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Forging a successful career is an uphill battle for any musician out there these days, even for a trio of blue-collar Midwesterners like Sam, Pete, and Joe, the Loeffler brothers. Chevelle has fought long and hard to get to Wonder What’s Next, its Epic Records debut. Self-taught musicans Sam (drummer) and Pete (singer/guitarist) formed the band in their teens, in the basement of a Chicago suburb. The duo eschewed performing covers in favor of writing their own original material. Joe (bass) joined by accident, not through an act of nepotism. He just picked up a bass one day and his noodling happened to be better than the guy they were originally jamming with.
In 1999, the band released Point #1, a successful college radio album that went on to yield 2 top ten commercial radio singles ("Mia" and "Point #1") through Squint Entertainment. Point #1 was recorded by Steve Albini (Nirvana) and proudly wore its Helmet, Quicksand, and Far influences on its sleeve.
For Point #1, Chevelle were road dogs, hitting the tour circuit with the likes of Filter, Powerman 5000, Static-X, Sevendust, Local H, Type O Negative, Orange 9MM, and Machine Head over the course of the album’s cycle. Nearly 100,000 units were moved. The band eventually parted ways with their indie label and rather than becoming stagnant, started working on new material while wondering "what" was next for them.
"During that time, we did so many demos," recalls Sam. The band finally signed with Epic because the connection felt right. Chevelle moved forward quickly with Wonder What’s Next, barely missing a beat. The band recruited producer GGGarth Richardson (Rage Against the Machine, Mudvayne) and holed up at Vancouver’s The Wherehouse. It was a nine-week process, where the band made the best record they could. "We successfully managed to get the album we wanted out of our heads and on tape," admits Sam.
"With Point #1, a lot of those tracks were first takes because that is what Albini liked to do. It was good because it was different and had it’s own feel," recalls Sam. "This time, we wanted to be more tone-oriented and make the sound we had in our head. The album seems more polished, because we fixed any little imperfections that weren’t quite right." The band went with Andy Wallace (System of a Down, Linkin Park, Korn,) to mix the album.
As a result, Wonder What’s Next is more Chevelle coming into its own and less a sum of its influences. Chevelle has undoubtedly concocted its own sound here.
"The writing style and melodies are timeless," says Joe. "We actually take the time to write.""Our musical influences have not changed," offers Sam. "But our relationship in our band changed. We went through hardships as a band. We’re not saying, ‘Oh, here are the disadvantages of being in a band.’ This album is a culmination of the frustration one experiences when you’re trying to make a record. Those frustrations are the influence of the record." Sam also admits, "it’s not more than anyone else has experienced, just what we’ve experienced."
Pete elaborates on where his head was at when writing his powerful, emotionally raw lyrics on Wonder What’s Next. "Frustration is a major theme," he confesses. "My inspirations were really hurtful situations. I am usually in a bad mood when I write a song. I need to be in a silent room by myself if I am going to get anything useable. I can’t write around people."
Wonder What’s Next is kicked off by "Family System," which Pete says, "is about brothers and needs to be screamed." The belligerent-but-beautiful first single "The Red" is about "being at that breaking point , and trying to accomplish something. You feel as if you’re bigger than everything around you." "Comfortable Liar", a "past relationship" tune is erected on a blistering stop-start riff that is strong enough to paralyze a horse. The so-pretty-it-hurts "Send The Pain Below" showcases Pete’s quivery vocal fluidity. About that particular song, Pete says, "I shove a lot of my discouragement inside me and it surfaces when I write music or when I am performing, I think I am kind of a quiet guy when it comes to expressing feelings, but in the song, I talk about how I send it below and it’s a suffocating feeling that you get when it builds and is too much."
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