Artist Information

Instrumentation
Luke Lefevre - Vocals/Guitars
Chris Branstiter – Guitars
Shawn Deveirman - Bass
Stan Hulsey - Drums

Biography
MAYBE THEY'RE CHETT, MAYBE THEY'RE NOT . . .

Hmm . . . CHETT. Strange name. What does it mean? Is it that guy from Weird Science? Is it a country singer? And why the capital letters? Is it an acronym? Or maybe some kind of literary device, like e.e. cummings, only in reverse.

Maybe not.

Maybe CHETT is the name of a rock band, nothing more, nothing less. Maybe CHETT is a 4-piece rock band based out of Rockford, Illinois. Maybe they're a group of guys who have been plugging their guitars in and making noise together for almost 5 years now, and maybe they love it. Maybe one of them is named CHETT . . . but probably not.

In those first 5 years, the guys from CHETT went through a lot. They saw ups and they saw downs. They tragically lost their first drummer, Jason, to heart failure in 2004, but they got back up and kept going. They played on, and with Pearl Jam, Sparta, The Who, The Prayer Chain and U2 blasting from their speakers they kept moving forward, testing the creative waters with new sounds and novel approaches to making music. They played hundreds of shows and amassed a large contingent of followers throughout the Midwest: when they hit the road in their pickup equipment trailer in tow it took them from the dive bars of Indiana to the back alleys of Chicago, from the endless cornfields of Iowa to the frozen climes of Minnesota, and everywhere in between.

In May of 2004 they self-released their first full-length studio album called Weary Path, which was produced and engineered by Jeffro Lacksheide (The Felix Culpa, The Moment) and mastered by Trevor Sadler (NIN, Moby). A couple of tracks "Set Me Down" and "Burned" landed them a spot on the 2004 Rolling Rock Town Fair Battle of the Bands, which was held at The Hard Rock Cafe in Chicago, and a couple more "Growth On" and "Heaven" were featured on the soundtrack to the independent film Necromance.

Now it's 2006, and they guys from CHETT are still playing. Bands, clubs, friends, and naysayers have all come and gone, but CHETT is still going strong. On May 13th, 2006 they released their second full-length album, titled The Swell. This release combines all the emotions, feelings and frustrations that come from being in a band, and from just living life. From the crushing intensity of the opener, "Paper Doll," to the soft release of "Last Days," The Swell is CHETT's hope for the future. The hope that they will keep playing, and thatmaybepeople will keep listening. They know that there will be ups and there will be downs, they know that they'll face adversity and hopefully come out on top. But regardless of what life throws at them, the guys from CHETT will keep on playing, loud and hard and intense. CHETT will keep playing, strange name and all.

They have played with many bands including Electra recording artist Socialburn, Hollywood Recroding artist The Goodyear Pimps, CHerry Monroe, Hedder and many more.

Website
http://www.chettmusic.com

Discography
2002 - CHETT - 3 song EP
2004 - Weary Path - Full Length
2004 "Necromance" Movie Soundtrack, Aegis Studios
2006 - The Swell - 2nd Full Length

Interview With CHETT
By: Dennis M. Kelly

When CHETT was formed, what was the general ideal behind the musical direction for the band?
Luke: Well, I sent these questions to all the guys in the band just to get their feedback and got a couple different answers. That is one thing about CHETT, we make music together, but there are 4 distinct personalities and positions within this band that make up the personality of our band as a whole. We did not really set out with a specific direction in mind. I wanted to make music that was a positive influence on people and make them take a look at their lives and see what was up. We just wanted to be different. I think the goal though at the beginning was just to write a song from start to finish and be original with the outcome.
Shawn: It was about five years ago, can't remember the actual moment, Luke and Chris can verify better then I can. The General Ideal behind was that we loved music and we wanted to put all our focused energy into making something that would change the way others thought about music.
Chris: Rock and roll, no direction, just rock out.

Did you have a particular sound in mind initially or did that sound evolve out of each of your own abilities?
Luke: I think our sound is a mix of all of our influences at this point. The guys are very quick to point out if something sounds too much like something or someone else and that idea will get shot down before it can grow into anything, which is frustrating sometimes, but keeps things original. In the beginning we all loved Pearl Jam (still do) so that was a big influence, but we definitely did not want to sound like them. I don't sing like Eddie and Chris does not really play like the guitar players from that band, but we liked what they did. They played fast songs, slower songs, and everything in between. We did not want to be pigeonholed into being a punk band or an acoustic band; we just want to be able to do what we want.

What is each of your musical backgrounds?
Luke (Vocals, Guitar): I have always loved music; it was the thing that could take me to another place. My dad use to play 25 or 6 to 4 by Chicago and that instrumental break towards the end blew my mind and I wanted to do that. Music could make me feel angry or sad or energized and that is what I loved. I always paid attention to what people are saying in their lyrics and what that meant to me. Eventually in high school I wanted to learn the guitar and that is what I did. I consider myself a mediocre guitar player now, so I let Chris do all the hard stuff.

Chris (Guitar): I played guitar since high school, wasn't very good until I went to college and we would play for hours.

Shawn (Bass): My musical background was very limited. I got started kind late in the whole music thing. When I was younger I tried learning the Alto Saxophone, that flopped because I was too young to have any discipline. Not until college did I realize that I wanted to be apart of something that made feel good about myself and make others feel good about themselves.

