Monday, April 21, 2014

Local Band "Chasing December" Discusses Chasing Dreams

Here's my second article for the Sentinel. Here I got to meet with members of a local band called "Chasing December" who are from Cartersville, GA. I met with Dan Koutavas and Sebastian Ayars in Kennesaw State's Student Center and we discussed topics such as the process of making their debut album, "Set in Stone," and when they realized they wanted to get into music.

They were both very nice in person and even gave me a copy of their fist album as thanks. Interview someone; get free stuff — not bad!

Anyway, enjoy.


Originally Published 02/18/14:
Guitarist Dan Koutavas, bassist Joseph Bullard, drummer Sebastian Ayars, and singer Dalton Sisson make up "Chasing December."
Atlanta has been trailblazing as a city recently and its music scene is no different; names such as
R.E.M, Collective Soul, and Butch Walker serve to define Atlanta’s own style of music. It is also home to many up-and-coming bands. Chasing December is one worth noting. They consist of Dan Koutavas, a Chicago native on lead guitar. Sebastian Ayars, a Washington native who plays the drums. Joseph Bullard on bass guitar. And Dalton Sisson lends his voice as the lead singer. The band formed in December of 2011, which is where they took their name from. They have recently released their first album, Set in Stone, last October and seek to climb higher in the music industry. Last week I had a chance to meet with Dan and Sebastian of Chasing December to get to know more about the band’s background, the style of music they play, and the process of making Set in Stone. I also asked them about when they plan on releasing their second studio album.

How did you all meet and how did you get the band started?
DAN: I moved to Cartersville in 2011, and I met Sebastian through high school over at Cass. As the band went on, he and I started producing music, throwing it online, and people started contacting us through music community pages on facebook such as Northwest Georgia Musicians. We were contacted by a bassist and a singer earlier this year, and we completed the band in May.

How long have all of you known each other for?
SEBASTIAN: Dan and I have known each other about three years at least.

What would you say makes your group’s music unique?
DAN: You have a lot of people doing something out of the box; you’ve got the dubstep movement, and you’ve got a lot of indie music. Basically, our genre is modern rock. So what we are trying to do is take anything in that realm of music and produce it for today’s listener. I would say what separates us from others is the song writing itself and the musicianship of each individual member.
SEBASTIAN: What makes it unique is that we are young and we are still able to pull off this really mature sense of writing like we have been doing it forever.

What would you say influenced the style of your band’s music?
DAN: Our band is like a combination of a lot of different things. I listen to everything, but I would say that my main influences from playing guitar are Led Zeppelin, Alice in Chains; the classics of rock. And Sebastian leans more towards a heavier, modern, and hardcore drumming style, like Devil Wears Prada, August Burns Red, and guys like those. On the other hand you have our bassist who listens to a little bit of everything like me with a little variation. And then our singer has a very 90s alternative rock sound. So put that all together and you get kind of a really hard rock band that has a lighter side with it; it’s a strange mix, but it works really well.

You’ve released your first album. What went into making the album?
SEBASTIAN: It’s not a fun thing; it makes music not fun and playing your instrument not fun. It’s just a lot of attention-to-detail and hours put in. It’s just day after day of doing the same thing. But you just get a little bit closer each time and there’s still so much to know on it.
DAN: [Sebastian] and I had the most influence on the CD as far as the production of it because we did it on a computer and we self-produced. So when we went into that, there’s a ton of time that’s needed to fine-tune each track and production as a whole. That’s everywhere from artwork, to duplication of the CD, to the song writing . . . and the actual mix on tape of what it sounds like. So all of that goes into it and we all did that our selves, and the attention-to-detail was important and it took a lot out of us.

What person inspired you to get into music?
DAN: I can’t pick just one person because what comes to mind would be my parents. They definitely introduced music to me at a young age, and they’re always in my corner as far as moving it forward, motivating me, and keeping it there because the music industry is hard to succeed in because there is so much hard work that goes into it.
SEBASTIAN: My dad, definitely, because he has been in bands since he was my age, and he has been playing music for a while. He kind of got me into it and gave me the ability to go do whatever I wanted and pushed me. And even when people were against it, he kept on pushing me. So it’s nice to have someone who is really dedicated to what you are doing, and that really inspired it.

The moment you realized that you wanted to start a band.
SEBASTIAN: It was December 8, 2011, [Dan] came into the school, and everyone told us because everyone heard him play guitar and everyone knew that I already played the drums so they’re like, “hey, you need to play with Dan,” or, “hey, Dan — you need to go play with Sebastian,” and we were like, “eh, whatever.” It wasn’t really working out; we tried it once, and it was just dumb. Anyway, this talent show is coming up. It was [Christmas themed], and we were like, “should we do something?” And we were like, “yeah, sure,” so we played this August Burns Red [cover of] “Carol of the Bells.” We got a huge applause – it was awesome. . . . So I think it was that first moment of people cheering for what you are doing. That’s when I was locked in.
DAN: I get a message from Sebastian a few days later, and I had previously asked him to play in a band, and he had not been interested. After the show, Sebastian sends a message to me and he’s like, “I’m ready to start a band.” And he knew of my mindset [to start a band]. At that point, it all kicked off from there.

When do you think you will release your second album?
SEBASTIAN: We’re planning on releasing an EP before we go and throw up another album.
DAN: We’re currently writing it; it is more than 50% done, and we should have it out possibly within the next six months or earlier.

Chasing December’s album, Set in Stone, can be purchased on iTunes and Amazon.com. You can  
also learn more about the band on chasingdecemberband.com

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