CHASER
CHASER, a history:
CHASER was founded by Wexford men Barry Berney and Patrick Kearns in July 2007. Unsatisfied by the performance of local original bands and unfulfilled by the thought of joining yet another cliché cover band to tour the South East's bars and clubs, the long-time friends decided that the foundation of a band on their own terms was the way forward.
They recruited the talent of local cover band frontman Colm Ó Cuanaigh, who had played briefly alongside Barry in Wexford blues band Seven Blind Mice. The trio clicked and CHASER was born. The 3, coupled with drummer Dermot Murphy, met intermittently over the following months and wrote their first track 'Too Far Gone', completing a demo recording of the tune shortly afterwards. Early jam tracks from around this time included songs 'The Wind, The Dirt and the Rain' and 'You Make Everything Alright', although neither were fully completed until later the following year.
CHASER continued on without the aid of Dermot, who decided to leave the band shortly after the recording was completed, and after a number of drummer-less months, Barry stumbled across drumming virtuoso Se Quirke while in a queue for Pearl Jam tickets. After hearing some of the demo material, Se became eager to join the band and, following a few shaky practice sessions riddled with bad music equipment and external violence, the first solid CHASER line up was confirmed at their live debut show in November 2008 at the Dun Mhuire Theatre in Wexford, a haven for local bands to showcase their talents. The gig was considered a success by the foursome, a lively 'bused in' Kilkenny crowd boosting the band's confidence. A 5 track set, consisting of 3 originals and covers by AC/DC and Led Zeppelin, saw drummer Se's Stuart-Copeland-like skills shine and also marked the first outing of CHASER's distorted love tune 'Capo Song', later to be renamed 'One Of Those Things'.
The first live show inspired the band and songs were written in quick succession shortly afterwards. The tracks 'You Make Everything Alright', 'Covered In Chocolate', 'Give It Back' and 'This Way' were all added to the set list within a few short months and it seemed the writing bug wouldn't stop. The quartet finished earlier jam piece 'The Wind, The Dirt and the Rain' and recorded a low budget demo of the track in a local studio.
The band took a residency slot in Wexford pub The Ridge and headlined a string of fundraising shows for Crumlin Childrens' Hospital, an institution close to Colm's heart. The shows provided a launch for the band and led to a string of performances around the country including sets in Dublin's Radio City, Limerick's Baker Place, and the renowned St Michael's Theatre in New Ross. This period saw the introduction of support act Bobby Ó Keeffe, a long standing friend of the group. Bobby was a talented acoustic songwriter and became a regular addition to the CHASER tour card. He opened for the quartet on many occasions and also began injecting helpful musical suggestions into the band's song writing.
Unfulfilled by their performance and the quality of botched demo 'TWTDATR', the band set their sights on Wicklow's Silverline Studios, an establishment with a reputation for quality and strong production techniques. After much deliberation about which of their original tunes should be produced, the foursome decided on freshly penned track 'Two Different People'. After an exhausting weekend and hours of torn finger nails and blisters, the mastered track was completed and the band set about sending it to the 4 corners of the country. The tune was well received, earning radio time on Dublin's Phantom FM, Waterford based Beat FM and Wexford's own South East Radio.
The band were gigging extensively at this stage, clocking up many miles and were often seen returning home late the following morning after a show. But the group also continued to gig close to home, playing sets at the Wexford Arts Centre, Bolgers of Broadway, The Ridge, and crowning a string of shows by winning the 'Budweiser Talent Show' in Wexford venue South 51.
The foursome were still eagerly writing, penning song 'Baby Don't Wait Up' and an early version of melancholy tune 'Legal Illegal'.
Disaster struck shortly after, with a decision by Se to part company with the band. An integral part of the foursome, it was unclear for a prolonged time whether or not CHASER would continue without him. Drummer-less yet again, the band was confined to drunken conversations in bars and the lazy search for a replacement beat keeper seemed to result in little but arguments. The now 3 members continued to hold jam sessions with friends, the most often being touring buddy Bobby O' Keeffe. Bobby was only a part time drummer, having learnt the kit to further his own acoustic songwriting career. But something stuck and within weeks CHASER, with Bobby on the drum stool, hit the gig circuit once more. A number of machine gun style bookings saw them play shows in Baker Place, the UL Student Campus, the Talbot Hotel and the Wexford Arts Centre within days of each other. Bobby was officially initiated into the line up with a stand out performance in Limerick's Baker Place and the trio became four once again.
Bobby's own songwriting skills greatly influenced the band, tweaking earlier songs with some of his ideas, and rewriting tune 'Legal Illegal', now a regular set piece. Bobby added a vocal depth to the band that had been missing for some time and audiences reacted well to the additional singer. But Bobby's commitment to his studies in Limerick and Colm's career in Dublin put a strain on the quartet, who began finding it hard to dedicate time for practice and songwriting.
But the 4 friends have pulled CHASER back into line of sight and have put their efforts into studio work again, this time with the recruited help of Waterford music guru 'Little' Dave O' Briein. The foursome have rewritten and recorded early track 'This Way', now entitled 'In My Haste', and this, along with tunes 'Give It Back', 'One Of Those Things' and 'Two Different People', makes up their first official EP, due in shops in October 2010.
Support the band, buy it, enjoy it, come to a show and rock out with your c*ck out!