It’s not quite Chinese Democracy and they’re not quite Guns ‘n’ Roses, but a Nanaimo band did wonder at times whether their next album would be completed.
“It’s been the better part of three years,” said Dan Bryant, lead singer for Chasing Satellites.
A change in the bass player meant the band went back to the starting blocks on material that was already recorded.
“We panicked a bit and hit delete,” Bryant said.
What that did, however, was send the band back to the drawing board to rewrite their songs from the bottom up. They worked with Rick Salt at Lois Lane Studios, who pushed the quartet to their limits of creativity and musicianship.
Once recording was complete, the finished product was sent to Metal Works for completion.
“I never thought it would sound like that,” Bryant said. “We’re pretty proud of it.”
The extra work means the sound is much different from their earlier album, said drummer Zack Friend.
“We learned how to construct a proper song, instead of a cool riff and a bunch of other stuff,” he said.
The group, made up of Bryant, Friend Aaron Bethune and Niko Hook Nilsson, celebrate the release of the self-titled album with a party at the Queen’s Thursday (June 9). The event, which will feature sets by Chasing Satellites as well as Atlas Collapses, is the culmination of all their hard work and will be a party to reflect that.
“There’s so many things that came up that could’ve derailed this,” Friend said. “We still grinded it out and made it work.”
The music starts at 10 p.m. Admission is $10. Please visit www.chasingsatellites.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com