sound as good as they can. When you finally have that recording in your hands, you need to pour all your energy and focus into getting it into other peoples' hands. You do that any and every way you can; selling CDs at shows isn't enough, you need to reach wider. We had access to a vending machine at a large sports complex, so we threw a few copies in there, put a sticker on the outside of the machine that said "Support Local Music! You won't regret it" and we sold all the copies of our EP that we put in there. It helped break up the monotony of asking friends/fans to buy it via social media and in person at our shows. It's fun to think that people who didn't know our band, haven't seen us live, bought our EP in a vending machine and may be driving around listening to us right now.

TGM: Ha! That is really cool and what an interesting way to promote an EP and I bet the people that didn’t know you before and bought the EP enjoyed what they heard. With that being said how would you describe your sound?

SETH: I’d say our sound is guitar driven with an emphasis on great tones, big hooks and melodies you can’t get out of your head. We spend a lot of time fine-tuning our songs so there’s a unique element to each individual song. The blank canvas of the melody over a single guitar lends itself for interpretation to the rest of the band members and we all collaborate on it from there to ultimately develop what it blossoms into.

TGM: Let’s dive deeper into that - what is your writing process like? Is it more collaborative or individual?

MATT: Seth will typically bring a chord progression and lyrics already in tact for a song. Sometimes, we will just begin jamming on a brand new song in full rehearsals and just all start hashing parts in real time. Mostly though, Seth and I will sit down and I’ll begin writing guitar parts off of his original structure so we at least have a general map of what the guitars will do going into full band rehearsals. From there, we begin jamming on it full band and songs can go all sorts of different directions with everyone just throwing out ideas as they come. With the end product being very collaborative, each new song usually take several weeks in rehearsals to finalize. It’s crazy sometimes to hear how much dynamically or arrangement wise some of our songs end up from where they started at that first rehearsal. That’s the cool thing about writing and creating together, also being patient and working on a song until it feels right to everyone.”

TGM: I saw that you guys performed on the main stage at the Mesa Music Festival in Arizona  - what was that like? Any interesting stories from that festival?

BEN: It was hot and sweaty like rock n roll should be! The only real surprise for that show was actually finding and getting to the stage. It was our own little Spinal Tap moment. Overall, that was a fun one to play, though. Big stages are cool, and in some ways, are easier to play than smaller ones.

TGM: If you could headline one festival which one would it be?

MATT: I’d say Bonnaroo or Lollapalooza would be incredible

TGM: Those would be great - Bonnaroo is a favorite of mine so I’ll definitely have to make it out there if you guys headline! Individually, if you could only listen to (5) artists/bands for the rest of your life who would they be?

CASSANDRA: Wow, that's a tough question and I will be second-guessing my answer for weeks:  1) Elvis Costello and the Attractions 2) Cheap Trick 3) Frank Turner 4) Jimmy Eat World 5) Butch Walker

MATT: Weezer, Jimmy Eat World, The Beach Boys, MXPX and Copeland

SETH: In no particular order: Gerardo, Milli Vanilli, Chumbawamba, Smash Mouth, The Beatles (winks)

BEN: This is always a tough one to answer. There’s the Beatles that will always be timeless rock music and should be included. Further than that, though, I’d guess I’d want to find 4 other artists/bands that change things up a lot from record to record because I get bored easily. I think I’d just probably go crazy listening to only 5 bands.

TGM: And last but not least what does the rest of 2018 look like for you?

MATT: We will be staying busy playing mostly regional shows and a few Festivals through the Fall. There is always new music we are working on and have been playing a new song out about every 2 or 3 shows. So just keep writing and gearing up for our next run in the studio, no time table set on that yet.

A HUGE shout-out to Ben, Cassandra, Matt & Seth of New Chums for taking the time to answer some questions from Too Good Music! Be sure to keep up with them and everything new with New Chums below:

Arizona 4-piece @newchumsband share new EP single "Come On, Come On"

4-piece Arizona-based indie-rock band New Chums, composed of Seth Boyack, Ben Hedlund, Matt Lloyd and Cassandra Clark, present us with a fresh set of visuals for their newest track “Come On, Come On,” the latest single from the band’s recently released  EP See It for Myself, which official dropped October 6th. The band sounds amazing and the lead vocalist absolutely bodies it! Watch the visual…