The Universal Chrome - the new indie royalty

Somewhere between yesterday and today, music lost its soul. You could hear the faint cries of the clef note’s breaking bones and disenchanted daydreams of artists, as they’re crushed and ground into dust.  John Lennon’s long in his grave, along with Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Buckley, John Bonham, and Kurt Cobain. Did the music really die with Buddy, Ritchie, and The Big Bopper or did it just begin to wither in the ashes that night?  All we have to show for their valiant efforts is a bin full of recycled too many hit wonders, feeding off of each other’s creative gene pool and purging themselves into the public’s ear drums. We gobble it all down and hope that something fresh will come along to revitalize our palettes, but it hasn’t and desperation has begun to set in.  Music, as a form of art, has been replaced by marketing strategies and fashion trends. Kids buy records and video games, so mass produce a spring line of kid friendly pop acts and give them in their own personalized video games. Bands are a collection of individuals with their own very individual needs, so let’s replace actual musicians with DAT machines and a turntable. Then, you won’t have to deal with those pesky musicians and you’ll retain complete control of the project from start to finish. I’m sure if you take enough Ecstasy and acid, anything sounds great.

Indie rock is Custer’s Last Stand.  Politicians have deflowered and polished music into a politically correct, spring time fresh melody of shiny, happy pop stars and non-offensive movie soundtracks. Punk is a greatly missed old friend. Gothic is an over-looked, whispered about cousin locked in the attic. Where are Joe Strummer, Stevie Nicks, Nick Cave, and David Gahan when you really need them? Indie rock is the last untouched, untainted pool of reflection for true lovers of music.

When a band forms and gears itself towards the indie side of rock music, they’re already preparing themselves to be unsung heroes the moment that they pick up their instruments. Long hours of practice late at night, perfecting each note and chord until the song becomes an intimate obsession. Club owners, promoters, and booking agents that are more likely to hit on your girlfriend than spread an opportunity for an unsigned, unknown band. It’s a roll of the dice life that an indie rock band lives. From the cradle to the grave, honing their craft and hungry for that one big break that’s never guaranteed till you see your name in lights. You can possess the talent and heart, but still be forced to resign yourself to ten years of vomitorium bars and clubs that aren’t even on the map. On the other hand, how many talentless pop acts are cluttering the charts today with recycled songs about clichéd emotions and all the right merchandising to go along with it? The answer: too damn many.

The Universal Chrome is one such band that’s overcoming the odds to carve out their place in the limelight. Hungry, determined, talented, and virtually unknown- until now. With a bright start and a loyal following in their hometown of New Orleans, they possessed everything that it takes to join the ranks of Sonic Youth, Swervedriver, and dare I say, Radiohead.  “New Orleans is a wonderful place for music. Unfortunately, it took me years to figure that out. Once I finally realized how great it was musically, I began to understand that I, too, could tap into that same passion which I had witnessed in so many New Orleans R&B and jazz performers. It’s a sort of musical possession that you really have no control over and I wanted to let the music take me to that place, so I learned to let go,” front man, Zac Wilson, reflects. Still, there comes the time in any artist’s life, whether they be poet, painter, or prophet, when they’ve outgrown the nest and find it’s time to move on to bigger, better horizons. The members of The Universal Chrome, Zac Wilson, Melissa Giorgio, Ben Curtis, and Keith Hajjar, have spent the better part of ten years, individually or as a collective entity, playing in any and every forum that The Big Easy had to offer an indie band. “The band didn’t realize its inherent New Orleans roots until we left. We realized that we had a musical education that we had taken for granted…I think being in New York has made us recognize that the music that we were force-fed is full of valuable lessons that give us a unique perspective as we continue to grow and learn about music in the rest of the world,” drummer, Keith Hajjar clarified. It was time for them to grow. So, Wilson (vocals and guitar), Curtis (guitar), Giorgio (bass guitar), and Hajjar (percussion) packed up their lives and made the monumental move to New York City in 1999. According to bassist, Melissa Giorgio, the band hoped to gain “experience, exposure, and opportunities” with the move. They went from The Big Easy to The Big Apple, while the comrade bands they’d started their journey with broke up and vanished from the scene. “I think we have a lot of experience under our belt.  Just the fact that we are still together is a testament to what makes us different. That and the fact that our influences aren’t as noticeable on the surface, as are a lot of bands,” Ben chimed in. Life would never be the same again for the quartet.  “It has made us concentrate on straightening out the financial side of the band, which is something that every band hates to face and has to deal with eventually,” Giorgio retorted. It wasn’t just a matter of performing in different clubs to a roomful of strangers.  There were jobs to be found. Painful apartment searches. Culture shock. Still, they persevered. “We hoped that moving to NYC would put us closer to more major music markets, thus allowing us to heighten our profile, which it did,” Wilson affirmed.  If they could make it in New York’s notoriously brutal band circuit, they could make it anywhere. “Traditionally, these markets are more accepting to indie/pop than the south and they are much easier to service. I think we chose NYC over the smaller markets because of the glamour and the opportunity to diversify our personalities, as well as our song-writing.” Hajjar continued.

