The Chase played a lively set at The Bodega on the seventh of October, to launch their EP Odyssey. Fresh from appearances on Notts TV and the BBC, they were full of energy throughout their set.
Meeting them afterwards to do the interview was an interesting experience. Everyone was congratulating them after doing such an amazing gig, so they were stopped at every moment. Even when we went into the lobby of their accommodation, there were crowds of people trying to talk to them. Eventually, they dragged me into a broom cupboard (it doesn’t get any more glamorous than that), and I was able to speak to them myself…
How did you all meet and then become a band?
Two of us are brothers, then another one of us is a cousin, and then James… He was good at keys so we were like “Get this lad in!” So it’s a family band.
This gig at The Bodega is to promote your new EP – what was a highlight of the show for you?
At the end, everyone just jumped on the stage which was good! Some of them we knew, some of them we didn’t know…
The cover you did of Blame it on the Boogie went down well – what other songs do you enjoy covering and making your own?
Dion suggested that! But we mainly cover The Beatles, Purple Haze, people like that. We don’t do that many covers – although we did back in the day – and everything then was a cover. If it wasn’t Oasis it was The Beatles, and if it wasn’t The Beatles it was Jimi Hendrix. And if it wasn’t him it would be… somebody else!
And then you started writing your own songs?
Tyler: I’m not sure if that’s for better or for worse!
Your music was recently played on BBC Radio – can you describe the feeling of hearing your music on-air for the first time?
There was a bit of stupidity because Luke thought we were playing on BBC One originally, that Mr Jams was playing our tune. It would have been a fucking right party if that had happened. But nevertheless, it was still incredible to put the TV on, and to listen to your own tune was pretty nuts. We had an interview [at the BBC] as well, the second time we played and got free cups of tea. It was really great.
You’re playing at the Hockley Hustle tomorrow – what are you looking forward to about this?
We need to have a break! We have played it pretty much every year, and we are playing at The Bodega this time, which is one of the main stages. We’ve always been on one of the side stages, so now it is good to be one of the bigger ones, I suppose.
What the process of filming The Pit of Poverty music video like?
It was pretty nuts actually, we recorded it in a couple of hours… Well over a couple of days, but we got four hours of footage in total. It was like “Right you go there, you stand there, you film that – and if it’s crap just cut it.” We did it so quick, and we thought it was better than what we thought it was going to be. It’s got quite a few views as well. We’ll be like “Has it hit 800 yet? Are we at 900 yet? Are we going to hit 1000?”
The blooper reel for The Pit of Poverty showed you take a particular interest in the pigeon – what actually happened to it?
We saw this fucking pigeon fucking drop, and I remember seeing it drop out of the tree, and essentially the pigeon committed suicide. Kamikaze [Japanese pilots that killed themselves] piloted into the ground.
Tyler: I don’t know anything about this pigeon.
Everyone else: We all looked though, and were like, “Is it dead, is it dead?!”
Did you give it a name?
No, we didn’t… But R.I.P.
You said on Twitter you were ‘buzzing for The Apprentice’ – if you were all to create a business together instead of a band, what would it be?
It would be a clothing brand. Each one of us would have a label within a company. Although Tyler and James would be the same as they dress the same. Dion would have a sports clobber one. But Tyler and James actually have to talk to each other to check what they’re wearing to gigs… it’s a bit of a piss-take really!
What other local bands do you particularly like?
The ones that we had supporting us, so that’s Daniel Ison, The Mocking Jays and Cozen. The Mocking Jays are like funky pop which is quite cool. I
Tyler: I used to play for Cozen, but they’ve taken a step up now… probably because I left!
What advice would you give other young bands trying to make it onto the scene?
Stay out of our way! No, we are joking. Gig, gig, gig, that is what we’ve done. Actually doing it, not just talking about. Practising as much as you can, gigging as much as you can, and hopefully, you’ll get somewhere. We are trying to. If anything, we need advice!
You can buy The Chase’s EP Odyssey here
By Eve Smallman