CoolTop20’s In the spotlight: Chasing Records

by Lean at https://cooltop20.com

Chasing Records was formed by Andrew Fernandes and Nathan Henderson from London, Ontario (Canada). They met playing baseball and really didn’t connect with music until about 5 years later. They formed the band during the start of the pandemic and finally decided to start recording some ideas leading to their first single ‘Fix Me‘ and debut album ‘The Stories of Others‘.

They have also started a podcast Chasing Records: On The Record to connect with other artists around the world!

For this interview I spoke with Nathan about their influences and their debut album.

How did you get into music, and what is your musical background? 

“We’ve both been playing for years. Andrew had been in a few bands before, but both of us had been playing music continuously. We both have day jobs so music had never really been a priority for us.”

Who are your main influences as a band?

“We both really enjoyed 90s rock and punk growing up. I am a huge Canadian rock music fan.”

Is there a song you wish you’d written yourself? 

“I don’t think there is a song we wished we had written, however our music is clearly heavily influenced by earlier 90s bands.

What was the last record you bought? 

“The last record I bought was Matt Mays – Twice Upon a Hell of a Time.”

‘Fix me’ was your debut single. Was it also the first track you wrote together?

“‘Fix Me is a bit of an interesting story. It was the first song we wrote, however it was only instrumental at the time. As we were completing songs on the album we came back to fix me to add lyrics. Andrew had lyrics already in mind for the song however once he heard them back he wasn’t so sure. I rewrote the lyrics after completing two other songs and it ended up being the last full song we recorded before we released our album.”

You’ve recently released your debut album. What can you tell me about the album?

“The album came together pretty quickly and was more of a collection of stories from others which is where we ended up getting the name from.”

“A lot of the lyrics within the stories are not necessarily personal to us however more knowing people that have gone through certain scenarios. We had originally thought about dropping the 14 track album right away, however at the last minute decided to release it in two EPs and then release the final album. We also feel that it’s important to listen to our album in full as it does follow a really good flow from start to finish.”

Are you happy with the response to the album?

“We are happy with the response that we’ve had from the album. However as we look at our singles it seems that the attention span to listen to a full album unfortunately is not what it used to be.”

What were some things you wanted to achieve with the release?  

“We knew it would be tough not being a band that’s ever played live that’s only started in a pandemic where up until recently we weren’t able to be in the same room together. Realistically we wanted to achieve music that was personal to us, others could relate to and really show what we could offer to the music community. We knew we had an interesting but familiar sounds pulling from our favourite bands and artists.”

What’s your favourite track on the album and why?

“For me it’s probably ‘My Turn‘. It’s one of the songs when I wrote it came out so quickly and naturally. I also love that it has a full live band sound and we are now currently recording some live sessions acoustically and it fits so well. “

‘Secret Whispers‘ is your latest release, which also charted in our Cool Top 20. What can you tell me about this song? 

“‘Secret Whispers’ actually was a replacement song for another one we had recorded. After listening to part of the album when it was almost finished, we listened to the vibe and the feel and felt that the original song we had wrote just didn’t work. Andrew had sent me an idea before and I ended up writing lyrics and guitar after I heard it again and we fell in love with the track and had that Chasing Records sound.”

I’m always curious to hear about the creative process of musicians, so what can you tell me about yours?

“Since we’ve been in lockdown for the majority of our time being a band, we have always just sent ideas that have been recorded back and forth in layer on top of those as we go through. Most of the time Andrew will write a drum and bass line and I will either have an idea in mind in terms of lyrics and add guitar and then finally vocals. It’s been very organic throughout this entire process and we have never felt that we have rushed a song.

How do you feel about the internet in the music industry? 

“At first it was frustrating because it’s really difficult to get people to hear your music when they have no idea who you are. We feel that streaming platforms for us was crucial in getting our music out during a pandemic as radio is very tough to crack. Of course you’re not going to be a millionaire as an indie artist counting your money from streaming, however if used the right way it can be a great tool as an indie artists.”

What are your plans for this year?

“We currently are working on songs from our sophomore album and finally having a chance to play together. We are currently looking to fill out our roster to be able to play live this year. We are also recording live acoustic sessions that we are putting on our YouTube channel which has been a blast, and Fix Me is currently available.”

What’s your favourite song from the Cool Top 20? 

“Right now for me is ‘Until June‘ by Sophie Dorsten – what an incredible voice. No reason it’s currently number 1!”

What song would you like to add as a bonus track and why?

“Twelve Years Today – ‘Who Knew‘. These are bandmates from Ontario and did a stellar cover of Pink’s – Who Knew. We are pumped to hopefully play a few shows together possible or even just jam together!”

All of the socials and music by Chasing Records can be found on www.chasingrecords.ca

(This article first appeared on https://cooltop20.com on 2 July 2021.)