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Erasing
the Chalkline
An interview with Don Tyler and Matt
Jauch of Solo Flyer
By The
Nate |
In 1996 a band called Chalkline formed playing a brand
of hardcore that by 2000 was a mainstay in independent (and not so
independent) music known now as screamo or melodic hardcore. Whatever weak
name you want to give it, the music was damn good, and their release ‘In the
Present Tense’ turned enough heads for them to get great gigs with bands
like Reach the Sky, Boy Sets Fire, Snapcase and Brother's Keeper. A tour of
Europe almost followed but for logistics reasons never happened. After four
years, too many shows to count, and the loss of a drum set, I felt former
Chalkline members Don Tyler and Matt Jauch might want to set things straight
on the demise of the local act in 1999 and where they may be headed in Solo
Flyer, their most recent endeavor since Chalkline.
Chalkline ended when the band realized that the music scene they loved
didn't reciprocate quite as much as it used to and when drummer Tony X sold
his drums to make a car payment. Things got rough for the guys as they also
had no label support, so Don and Matt decided a new start was in order for
the two members who still wanted to play in a band together. Matt laments,
"We knew we wanted to start a new band before we broke up Chalkline. We
wanted a fresh start, playing different tunes. We had horrible, horrible
structuring problems in Chalkline and we wanted this to be a more
straight-up, hook-driven alt-rock type of band, to be more listener friendly
I guess. This wasn't because we saw bands like Foo Fighters getting big or
anything like that, but more because we listened to a lot of music that was
different from what we played in Chalkline and didn't want to rehash the old
band." The new stuff varies intentionally from Chalkline with hints of
bands like Radiohead and Jawbreaker while still being original.
Regardless, the band almost was Chalkline as it initially began with the
same members minus Tony X. But as the fresh start theme continued, changes
began to take shape. Matt took over singing duties instead of Don who had
the role in Chalkline, keys of songs were changed, and many experiments with
new sounds ensued ushering the boys into an intentionally new direction.
"We never ever wanted to be a band that just started off as 'ex-members of'
just so people would come see us play,” says Matt. “We kind of didn't think
Chalkline was good enough. We don't want to be like Jets to Brazil or
anything and get fans off of our last band. We had no desire to be
affiliated with the end of Chalkline or even hardcore anymore. We really
needed a new start on every level." Don agrees; "We really waited to get
started playing out so people would distance us from Chalkline a little bit,
and so far people don't really compare the two."
So with phase one of their new start complete, Matt and Don began promoting,
getting a street team together, and doing a website for the band. They also
began booking as many shows as possible, again taking a different approach
than with their previous band. "In Chalkline I booked all the shows," says
Matt. "Every bar, basement, vfw, church gym, whatever we wanted to play
anywhere for anyone. Now we discriminate a little bit to make sure we don't
end up being the house band at some dive. We want to play a lot, but at the
same time we want to play to our audience, and also a relatively big
audience."
Also helping is a new local sponsorship from Red Bull
that spawned from Solo Flyer meeting Alfi (sorry no last name given),
regional marketing director for the company. "We met and became good
friends. I even lived at his house for a few months. It started with free
beverage, but has moved on to bigger things," says Matt. Big things indeed,
as Solo Flyer hit the road for the European based energy drink company on
their Neurung tour that traveled most of the Midwest including Saint Louis
and Chicago along with stops in Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and of
course good old Cleveland Ohio. The band was on the road with Disengage,
The Party of Helicopters, and Interfuse. The boys proudly admits that this
band made considerably more progress than Chalkline did, and not just on a
musical level. "We sort of broke new ground on that tour. For the first
time, people who were in bands got laid," says Matt.
While Solo Flyer is certainly enjoying the perks of being a touring rock
band, they still get down to business when necessary. The band recently
recorded a three song EP entitled ‘New Years Night’ that they self-released
and played a gig at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Now the band plans to
start working on getting their shows packed and people into the music,
something that wasn’t always the case with Chalkline. Matt says, "We want
people to care about the music, because it (playing live) was so much of a
social thing for the audience. No one loved the music, and it really seemed
like Cleveland was the town where bands are forever paying their dues. Now
we want to draw people in and get them excited about music again and not
just be a device for a social outing."
Visit the Solo Flyer website.
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