We chatted to NEW CHUMS who are an indie rock 'n roll band from Phoenix, Arizona.....
Owing to the nature of where we’re based, we rarely get the chance to reach out to bands or artists outside of the UK but from time to time, we do. We recently chatted to an indie rock quartet called NEW CHUMS who are based in Phoenix, Arizona which as the crow flies is 5180 miles away, a little further afield than we’re used to….
We caught up with Matt Lloyd from the band to chat about their latest single, music videos and future plans to play in Europe, read on to see how we got on….
A lot of our UK fans have probably never heard of you before. Please tell us a little bit about the band, how you all came together and what sort of music you play?
We are a indie pop/rock band based out of Phoenix, AZ. The four of us met through online musician ads and began working on music in early 2017 and released our first EP later that Fall.
If I were to use the phrase “for fans of”, who would you say you are similar to?
Bands that come up consistently are The Strokes, Neon Trees, Catfish & the Bottlemen, JimmyEatWorld.
So your latest single “I Won’t Let You Go” was released on June 14th, is this a taste of more to come?
It certainly is! This is our first single release for the new music but we will be releasing five new songs as an EP in total throughout 2019.
Who produced the single, and have you previously worked with them? How did you find working with them?
The Arizona music legend himself, BOB HOAG has recorded and produced both of our EP’s. So anything we have released has been with him and has his stamp on it. We love working with Bob, he has a great energy and knowledge of music. He is peppered throughout our recordings as well with different BGV’s and tambourine tracks!
How did you find the recording process of this song compared to your previous EP See it For Myself?
Since we had worked with Bob before and been in his studio, we had a better idea of the flow of how he liked to do preproduction and tracking. So recording IWLYG went pretty smooth from that stand point. Going into this recording session, we were pretty sure IWLYG would be our first single from the new EP so we came in with the song and production idea pretty intact. We didn't end up changing the recording much from from the way we had already been playing it at recent shows.
Can we expect a music video alongside the new single?
Yes! We’ve not finished the video yet, but we do plan on releasing one for the song soon….watch this space!
Have you got any plans for any tours or festivals? Are you looking at coming overseas to the UK and Europe one day?
We would love to play in the UK and Europe sometime soon. The more word spreads for us the better!
We did just play Lakeside Music Festival with SMASHMOUTH a few weeks back and also played a 4th of July festival in Flagstaff, AZ. More dates are in the works.
And finally, where can we find out more about you?
We’d like to thank Matt for taking the time to chat to us and we wish the band every success in the future.
Interview by Ted Stargatt