Photos by Vanessa Blea
After their set at the M.A.T.H Rock Fest / Unofficial SXSW Showcase that happened at Hole in the Wall, contributors Emily and Vanessa sat down with Austin band Chancla Fight Club (CFC). The four members made their formal introduction to ORB readers and talked about their festival experience and upcoming projects.
–
ORB: We’re excited to meet you! Let’s do a quick intro of each of the members.
Carlos (CS): I’m Carlos and I play bass and synth. I do a little bit of sampling in the band. And I help with the marketing and graphic design side of things.
Cole (CL): I’m Cole. I’m the guitarist and I fix sh*t (laughs). For the most part, I’m just the gear junkie, I’ll fix gear and make sure everything is running properly.
Ashley (A): I’m Ashley. I am the vocalist, flute and omnichord player, songwriter and I also do the marketing/ social media stuff.
Jonathan (J): I’m Jonathan, I drum, and I’m a full time hype-man and full time smiler.
ORB: How have y’all been enjoying SXSW? What fellow local artists have you seen or are most excited to see?
CS: To name a few we’ve seen, some great bands include Megafauna and TC Superstar. Very dynamic because they are three things – a band, dance duo and superheroes. I’m also excited for Free Spirits from the UK, who are playing later. I’ve seen them a couple times this week and they’ve been really good.
A: My favorite local band from Austin are Magic Rockers of Texas. Oh my gosh, I love them – they’re incredible.
J: Islands of Pear also blew my mind today, they’re so good.
ORB: Taking from today’s performance, you have such a great stage presence! Do you have any rituals to prepare for a set?
A: I do vocal warm-ups and we all usually huddle, but we didn’t today. That’s probably why our paddle board had initial problems. But we usually will just huddle, look at each other and be like “I love you!” We’ll also put our hands together and go “Chancla Fight Club!”
J: Our souls all hug and then dissipate (band laughs). Not doing the huddle is like a bad omen.
CS: Yeah, the huddle takes the boogeyman away.
Who came up with the band name and how was the decision?
A: Actually, the drummer for the band Islands of Pear, who I manage, came up with it. I was getting frustrated because I couldn’t think of a name. I wanted to name it “So Often Do,” but everyone thought that was lame for some reason. Finally, I sent a message to the Islands of Pear group chat “what should I name my band?” and TJ Mizell said “Chancla Fight Club” (as a joke) and I was like “Sold, no one send any more suggestions”.
ORB: We’ve seen you’ve performed in both Houston and Austin, what can you say about the scene and its ties to Math Rock?
A: Good question. I don’t really know where we fit in really, because in Houston we played a lot of Math Rock shows – we’re not super Math Rock, but we have one song that changes time signature. I don’t know, we play with a lot of heavier bands out there. The scene in Texas in general is so dope because everyone loves and knows each other. Carlos started the Mainly All Texas Homies (M.A.T.H) Facebook group and that’s what today’s festival is about.
CS: M.A.T.H started because it was very difficult for a lot of the bands in different Texas cities to connect along with promoters, all the photographers, and even people that do interviews. So, a couple of friends and I felt like it was necessary to put together a group on Facebook with all the different cities and collectively pinpoint everybody. That’s how I met Ashley and Chancla Fight Club before I joined. We’ve kind of just connected with all these bands around the United States to make today possible and even got Free Spirits from the UK.
ORB: Do you have a favorite thing about the music making process? How do you approach making a new song as a band? Any specific places or things that inspire you or do you just take from emotions and experiences?
A: My favorite thing about songwriting is that it’s literally my therapy. I’ll be stuck on something for like months and then finally, I’ll write a song about it and it’ll be over. I can’t even explain it. It’s just like the emotions are gone, it’s done, and I’ve moved on. I got sober almost four years ago and my life is pretty even-keeled so there’s not a whole lot to write about. My inspiration lately is taken from books and movies. We have a song about The Hobbit, The Arkenstone. We also have a song about the movie The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Another thing is that I am empathetic so I am able to take inspiration from my friends’ experiences as well.
ORB: CFC has singles available to listeners (the latest one being “Monster”). Is there an EP or album in the works as of now? Can you give us a sneak peak on what to expect?
A: Pretty much our whole set minus a couple of tracks are all going to be released as singles. After that, we are going to start writing together. The songs we currently have were written in collaboration with my producer Nico from Nitpick Productions and some with Alexis Arragoza, Andrew Grey, Chase Newton. Once we release those as singles in the next few months, we are going to work on our own sound and that will become our first album.
ORB: What is next for you guys after the SXSW festivities are done?
CS: We have a couple of shows lined up in April and May, and then we are going to try and focus on writing. We will also focus on the group and hopefully a tour in early fall or winter.
ORB: We’ve yet to see a music video from Chancla Fight Club – do you have plans lined up for one?
CS: They’ve been in the talks for a couple of singles. We have a couple of homies that we know that could help. Shout out to Cole, he knows a lot about film because he’s from the New York area. With Jersey Boy Films on his T-shirt.
CL: (laughs) Yeah, I’ve done film audio for a couple years so I know a lot of crew people that I am sure could help us get something that’s very professional for a video.
—
FOLLOW CHANCLA FIGHT CLUB: twitter // instagram // spotify
(NOTE: ALL OF OFF RECORD BLOG INTERVIEWS ARE MINIMALLY EDITED FOR LENGTH)
I'm a southern bred writer and devoted bike-rider from Mission, Texas. I am known for crafting the finest assortment of playlists for every occasion. I received her Bachelor’s degree in Radio-Television-Film at UT Austin, and I enjoy dabbling in a variety of hobbies and am always down to learn something new. I'm also an ISFJ (Defender Personality) according to 16 Personalities, do what you will with that information.
I am an Austin, Texas based photographer and a graduate of Texas Tech University and Austin School of Photography. I love all things photo, but my true passion is music photography. I try to capture the beauty of every shoot while experimenting and seeking new ways to be creative. When I’m not behind the camera, I’m at home with my fur babies or competing in The Office Trivia!
