"I Get It" Montage Music Video by You_Smell_Terrific

4/16/09 - ALBUM NEWS

Chevelle is expected to be releasing their fifth album in early September of this year with their first single most likely being 'Jars' expected to hit radio waves in late June. 

2/22/09 - NEW CHEVELLE VIDEO

As anticipation builds for the upcoming 2009 release, Chevelle took the time to show us what they are working on in the studio. You can view the video both from their Myspace as well as the Media section on this site!

1/5/09 - TABS SECTION UP AND RUNNING

The tab section is finally up! Head over to the Media area to check out tabs from the albums! The rest of Point #1 is coming soon!

9/25/08 - NEW TABS SECTION IN THE WORKS

A complete Guitar tab section is in the making that will have the most up-to-date, accurate tablature sheets available. Send us an email if you would like to help us gather the most comprehensive Chevelle tab section on the web!

ON STAGE | TACOMA DOME: CHEVELLE NO LONGER BROTHERS UP IN ARMS

The Chicago-based rock band Chevelle had never been under the gun to write and record an album the way it was for its latest release, "Vena Sera."

It didn't start out that way. In fact, the band had blocked out several weeks of time just so it could concentrate on writing songs for the new CD, all well in advance of having to go into pre-production and recording.

Those plans blew up when Chevelle got offers for two separate tours that were simply too good to pass up. Suddenly the band found itself on the road traveling with a second bus equipped for recording so the group could finish the handful of songs needed for the CD.

"It was very, very, very difficult to try and do a tour (playing every night) and also in the morning get up, go to that other bus and sit there and write for a few hours and try not to burn yourself out so you can go out and do a show," Chevelle drummer Sam Loeffler said in a recent phone interview.

The group, though, had no choice because studio time was booked, the producer (Michael "Elvis" Baskette) had been hired and Epic Records had a release date it wasn't going to push back for the CD.

But the drummer could look on the bright side in at least one respect. At least he wasn't going to be making "Vena Sera" with his younger brother, Joe.

That's because after nearly a decade as an all-brother band, Sam Loeffler and his brother Pete (singer/guitarist/songwriter) had seen Joe (bass) quit after a 2005 show in Kansas City.

Joe's stormy departure didn't come as a surprise. In fact Sam said Joe had quit three times before, only to be coaxed back into the band. This time, Sam and Pete decided they'd had enough and didn't allow their brother back into the fold. Instead, they brought in their brother-in-law — and good friend — Dean Bernardini as the new bassist.

The positive chemistry the group now enjoys clearly deteriorated with Joe in the band. Sam recounted one particularly difficult moment.

"He was very open about how he felt about us," Sam Loeffler said. "His exact words to me several years ago, even before we had separated, he told me unless you have something to talk to me about (that involves) this band, don't talk to me. Don't ask me about myself or ask me about my life. Don't ask me about anything personal because we're not friends and I don't want to be friends with you. I have plenty of friends."

So Chevelle moved on, finishing out the tour with Bernadini and moving onto the "Vena Sera" project, which progressed under a furious pace under its looming deadline.

Despite the long days, Chevelle made exactly the kind of CD it intended with "Vena Sera," making some notable departures from the group's third CD, the 2004 release "This Type Of Thinking (Could Do Us In)."

That album followed the band's first major label effort, the 2002 CD "Wonder What's Next" (which included the hit singles, "The Red" and "Send The Pain Below"), and the independently released debut, 1999's "Point No.1."

For "This Type Of Thinking," Chevelle opted to pursue a particularly heavy sound that took it away from some of the more accessible elements of "Wonder What's Next."

"It was almost a conceptual record in that there were less harmonies," Sam Loeffler said of the 2004 CD. "It was conceptual in the fact that there was little to no rhyming whatsoever on that record. And the intros were longer, the bridges were longer, and there were parts where you could just rock out."

The more experimental sound didn't hurt Chevelle's popularity, as "This Kind Of Thinking" spawned a pair or rock radio hits, "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" and "The Clincher."

For "Vena Sera," though, the band has retained much of the crunching rock, but once again have embraced melody and more conventional song structures. There are even some rhymes in the lyrics.

The result is a CD that, as songs like "Brainiac," "The Fad" and "Antisaint" demonstrate, hits hard, but still features attention-getting hooks in the guitar riffs and vocals.

Fans will hear roughly a half dozen songs from "Vena Sera" in Chevelle's live show. But that still leaves plenty of room for the band to survey its entire career.

The band, Sam Loeffler said, also is playing better live than ever, thanks in part to the improved chemistry with Bernardini in the lineup and in part because of some musical moves.

