Island Waves Student Publication

Local Licks
Chartreuse| Liquor, Local Band... or a Little of Both?

by Susan Harr entertainment editor

“Why Chartreuse?” This was the first question I asked members of the Corpus Christi-based electronic-rock fusion band, upstairs in their climate-controlled U-Haul storage room/practice suite during a break from jamming. I got the most unexpected answer: “band name generator,” the members laughed in unison. “Well also, Tom Hanks said it in That Thing You Do,” added Dustin Burleson, lead singer and guitarist. “And anything Tom says goes,” jokes Will Delgado, guitarist and electronic music extraordinaire. Right off the bat, I could tell that this band had a cohesion that came only from a lifelong friendship. Delgado walked to the recording room next door and brought back a bottle of greenish yellow liquor called Chartreuse. “Oh, and because of this,” he laughed.

Chartreuse was founded right here in Corpus Christi in March of 2007. Burleson (23, lead singer/guitarist), Delgado (23, guitarist/electronic music maker) and Hameed Hamid (21, drums) have all known each other since their days at Carroll High School. Leo Forest (28, bass) was a floating bassist for the likes of Sun Salutation, Monkeys Doin’ It, and countless others before playing for Chartreuse. The Kingsville native joined the group by chance last June, establishing the lineup they have intact today.

I first saw the band play live at the House of Rock, where I was pleasantly surprised by the unique sound they had (which I soon discovered came from the addition of distortion instruments like a plastic laser gun and a television remote control). “Yeah, we saw the Smashing Pumpkins [use a laser gun] once,” stated Forest, taking a long drag from his cigarette. Quirky? Yes. Unique? Definitely. It’s a sound you can only get from experimenting, and that’s what Chartreuse is all about. “We like to experiment, we get bored of playing the same kind of music all the time,” they all agreed.

At their show at House of Rock, they covered a Radiohead song, which I quickly discovered was one of their influences. “We have a lot of influences…ya’ll just start calling them out,” ordered Burleson, appearing a bit tired of the question. “At the Drive In, The Mars Volta” contributed Forest. “HUM,” added Hamid. On the band’s MySpace page, they boast influences like Pink Floyd, Minus the Bear, Nine Inch Nails, Explosions in the Sky, and Failure Tortoise.

Flashback to the House of Rock show: the smoke on the stage mixed with rays of psychedelic colored light that seemed to sway with the music. The music: a spacey, Pink Floyd-like rock trip experiment. Everyone seemed to be on their game. Later at band practice I would find that the group thought otherwise. The same was said for their jam in the practice room. After pumping out an amazing song, they would apologize, saying that everything was going wrong. I may not be a sound guru, but they sounded sweet to me.

The way they would switch styles mid-song, like when they practiced the band favorite “Fifty Year Storm,” going from a slow start to a crescendo of bass-slapping, drum-slamming, guitar-rocking madness was mesmerizing. And then just like that, they would go back again, to a slow rhythmic jam fest. “How do they come up with these songs…what’s the process?” I wondered.

“One person, usually Will or Dustin, makes a riff or a hook, brings it in, and we all build on it,” Burelson explained, taking turns to speak. “We just jam it out, there’s usually no structure at the beginning, it all comes together later,” Hamid added. And the lyrics…what about the lyrics? “We don’t really put a lot of emphasis on lyrics,” admitted Burleson. He went on to explain the process: first come the instrumentals, next they name the song, and finally they try to create lyrics around the name or concept. This may seem unusual, but it works for their band.

The way they jam so cohesively, you would never expect that they would have any other goal other than to stay together, make records, and tour the world. You would be quite wrong. Burleson, originally from Arkansas, started playing music when he was 19. A self-taught guitarist, he had plenty of motivation in coming from a family of musicians. He tried college-“graphic design was lame,” he asserted-but ended up living and breathing music. “I would like to get signed and start touring, but ultimately I want to start my own studio,” revealed Burleson.

“I’m the talent,” joked Delgado. A Corpus Christi native, Delgado started playing guitar at 16, and now plays pretty much everything: guitar, bass, drums, piano/keyboard, xylophone, and laser gun. He also operates the synthesizer and any other distortion device you can think up. He said he plays music because that’s where his creativity is. “Even before I started playing I knew that was what I wanted to do,” confessed Delgado. As far as musical career goals, he said, “I want to be an agent, a talent scout…I would love to play music forever but I really want to go out and look for good bands and [give them a start.”]

