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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