Stan (Drums, Backing Vocals): I have been playing Drums for 11 years, also play, write, and compose on guitar and piano.

Do you all reside in Rockford?
Luke: Yes, for better or worse we all live in the mighty Rockford.

How often do you hang out with each other when not jamming?
Luke: Occasionally we will get together outside of the band, but we see each other at least 2 times a week for shows and practice and that is usually enough. We all have lives going on outside the band. Plus, when we practice, it is not all serious; I consider it "productive hanging out". We work on songs that need to be worked on or make up some new stuff or run through our sets for the shows the next week. Then when we are done we have our weekly Foosball tournament, we have a table and that is usually where we get in fights. We don't usually play foosball before we practice because if we did that we would just be pissed at each other the whole time. I always say that if we ever break up it will be over a foosball game....

How did you all handle the loss of Jason?
Luke: We all handled it in different ways. He was a friend to all of us since the first or second grade. He was not just our drummer; he was a friend way before that. First, we had to figure out how to go on with regular life without him, let alone the bands life. We did not know what was going to happen with our band. We were starting to get some momentum. Our first record was literally just released a week prior. I think we all were just slammed on the floor and I think we still don't totally comprehend it. We have a nice rehearsal space and Chris, Shawn and I got together a couple times, but it was weird. As a band we did not play that much, I think we ended up cleaning the place from top to bottom, cleaning is kind of cathartic sometimes.

How long did it take to find Stan?
Luke: Stan has always been around. We went to high school with him and the amazing thing about it was that he was Jason's best friend all throughout that time. Jason was Stan's best man in his wedding. So, I think having Stan in the band is kind of a tribute to Jason. Because he was a friend it did not seem like we were forgetting Jason. So, we started playing with Stan a couple of months later. The only thing that we were worried about was people saying that it was too quick, but they did not know the situation and probably would have said that even if it had been a year or whatever.

Your past concert schedule has indeed been busy. Do you do your own booking or do you have management for that?
Luke: At this point I do all the booking. I try to keep us at a steady pace. When we have too long in between shows we start to go a little crazy. We have worked with some smaller companies in the past, but they ended up folding. I would love to work with a booking/management person that liked our music and knew what to do with it. I would much rather just focus on the music. So, if anybody reading this wants to work something out, give us a call, ha! There you go a little advertisement.

What do you like most about being in a band and what do you like least?
Luke: I like the performance aspect of it, when you and the crowd are both feeling the same thing, that is awesome. Also, the moment a song really starts to take shape is an awesome time. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't but I like the process. The worst part for me is being away from my family, I have a new baby girl so it sucks to be gone late at night.

Chris: My favorite part is to just let loose and get crazy. At out of town shows, people never expect to see me do crazy things on stage because I am the quiet one beforehand. It’s a nice release
The worst part is listening to other crappy bands, it gets worse and worse, where do these people come from?

Shawn: The best part is spend time with three people that are awesome, also we love making music that we think is good and hope that others think so too.
The worst part is traveling hundreds of miles to play and nobody is there because the club can't book strong local band to bring people in. Regardless of everything, even if we are only playing to the bartenders we still have fun playing music.

Stan: The enjoyment of being completely creative like a sculptor molding something. The joy of forming something beautiful and enjoyable to the ears and mind. The love of being an artist at its truest form. The least would be the time away from my family.

Now your second full length album is nearing is one year old mark, do you have a new album in the works?
Luke: We have started writing some new songs; we're not trying to rush things. We have some songs that we think are pretty strong, who knows, in two months we might think they're crap. Chris has been getting back in the groove of writing at home where he can just play for hours, which he says he hasn't done in a couple years.

If so, do you have a name for it yet and how much material will be on it?
Luke: No album name yet, I usually start trying to think of names after all the songs are done and it has a feel to it. I love all that stuff. I think Chris has a name in mind though...
Chris: "Lay a Cleveland Steamer on my CHETT"
Shawn: We never come up with a name for things until we have to. We a band of Indecisive Asses. We hope to have a full length album... Personally, I hate EP's I feel cheated.

What is on CHETT’s plate for 2007 and what can people expect?
Shawn: We hope to play a boat load of shows. We are at our best when we can play all the time. Maybe even an album, who knows?
Luke: We are trying to get our songs on TV shows fro more exposure. We just want people to hear them. Yeah and play more shows...shows rule.

What are some of the long term goals you’d like to see yourselves accomplish?
Chris: To make MORE MONEY- oh wait we are NOT a COVER BAND.
Luke: I would like to be able to play for a living and be able to this all the time, but so would the 6 billion other bands out there.
Shawn: Hopefully, we can make some huge leaps and get a nice size tour under our belt with a national band. That’s my goal.
Stan: Play music to not only enjoy it but make a living supporting my family doing it. Being endorsed by different drum manufacturers such as Paiste, Vater, and others, that would be cool.

Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share with our readers?
Luke: Just give us a chance, check out our website (www.chettmusic.com) or our myspace page (myspace.com/chett) and come out to a show. That is all we can ask. We put everything we have into this band and want you to be a part of it.
Chris: Keep on rockin' in the Free Bird!

Thank you very much and good luck to you!