After years of trying, pitching and begging, we finally got our interview with Chevelle.  It was an honor to be able to interview a band who's roots began over a decade ago in a town just minutes from our hometown.  It seems hard to believe that a band like Chevelle could come from an area that is best described as anywhere suburbia USA and hit the big time, but they did.  Now gearing up for the release of their fifth full-length, which seems guaranteed to deliver every bit of punch that Vena Sera offered with a tinge of pop melodics, Chevelle find themselves continuing to evolve on every record.

 

With the new album scheduled for a late August or early September release date and the first single entitled "Jars" already hitting mainstream radio markets, Chevelle will hit the road for the Stimulate This Tour.  The tour, which also features heavy hitters like Staind and Shinedown, begins on July 1st and runs through August 30th.  It'll be a busy summer for the band, but between the upcoming tour and a brand new record, the band seems pretty optimistic about things to come.

 

We had a chance to chat with drummer Sam Loeffler about the new record, as well as what makes the band tick.

 

Popular Underground Magazine (PUM): I wanted to ask about the current tour you are on.  Is this an actual tour with Buckcherry or what?

 

Sam Loeffler: It’s not even actually a tour.  We’re just doing a few shows with them.  It’s literally four shows.  We went out a little bit early for our record essentially.  We just went out to do festivals and then combine our own shows with the festivals.  Coincidentally, I don’t know how it happened, we got a couple shows with Buckcherry.

 

PUM: You also have a big summer tour planned with Staind and Shinedown?

 

Loeffler: Yeah, that will be fun.  It’s shorts sets unfortunately.  It’s kind of cool because the tour is designed to be something a little bit different.

 

PUM: Yes, I was reading up on the tour and between trying to keep ticket prices cheaper and offering perks at the venue on like food and stuff; that’s something you really don’t see going on.

 

Loeffler: That’s a good thing!  It should be.

 

PUM: Do you have a release date for your new record?

 

Loeffler: August.  We don’t have the actual date yet, but we’re just mixing so we’re hoping to have the single out [soon].

 

PUM: How much can you talk about the new record?

 

Loeffler: We’re definitely excited about it.  It’s a hard rock melodic record.  That’s kind of what we do.  We try to change a couple things about what we do.  You know, not so much the style, but the idea behind it.  I think there’s a lot of cool songs that have different topics.  There’s a song called “Roswell,” which is about potentially about encounters, like close encounters, but it’s not so much about the alien, it’s more about the person that goes through that.  There’s another song [that] is like our first three part harmony that we’ve done.  It worked so we used it.  Every record is different from the last one I think.  We recorded [the new record] in Nashville and we surrounded by work.  Completely surrounded by it.  I think it actually ended up being more stressful then the opposite, which was go to Vegas and do it.

 

PUM: Yeah, I had no idea until recently that Vena Sera was recorded in Las Vegas, but how would you say it plays into the final product?

 

Loeffler: I think it’s all about keeping your spirits up and keeping your focus without being so focused that you are losing energy.  The hardest part of a record is the end.  Adding the little special things on it.  You get burned out on it if you completely surround yourself with it, like for us, you get burned out. 

 

PUM: Obviously you’ve put out a lot of records, so how do you keep it fresh from record to record?

 

Loeffler: This is our fifth record.  We never stop writing.  We get excited about our new music.  Hopefully, your influences change, your ideas about music change and that makes it sound different from the last record.  

 

PUM:  Would you say you’re influences have changed from record to record?

 

Loeffler: Well, maybe not so much influences.  I mean, certainly a little bit, but your goals.  Maybe in the past you wanted to make the heaviest record you’ve ever made and now you’re like, “I want to make something that’s a little bit more melodic.”

 

PUM: Is it tough at this point for you guys to believe that you were just this little band from Grayslake, Illinois and hit it big?

 

Loeffler: It’s anticlimactic because everything doesn’t come at one time, which is great, but certainly you look at it every day and you’re like, “Well, this is the job I have to do today.  What can I do to do my job better.”  Don’t get me wrong, I love my job, I love what we do.  It’s a great job.  I love playing music, I love writing and experiencing what we do.

 

PUM: Every record seems to have a different vibe to it.  Would you say that has to do with location of where you’re recording or is it more about what’s going on in your lives at the time?

 

Loeffler: The songs are all written at different times so certainly it doesn’t have one central theme.  For me, it makes it pretty interesting.  What happens is we’ll write a song and we’ll hold on to it because there’s something not right about it and then when it comes back to writing, we’ll take all the pieces that we like from all the songs we’ve worked on in the past and… Everything is like a little piece or part of a song and I think that’s a good thing.  I think that hopefully when you do that some of your last record flows into your next record, which is kind of cool  because people like your last record and there’s something there they recognize.

 

PUM: You guys have families as well.  Is it hard to juggle that at this point in your careers?

 

Loeffler: Yeah, I guess it is.  You just do what you have to do.  We get through whatever it is.  The truth of it is you enjoy it so your significant other should enjoy it too.  We don’t necessarily get a lot of time home, but that’s okay.

 

PUM: For fans that are coming to your shows this summer, what can they expect your sets to be like?

 

Loeffler: We’ve always tried to put on a big rock show.  That’s kind of our thing.  We bring out some production, we bring out a show.  For us, I think that the mental part of it is being able to play the music and having people recognize the things that they are hearing and get people out of their seats and actually have a “rock show” spirit. 

 

PUM: Will you be showcasing a lot of the new songs?

 

Loeffler: Right now, we’re doing two new songs, but there’s so many songs to choose from. 

 

PUM: As a three piece, how do you guys make Chevelle sound so huge?

 

Loeffler: I think that our key to that is we try to keep it simple.  So live there’s not a lot of complications.  It’s not complicated with a big kick drum, a snare drum, a tom, a heavy bass and a guitar.  It’s fairly simple, there’s not a bunch of other crap going on.  Also we use gear that fits our sound and sounds good through a PA, I hope.  Some things sound better than others.  We take a long time to chose our sound.

 

PUM: You talked about different goals for the different record.  What are you guys hoping to achieve with this new one?

 

Loeffler: We’ve written a couple of songs that I think could go to mainstream radio if our label wants to put the time and effort into that.  That would be kind of fun.  It would be something kind of different.  Essentially, we’re a rock band.  We like what we do.  We like touring theaters, clubs, playing festivals.  I guess just keep doing what we’re doing.

 

PUM: You worked with Brian Virtue for a producer, how was that?

 

Loeffler: He’s a good guy.  He’s really easy to work with.  He’s got a nice studio.  He hasn’t produced a whole bunch of records so he certainly isn’t all wrapped up in stupid production stuff.  He keeps it pretty simple, which is great for us because we don’t like the whole complicated thing.  I think he really was the perfect guy for us.

 

PUM: Is there anything else that you would like to add about the new record.

 

Loeffler:  I guess it’s all about the songs.  What good is the record if the songs don’t connect.  I just hope that people get it like we do and that it blows everybody away. 

 

By: Adam Zak III - Senior Editor / Founder