"I think as a live band we are a lot better than we used to be because we changed some pretty major things," Sam said. "We used to do this sort of punk rock, fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, whatever tempos went and this and that. Now we keep everything in time. We use a metronome for most songs. And it ends up making things a little bit easier. It certainly makes them tighter."

-By Alan Sculley For Kitsap Sun

CHEVELLE'S SAM LOEFFLER VOTED BEST ALTERNATIVE DRUMMER

DRUM! Magazine unleashed its 2008 readers poll awards today. No big Drummie! surprises here: Neil Peart still reigns as everyone’s favorite living drum god, Travis Barker is apparently the best punk drummer on the planet (but only when Tré Cool and Green Day haven’t released an album), and Chad Smith is the youngsters’ funkster of choice. Let the verbal fisticuffs begin.

Word of warning: under each category, the name presented in caps is the official winner; all the subsequent names under a category are considered by DRUM! to be “runners-up,” not necessarily “second,” “third,” “or “fourth” place winners. Why? We haven’t a clue…

Best Alternative Rock Drummer
SAM LOEFFLER
Brooks Wackerman
Atom Willard
Travis Barker

-BigDrumThump.com

CHEVELLE HIT THE ROAD, NEW ALBUM UNDERWAY

Chevelle is taking a break from their Chicago studio, where the band is recording its fifth album, to hit the road for a brief late spring tour. The dates kick off on Friday (May 30) in Reno, Nevada, with shows booked through June 8, when the trek stops in the St. Louis area. The group has been working on and off since the beginning of the year on the new record, which will follow up 2007's "Vena Sera". There's no word on whether the trio plans to premiere some new material live.

There also rumors that Chevelle could participate in a package tour later this year with Puddle Of Mudd, Shinedown, Theory Of A Deadman, Sevendust, Saliva and other groups all handled by In De Goot Management.

-Ultimate-Guitar.com

CHEVELLE TO HEADLINE 2008 WING DING ROCKFORD

ROCKFORD - Chevelle will headline the 15th annual WXRX-Budweiser Wing Ding rock music festival Sunday, May 25, at Rockford Speedway in Loves Park.

Others in the eight-band lineup so far are Theory of a Deadman, Black Stone Cherry, Drowning Pool, Airbourne, Saving Abel, Another Black Day and The Last Vegas. A few more bands are expected to be added in the coming weeks, Jim Stone, program director and DJ at 104.9-FM, said today in announcing the lineup.

Last year, Wing Ding drew 23,000 concertgoers with 10 bands topped by Three Days Grace, Breaking Benjamin and Buckcherry.

Problems last year with too-few and overflowing portable toilets and too-long beer lines shouldn't be a concern this year, Stone said. He said there'll be triple the amount of toilets, though he didn't have figures available, and steps are being taken to cut down waiting time for beer. In 2006, issues revolved around parking and crowd behavior.

"The things that will make this year's Wing Ding better are the entertainment is every bit as good, and we've learned how to make the experience for concertgoers a whole lot better," Stone said in a telephone interview today. - Staff writer Georgette Braun

CHEVELLE TALKS ABOUT BEING ROBBED AND ADDING DEAN

Chevelle isn't your typical alternative rock/metal band. Faster than you can say Jonas Brothers, the trio that debuted in 1999 with "Point #1" and features Pete Loeffler on vocals and guitar and brother Sam Loeffler on drums parted ways with brother and bass player Joe Loeffler shortly after the release of 2004's This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In)

Enter brother-in-law Dean Bernardini, and Chevelle's career has never been better. Well, except for that time last spring when the band's equipment trailer got stolen from its Dallas hotel.

Chevelle's hard-hitting arsenal also includes the platinum CD Wonder What's Next and 2007's Vena Sera, as well as "The Clincher," a crunching single that appeared on Madden NFL 2005. The band is deviating from its current tour with Finger Eleven to play the 2008 Rockfest on Friday, April 25, at Sunset Station.

Sam Loeffler phoned in from Flint, Mich., to discuss all things Chevelle with 210SA.

You have a sizable following in San Antonio. For a band from Grayslake, Ill., what do you attribute that to?

We're an old-school rock band. Either people will get it or they don't, and San Antonio has always been amazing for us. We've been there a lot of times. They like their music down there.

How are things working out with your brother-in-law having replaced your brother on bass after the previous record?

(Joe) was very tired of touring and hated to travel. Part of him didn't want to go, and part of him did. We weren't willing to change the dynamic of the band to tailor to his lifestyle. It's not like we hung out much, anyway. Dean has always been a friend, and we're having a great time.

