Established in 2000 in SoCal, today I have the honor to interview an energetic band with an upcoming new EP!
Who??
CHASER
1. How’s everything going these days?
Hi Diego, this is Jesse Stopnitzky. I play bass and sing backing vocals in CHASER. Everything with CHASER is going great! We have a lot of new music coming out, incredible shows booked for 2021 and on a personal level, we are all healthy and safe. But the world is suffering right now. People are sick, dying, businesses are closing and people are losing their jobs, unable to provide food for their families, racism in the United States and policy brutality are still prevalent. And ordinary people like you and me can barely have a conversation on social media without attacking each other. So we are worried for the world.
2. Why Chaser?
Because we play fast and catchy melodic skate punk like we grew up listening to in the 90’s. Our lyrics emphasize personal growth, bettering our communities and taking care of one another. And we absolutely love to hang out with our fans, join them in the circle pit and sing with them at the top of our lungs to our favorite bands.
3. Can you talk us about “Numb America” a killer album?
“Numb America” was recorded at Stall #2 with producer/engineer Darian Rundall, who worked with many bands such as Yellowcard, Pennywise, U.S. Bombs, Deviates, 1208 and 98 Mute. One interesting fact about “Numb America” that many people don’t know is there are actually 2 original versions of “Numb America” (3 with the 2019 repress). While in the studio, Good Riddance asked us to join them on a European tour across 10 countries. This would be our first time in Europe and first time touring with a major band. But we needed an album to sell at the shows! So we quickly finished in the studio and released what would later be known as the “European Version” of “Numb America”. After returning from Europe, we re-entered the studio to finish guitar tracks and add vocal harmonies, ultimately releasing “Numb America” on Felony Records on April 14, 2006.
4. What are your most influential skate punk bands and why?
Face to Face is my personal favorite band and always has been. First song I learned to play on bass was 1000x off Don’t Turn Away. Scott’s bass riffs have had a major influence on my writing style. No Use For A Name and their vocal melodies are instrumental in how we write our vocal melodies. We believe Tony Sly was one of the best to ever do it. No Fun At All for their speed and constantly changing beats. Pennywise for their overall feel of fast and energetic 90’s style punk and their lyrical content. And Bad Religion for a more polished sound with incredible multi-part harmonies.
5. How do you feel you’re going to play with big bands like No Fun At All, Satanic Surfers and Anti-Flag next year?
It feels incredible! We never forget how fortunate we are to experience this. No Fun At All and Anti-Flag are still two of my favorite bands. I used to daydream about one day getting to play shows with bands like this. We LOVE this music and we love the bands that came before us. So you will ALWAYS find us on stage, singing along and having as much fun as everyone else.
6. Any crazy stories from your last tours?
Last Summer, we toured England with our good friends, Darko, who absolutely shred! Driving on an open highway in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van, a car bumper appeared in our lane. Our driver swerved to avoid hitting it, but we ended up on 2 wheels. The van rocked back and forth on two wheels for what felt like 10 seconds, and we all braced for impact. Luckily, our driver was able to settle the van down and avoided an accident, but at that moment, we all believed we were going to flip. We know many bands that have experienced bad accidents over the years, and we are grateful that we avoided it.
7. What’s coming on your next 7″ benefit EP out on September 4th?
Our 7” record, “Look Alive”, features 2 brand new and exclusive songs, which will only be available on this 7”. We recorded these songs during our last studio session recording the new album, and we always intended to have extra material for something special like the 7”. When COVID broke out and all tours were cancelled, we decided that it would be better to release our album closer to when we could tour again and play these songs live for the fans. So we decided to give the fans 2 new songs now that they can enjoy, a super limited 7” with only 333 copies pressed, and also all do our part by donating the proceeds to various charities. As I said earlier, the world is suffering right now, and we’re all in this together. The organizations we selected are Crisis Aid International, Equal Justice Initiative, Educational First Steps and Surfrider Foundation. There will be 4 vinyl variants, each dedicated to a different organization.
Be the first to hear their new single, “Look Alive”. Click the link to pre-save this to your Spotify account and get notified on release day! Comes out July 31.
This EP will be out via Soundspeed Records (United States), Thousand Island Records (Canada), SBAM Records (Europe), and Pee Records (Australia).
8. This is just for me (sorry) can you send me a rad and killer bass solo just to enjoy that shit?
Bass riff coming soon … When the EP is out!!! (Sounds really really cool)
9. Send a message to all your lovely fans…
CHASER fans, we love you all! YOU are the reason we make music. YOU are the reason we get to chase our dreams. YOU are the reason we have so much fun hanging out at shows around the world. Please continue to look out for each other, be compassionate and understanding, and let’s keep working together to fix this mess. It’s a crazy world today with so many rules about what you can and can’t say, how to act and how to think. If you are ever lost, just follow your heart and be a good human being.
CHASER members
Mike LeDonne (singer)
Jesse Stopnitzky (bassist/vocals)
Bill Hockmuth (guitarist)
Davey Guy (drums)
CHASER contact
Website Facebook Instagram YouTube Bandcamp
Punk Rock Mag 