Delgado is all for experimenting, “’Night Isle’ is my favorite song, because I get to go off,” he stated. During a practice song, he walked off to turn on the lights (which would automatically turn off every so often) as the rest of the band kept playing, and on his way back he started playing on the xylophone, then slowly made his way back to his guitar and jumped right back in. That kind of effortless experimentation is awesome to watch, and is certainly liberating to someone who loves to try new things.

Forest has been playing music since his middle school days as a tuba player. After playing bass for a jazz band, he began into playing rock music. In addition to bass, he also dabbles in the laser gun and the lime green TV remote. Forest, with help from Burleson, explained how the gun and remote distort sound when pointed at an electric guitar or bass.

Hamid, the youngest in the group, started playing drums at 11 years old, but started aggressively practicing four years ago. “I want to be a studio drummer,” he said. He swatted away heckling from his bandmates. “I honestly want to get rich…don’t get me wrong, I love music, I just want to get rich while playing music,” he confessed.

Although they have different musical and career goals, for the time being, they seem to enjoy just playing in Chartreuse together. They are working on a CD right now dubbed “Lunar Twin” after their solar sound. They are doing the recording themselves in another storage room, caddy cornered from their practice room. In addition to working on their CD, they are on a bit of a local tour, playing at different venues every week. “We practice when we can, because we play shows every week, so that’s kind of like our practice,” they said, each contributing. Burleson acts as the band’s manager as well, organizing bookings and doing PR through the band’s MySpace page.

Their biggest challenge has been finding an audience who is open to their sound. “We would rather hurt your ears than have you thinking ‘ooh that’s catchy, let’s dance.’” As for advice, the guys had this to say, “It’s hard…you gotta be good friends…be in it all the way or not at all…and don’t start a band because you want to sound like a band, start a band because you want to make your own sound.”

Vancouver Band Ready to Rock n' Roll
Jet Black Stare

by Rob Boscamp managing editor

In the music business, there are bands that yearn for a shot at the big time; but what tends to destroy the dreams of many musicians are the trials leading to the path to stardom.

However, there will be that one band that’ll gaze into the face of adversity with a “jet black stare.”

Jet Black Stare, a rock band from Vancouver, B.C., consists of lead singer Rod Black, guitarists Flip and Dave Muselman, bassist Shane Hayes, and drummer Dan Swinimer.

JBS recently performed in Corpus Christi on June 18 at the South Texas House of Rock as part of a four-band tour featuring Saving Abel, EndeverAfter, and Electric Touch.

When thinking of a group to compare Jet Black Stare with, think of a musical mishmash of Velvet Revolver, Hinder, and Daughtry—among many other popular rockers.

After hearing their performance, it was very clear that Jet Black Stare would give any of these bands a run for their money.

For instance, in the opening numbers of their performance, singer Rod Black experienced technical difficulties, not being able to hear himself.

Black tried to work with what he had, but ultimately stepped off the stage...and began singing right in the middle of the crowd.

This part of the show illustrates the cliché that nothing will stop Jet Black Stare from reaching the top—not even death.

Rod Black is the epitome of that last statement. When Black was 19-years-old, the JBS front man was involved in a fatal car crash. The doctors had declared him dead as a “flatline patient,” but Black miraculously woke up the next day.

“The doctors and nurses were astonished. Four hours later, I walked out of the hospital and went to work,” said Black in the band’s official press release.

After signing with Island Records last September, the “jet” of the JBS name has been the word for the band’s rising career throughout the past several months.

The band’s first single, “Ready to Roll” has been officially selected as the theme for World Wrestling Entertainment’s annual SummerSlam pay-per-view event next month.

Also, JBS are “rolling” on the virtual raceway, as “Ready to Roll” and another album track, “It’s Over,” are featured in the 15-song soundtrack for the NASCAR 09 video game.

To top it off, Jet Black Stare began touring with multi-platinum groups 3 Doors Down, Hinder, and Staind on July 9, a week before the band’s first album, “In This Life,” hits stores July 15.

In short, Jet Black Stare will be one band that rockers and music buffs alike will have trouble taking their eyes—and ears—off of.