Were you able to get back any of the equipment from the robbery?

It was one of the worst things I've ever gone through. I've tried to block it out mostly in my head. We got about half of it back a few months later, but by that time, we'd bought most of it new again.

Your music can be dark, anger-releasing and moody (as evidenced by a small mosh pit that escalated into a fight last year at Sunset during the band's most popular, but mostly melodic, song "Send the Pain Below"). It has also shown tendencies of being upbeat and therapeutic. How does the band manage to strike such a chord that connects with fans?

Yeah, we have a lot of fights break out at our shows. "Send the Pain," that's about taking negativity in your life and turning it into something positive. But (the contrasting styles) is not what we set out to do. We work on what we like and hope it connects with the fans.

- Jay Nanda | 210SA contributor.

INTERVIEW WITH PETE LOEFFLER OF CHEVELLE - MAY '08

It’s been a little over a year since Vena Sera was released, are you planning on recording a new album soon?

Yeah, we are finishing up in a week and a half and going home. I don’t know when it will be released. We are going to work as quickly as we can for the next album.  We don’t want to be gone for too long, hopefully the beginning of next year.

Has the album done as well as you would have hoped?

Yeah. We took it a little bit in the opposite direction from where we were on the last record.  It turned out to have a more dirty sound. 

In the “The Fad” and “I Get It” music videos, why were clowns selected to punish the people who did something wrong?

It was a joke taken from the Fight Club. Music videos do not get a lot of attention like they use to.

Has it been hard keeping the same type of music style during the different trends of music that has been happening?

No, it hasn’t for me. It has been hard for the people who work in the business. They would like us to change in our style a little bit. We play what we love. 

How is touring with your brother and brother in law?

It is great. Sam is my real brother. We get along great and we are pretty much best friends. We are into the same type of things like music.  Dean is our brother in law.  We grew up together and we met Dean when we were like 16 years old. We all like the same things and style of music. With our first line up, all three brothers, it was more work. 

While looking through some fan sites, I found out that some of your songs have been on video games. How did that come about?

Well, it was a cross commercial thing that we had a lot of luck to get in to. We have been lucky to be in a lot of games like Madden Football. The one my brother really wanted to get in was the new Halo. It is tough. It is becoming that video games are another way to get the word out about your music. It is getting a little bit more competitive out there then it use to be.  We have a brother in law who works for EA Sports and he has been a big part of us getting in the EA games. 

What’s your favorite video game?

Right now, it is a golfing game.

If you could live inside a video game which character would you be?

I play a lot of video games but I would lean towards track racing game like Formula 1, which is the biggest racing style over in Europe.

From all of your albums, which is your favorite song to play during a concert? Why?

We have four records now and if I had to choose a song it would lend towards the new stuff because it’s fresh. Some old songs like “Send the Pain Below” or “ The Clincher” which the crowd sings along with.  I like playing “Straight Jacket Fashion” which is up-tempo and aggressive. 

You guys have four studio albums, one live album, and one DVD out. Do you feel that you have grown more on your latest album?

I think so, more focus. The lyrics have been taken to the next step. Taking topics that we spoke up against certain things like “In Debt to Earth”, which touches on the environment.  Need to live a little bit more green and respect Mother Earth. The song is hard to find but you can get it off of Itunes and not on the record in the record stores.

Do you enjoy playing in San Francisco?

Yeah, absolutely. It has been awhile. Every time we have gone through just ourselves or with other bands, it has been a lot of fun. We have lots of friends in San Francisco and Oakland. I think we are going to be staying in Emeryville.  San Francisco is beautiful and the people are open-minded.

What was the craziest thing that happened to you in San Francisco?

Having an ex girlfriend coming to a show. It was crazy and awkward. But there have not been too many things. 

Are you excited about playing at Chico?

Yeah, we played earlier last year or the beginning of this year. The same people come out to the shows. We are happy to be on the west coast and can’t wait for the warm weather. It has been raining in Chicago. In Reno right now it is warm.  It is something you take for granted. I love playing the west coast because I get to stretch out. There isn’t a lot of construction and traffic.

What does the future hold for Chevelle?

Well, thinking about the next tour which is always in talk, and to get inspired for the next record. To take some time to travel. Its great to tour but sometimes you can’t do what you really want to do because you are busy with meet and greets, interviews or whatever. You can’t really go off and investigate.  We have a day off in San Francisco. I am going to try hard to get to Napa where my friend’s vineyard is. We are going to Mexico for about a week after that. 

-Marianna Chambard - BAMS Journalist