By: Jimmy Sears
Chasing December has been popping up across Atlanta since late 2011. Earlier this year they released their self-titled and self-produced first album. In February, I had the pleasure of speaking with Chicago native and lead guitarist Dan Koutavas and Washington native and drummer Sebastian Ayers. The band also has Dalton Sisson on lead vocals and recent addition Glenn Stout on bass guitar. Last week Dan entered our dimly-lit cavern at Owl Radio to discuss juicy details concerning the release of their second album and big upcoming shows for the band.
Their next album, entitled “Cliché as Hell,” is said to have a higher audio quality as opposed to the gritty garage-band sound they had in their first album. Dan explained the origins of the album’s title. “We were talking one day and that phrase kept coming up about us trying to not be ‘cliché as hell’” Dan said. “We were like, ‘you know, that would be a perfect name for the songs we’ve got’ because we’ve got a varied album as far as style.” Dan said some songs will have a digital guitar sound and will be varied while maintaining the essence-of-rock sound. Dan also cited Dave Grohl’s recent work as an inspiration for his projects. As a generous holiday gift, Dan said a single from the album is also going to be released for free on iTunes.
Dan also talked about a separate release, which is a cover of the holiday epic, “Carol of the Bells,” which Chasing December performed at a talent show in 2011 for a blizzard that blew the roof off. Dan also mentioned Chasing December has a can’t-miss upcoming show at Smith’s Olde Bar on Dec. 26. For more info, keep posted at www.chasingdecemberband.com.
