Published: April 14, 2010 7:48 PM EST
By: Isaac Davis Jr., MBA (Juniorscave.com)
New Music Spotlight April 2010 Edition
Solaseria
Music Now Artist/Band Spotlight Weekly Series
Solaseria
In this interview with an amazing new artist, our Webzine discovers the magic of Solaseria. Solaseria is the solo project of singer/songwriter Chase Patterson. Fans will enjoy reading this spotlight where Patterson reveals many wonderful things about his music and what fans can expect from him in the near future. Enjoy!!
Isaac: I just listened to several songs off your new EP/CD. What was the inspiration for making your new album?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: Well, I released my EP a bit over 2 years ago, but I can't say I'd be able to pinpoint one direct influence. I was spending a great deal of time riding my bike around the neighborhood in which I've grown up and seeing all these people living their lives the same every single day and it was saddening. The same actions, the same phone conversations, the same trivial frustrations. I was just fed up with watching people make themselves suffer, yet I couldn't stop riding around and observing. I also spent a great deal with nature on an old, unkempt trail behind a park by my house.
Isaac: Who were your influences?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: It's difficult to find where exactly I pulled my musical influences from. Believe it or not, most of the 'musical influences' I would name have absolutely nothing to do with the type of music I created for my first EP such as Norma Jean, Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, and even Flogging Molly. Things have definitely changed over the past two years though and I've continuously evolved musically as well as lyrically which will reflect on my upcoming release due out early May 2010.
Isaac: What do you consider to have been the highlight(s) and lowpoint(s) of your career to date?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: Hmmm. This is an interesting question because I find my level of success in what I do has no bearing on how happy I am doing it. I would say the highlight of my career thus far would be a night in which I got a pretty packed crowd at a show I was playing near UCF to go 'Wahwahwahwahwah' like in the beginning of Pink Floyd's 'Welcome to the Machine.' Then I conducted them back and forth for the panning effect. It was a spur of the moment thing and everybody had a hearty laugh.
Isaac: Brief history about your background plus the style of music you play.
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: I was born in Irving, TX and moved around quite a bit as a child but settled down in Orlando, FL. at the age of 6. I began getting into music around 6th grade. I can actually remember one of the first moments I felt that surge of joy from a song. I was in my sister's room and she was listening to the radio. I was overwhelmed by the power of the piece and ran to my room to dial the same station. Since then, my best friend has and always will be music. With Solaseria, I play acoustic/experimental music but have been in a variety of bands playing a bunch of different genres including metal, tacky-core, indie and psychobilly. I've found I'm drifting more into incorporating folk into experimental time signatures. It's getting pretty interesting.
Isaac: How easy is it to gets gigs for you as an artist? What is the live music scene like in your area?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: It's easy to play around the area at coffee shops and hookah bars and things of that nature. I've found it's mostly about knowing the right people that can get you on the bill for the right shows. It's all in the networking. Orlando has somewhat of a strong indie scene, but it's been steadily turning into more of a party city than a music city. It's discouraging, but hopefully it won't continue on the same path.
Solaseria
Isaac: What do you think of the state of Indie music at the moment? Do you listen to radio much at all? Has the Internet helped music grow or hindered it in your opinion?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: Independent music has really taken an interesting role in the music industry. On one hand, you have bands that are entirely DIY when it comes to every aspect of their career and they work ridiculously hard to get to where they want to be. On the other hand, you have bands that think the attention should just becoming straight to them and they wonder why their careers are stale or nonexistent. Independent music has brought with it a surplus of lazy musicians who expect this industry to 'discover' them, thinking it's only a matter of time and not effort.
For the radio question: To be honest, I only listen to NPR. Call me a nerd, but I can't get past the staleness of today's corporate mainstream radio. It's disappointing that a station can play the same 14 songs over and over again and people will eat it up until the radio decides that they'll put something else on that the masses will automatically eat up because it's on the radio.
Isaac: If you could create a fantasy band - what would be the line-up and why?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: Jimmy Page on lead guitar, Bela Fleck on banjo, Victor Wooten on bass, Jeff Buckley on vocals, and my great friend Brandon Miller on thunder tube. I would play tambourine and dance in a toga and Crocs. I know what you're thinking..."Page on guitar is so cliché." I couldn't help myself.
Isaac: What CD's do you currently have available and where can they be purchased from?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: I've recently sold out of my debut EP, but my single 'Gotta Love Those Polar Bears' is currently available on iTunes, Napster, Rhapsody, and pretty much every other digital store out there. I've also got a new release in the works that will be available May 2010.
Isaac: Where can fans access your music, videos, blogs, and anything else about you online?
Chase Patterson of Solaseria: I try to keep a heavy Internet presence so I'm on pretty much everything out there that I know about.