The Universal Chrome and its four very distinctive members are a tough bunch to really categorize. Their driving, throbbing guitar licks are too intense to include them in the customary pop grouping, but their lush tempos and riveting read between the line lyrics do give them an undeniable radio friendly tone. They’ve been placed in the indie rock sub-genre from their start over six years ago in New Orleans, but one little label like “indie rock” isn’t sufficient to really describe their awe-inspiring harmony, unpredictable stage presence, and commanding lyrics. Their personal influences are even more diverse than the band’s distinctive sounds. Wilson cites legends like The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Taj Mahal, and Muddy Waters as inspiring him to want to join a band and “As far as guitar, maybe…um… Ian McKaye from Fugazi…?  J. Robbins from Jawbox…” with his own personal panache of guitar playing and vocalizing. Even more eclectic would be bassist, Melissa Giorgio’s muses of anyone from Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth, Kim Deal of The Pixies, Peter Hook of Joy Division to Siouxsie and The Banshees, Catherine Wheel, and The Cure.

The Universal Chrome has paid their dues twice over in blood, sweat, and bar tabs. They’ve performed at the coveted CMJ Music Festival, the revered CBGBs, Anne Rice’s annual Coven parties for several years and lent their skills as an opening act for such bands as Swervedriver, The Jesus Lizard, and Suicidal Tendencies. They have their share of war wounds, battle scars, and torrid tales to show for their efforts. “Let’s just say I have had an interesting time thus far,” Giorgio commented tongue firmly planted in cheek. The long hours of practice, weeks away from home on tour, and other necessary evils of being in a band are par for the course when you’re pursuing a dream as heated as a love affair. “At times it’s difficult on the other aspects of our lives. It can be this ever-consuming monster which is never happy and that can really strain your job and/or relationship, as well as anything else that may require time or work. You have to be careful and surround yourself with a lot of positive OUTSIDE influences, in order to not get lost in the whole thing.” Zac expounded.

Before the creation of the Internet, bands were forced to market and promote their albums the hard way. Days of radio interviews, stapling and taping up posters everywhere they went, and begging their friends to phone the local DJ every five minutes to request their songs. With the birth of the World Wide Web, it created a new forum for bands to publicize themselves without paying an agent an exuberant amount of money for it. “We have utilized the Internet greatly to our advantage. It’s a remarkable way to gain exposure from the comfort of my own bedroom. It’s enabled us to network with the media, radio, fan clubs, and offers exposure to other music industry-related sites and helps keep track of areas of touring interest,” Giorgio explained, further enlightened by Keith, “People are beginning to grasp the idea of having a music collection that doesn’t take up any space and being able to find their favorite, obscure recordings in seconds on the Net. A lot of artists are able to collaborate on compositions at far distances from each other using the Net, which used to be a fantasy. It’s cool, but it can’t replace personal contact.” The Universal Chrome, like thousands of other bands, have their own web site (www.universalchrome.com) and have also joined the ranks of other indie favorites at www.mp3.com. They also have a fan club of their own, where die-hard Universal Chrome fans meet to get updates on band gigs and release dates.  The Internet has opened up the flood gates for unsigned bands to gain recognition for their persistent work by exposing them to millions of ravenous music lovers, industry insiders, and booking agents.

With the October release of their EP, “Meet The Universal Chrome”, and the imminent full-length CD, “Closer to Shine”, they’re poised on the edge of indie success and global domination of the senses. Keith found the forthcoming release as, “’Meet…’ has a few gems that you won’t be able to get elsewhere. No one likes to buy the same songs twice.‘Closer to Shine’ has some more recent sessions on it.” They conquered New Orleans and have already made a name for themselves in New York as a resilient, hard-working band and they’re showing no signs of braking any time soon. “If we can survive each other, we can survive any shit that the industry dishes out,” Ben declared. It won’t be long before The Universal Chrome will be joining the artists and bands that influenced them in indie stardom, proving that it’s not who you know or who you blow. It’s how far you’re willing to go.