Phillip Hong
15 April, 2009
Remember
those long, boring history classes we were all forced to attend back in
secondary school? If you remember correctly, Anik, which was Canada’s
first satellite, was launched for the purpose of communication.
Considering this context, I have never heard of a better name for a
band like Chasing Satellites before.
This four man band is made up of a group of men who are destined to
“bring back rock the way it’s supposed to be”. After listening to their
music, I believe that you may very well agree.
PHIL: How did all of you get into music? How did you meet and form the band?
DAN: I have always been obsessed with music for as
long as I can remember. It probably started when I’d rock out to Guns n
Roses while playing solos on a broom stick. Then when I was 13 I got a
guitar and started figuring out chords and learning on my own…
The band formed when I got a call from my old (and present producer)
Rick Salt saying there was a guitar player I should meet. I’d recently
had a bad brake up with my previous band that had had a good thing
going on. At first I wasn’t too sure about getting back into the whole
music thing, but now I would say its one of the best things that has
happened to me.
AARON: I’ve always loved music. I grew up around my
grandfather who played piano for 80 years. He started giving me lessons
when I was four. By the time I was 7 I couldn’t stand being told I had
to practice so I decided to stop playing the piano. Instead I found my
step-dad’s old guitar and started trying to figure out how to use it…
it only had 4 strings when I got it and after months (maybe longer) I
got two more strings. No one told me to practice and in fact I was
usually told to stop… 20 years later and I’m still playing the
instrument everyday! There’s something soothing about even just having
the instrument in my hand….
One day I got a call from my producer (now one of my best friends)
who had recently finished recording a project I had started which
hadn’t ended that well. He knew I wasn’t about to stop playing music,
so he told me about this guy who had a great voice and could sing all
night. He figured we should meet and maybe get something going on. He
gave me Dan’s number and I called the guy up, about a week later we
were jamming at his house. We jammed for about a year and started
looking for other guys to form the band, he called some of his buddies
and I called some of mine. Dan auditioned my school buddy Zack and we
jammed out. Before Zack officially joined the band we probably played
with about another 5 drummers. Zack’s the man and we’ll never have
another drummer, great live and great in the studio! Carl was an old
friend of Dan’s who had been a front man and guitar player in his own
band around town. He and Dan had always gotten complemented on each
others voices and how well they went together. Carl picked up the bass
and has never put it down since. I think we tried out two guys before
Carl… but he’s been there since day one even when it was just me and
Dan jamming and he’d come over for a beer! I gotta say a huge thanks to
Rick Salt for introducing me to Dan, my brother from another mother,
and for consequently forming this band of brothers, best friends,
called Chasing Satellites!
ZACK: I first got into music around Christmas right
after I had turned 17. I got into drums through the suggestion of a
friend who recently bought a guitar, and got into lessons and the rent
to own a kit deal. My first major inspiration came from listening to a
live Blink 182 cd. The sounds of the crowd coupled with amazing
drumming started this continuing obsession I have now.
I met Aaron through college, we were both in the Jazz Program there.
We played in a combo together, learning standards and all that, when
Aaron asked if I would like to Jam with him and a buddy. We went out to
Dan’s place which had a huge machine shop/perfect jam spot. I met Carl
for the first time there as well, and we jammed and rocked out a bit.
At first I really had to learn to hit the drums harder, rock is not the
same animal as jazz. After I got more comfortable creating volume, I
could keep up with the other guys and we just took it from there.
CARL: When I was really young, about 3 I used to
listen to Allana Miles, Bruce Springsteen, ACDC, Ted Nuggent, and run
around in circles until my parents would make me stop. Then in grade 3
I heard the first Nirvana single “Love Buzz” on a scate video, later on
I heard Guns n’ Roses in grade 5 and by then wanted to start a band. I
was singing all this time as I wanted to be a singer, but I realized
that I needed to be able to play something to acompany me. So in grade
8-9 I started playing guitar and me and a buddy started writing tunes
together. Since then I’ve played in bands non stop.
I used to go over to Dan’s and drink beers and hang out with him and
Aaron. One day sometime later Dan called me up and told me to go buy a
bass that I was in the band.
PHIL: It’s been said that you guys are bringing
back rock “the way it’s supposed to be”. Do you believe that the rock
genre has deviated from its roots?
DAN: I would say its changed. Before you just had to rock out now you need to be up with the new technology and new sounds.
AARON:
I think music used to be about the music. People would go into a studio
and cut an album and then it would get played on the radio. There were
no overdubs, not even drums (at first they were to loud to record in
the same room), no auto tuning, no huge team of writers and business
men behind the songs, it was just musicians recording their craft and
creating music. Now we hear so much of same stuff that if you start
doing something different you get told you’re not going to make it… I
don’t think we sound like we’re groundbreaking anything new but I know
that we write our own tunes, we play them like we mean it, and we try
and do it the way people we listened to growing up did it. Our first
album is us in the studio doing our thing, that’s how Dan sings, he has
amazing pitch and one of the strongest voices I’ve ever heard… Zack’s a
living metronome, Carl’s solid as a rock, and if I can’t play a solo
and make it sound good I ain’t playing it. Better said, if we can’t
play something, it doesn’t get recorded. We don’t need an album where
most of the work is done by Pro-Tools fixing our mistakes. So bringing
back the way rock’s supposed to be I would say is about being
authentic, playing our hearts out ever night, and trying to stay true
to what we believe in and not get swayed.
ZACK: I like to think of “rock” as a verb, just
wanting to see a band go ballistic on stage, no matter the music they
are performing. Seeing that kind of energy always makes the music more
entertaining.
CARL: Yes. Rock originated with the blues, now it
is so far fetched from blues that I would say it has come into its own.
I think Dan’s lyrics are bringing it back as he stays true to himself
and sings about stuff that’s important to him, he gives it soul.
PHIL: What was the inspiration behind “Under Repair”, the song featured with Toronto Experimental Artists?
DAN: This is a song about getting back in the saddle and pursuing music and dreams again, also its a bit of a F–k You to my old life.
CARL: This is really a question for Dan as he’s the
lyricist. This said I remeber the time when he wrote it. He was making
a decision to go forward and not deal with other peoples BS. He made
lots of changes in all aspects of his life and said he was going to do
it without any help, and make it on his own. And he has.
PHIL: If you were asked to perform a cover of one
of the artists you’ve worked alongside (Evanescence, Sum 41, Sloan, ZZ
Top), who would it be?
DAN: I would play “Tendency to Change” by Sideshow (Vancouver’s FOX SEEDS winners from a few years back).
AARON: I personally love ZZ Top, a little “Waiting
for the bus” followed by “Jesus just left Chicago”, I love those guys.
But for the purpose of a shout out I’m going to say “Turn it up” by
KROME.
CARL: Any tune by our friends The Perfect Trend.
PHIL: Do any of you “chase satellites”? I find it
kind of hard considering the sky is full of stars and airliners… it’s a
hard task without a telescope.
DAN: Everyday.
AARON: I chase dreams everyday and I don’t plan to
stop. Satellites, well I guess I’ll need to buy a telescope once I get
a real job! Someone told me the other day that musicians don’t make
money because we “play” music and if we want get paid we should “work”
music… I’ll chase my dreams for free if it makes me happy!
ZACK: With a bionic eye its not too difficult.
CARL: I’m more into Foo Fighters.
Phillip Hong is a presenter on Centre Street, our current affairs programme featuring alternative stories and interviews.