Searching For Glory

While The Doors recorded their third album, Joan Didion sat on the floor of the recording studio as Jim Morrison failed to show for most of that rehearsal. Her leg fell asleep in the time she, not to mention the rest of the studio, waited for his overdue appearance, and when he finally arrived, she wrote "The curious aspect of Morrison's arrival was this: no one acknowledged it." Although The Doors don't necessarily strike a chord with my personal taste in music, their popularity and ranking as one of the greatest artists of all time according to Rolling Stone's issue titled "100 Greatest Artists of All Time," is undeniable. The appeal of theatrics in itself was enough to reel anyone in.

When my 2018 mind dissects any product of music released by this group, it all sounds like the 1970s to me. Understandably, might I add, but in the name of trying to express my reasoning behind this, I'm afraid I might accidentally age someone. Rock and Roll took over in the 1960s and 1970s, so it seems when I'm learning anything about those eras, a solid guitar track is bound to follow. Naturally I equate hearing tracks from The Doors, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd to that time before I was even thought of, but still am able to take into account that so much of this music not only created a living soundtrack to a time that conjures up so much of my own curiosity, but that also has inspired so much of the music I listen to today. I can feel the bass line through the soles of my feet and feel the guitar rattling the top of my head, but I don't feel much emotionally past that. That music is good, but only for me to tap my feet to.

The music I listen to now has a range of influence on me. I still listen to pop because it's something to dance to, but I find my peace in alternative music that's good to work out to but stops me in the middle of squats and renders me helpless, so much to the point that after 3 and a half minutes of laying on a yoga mat in the middle of my garage floor, my thighs pulsing, I realize that I've been so lost in the song it has had the adverse effect on me, and has proven to be negatively consequential in putting it on my playlist to listen to when I do cardio. All of it translates into some sort of visual, what I play through my speakers now. I can put my thoughts to moments in time or visuals of what the song does to me, at this point in my life better than I have been able to in years prior.

Like when I hear certain songs, I imagine them chipping away at my rib cage. I can feel the tightening with the chisel and pinching at my lungs with its grasp, until I can finally take a deep enough breath that pulls up the corners of my mouth. It's like driving down the road with the windows cracked in 58 degrees, hoping to see the world as it is in the dark of the night, with only the street lights and illuminated windows from buildings to guide your way. It was in that dark that I found the depth of the music from Chase Atlantic. It's that type of music you feel only makes sense in the dark. And following 4 years of listening to them, I finally felt that grasp on my chest and the pulling on the corners of my mouth, and the power in cocking my eyebrow while I listen to these bodies of work just to feel how it feels to be a different person for a flash of a second. And it was going to see them live for the first time that made me realize the adrenaline I feel when listening to these songs isn't just from my own rendering of this music, it is the infectious nature they work into the songs themselves.

I found Chase Atlantic in 2014 prior to the release of their song Meddle About, the first track released from their Nostalgia EP. This song was a slight change of pace, riding on the coat tails of tracks like Anchor Tattoo and Run Away; which are the perfect stereotypical pop songs you take home to mom. Recent tracks like Drugs and Money, not so much, but I found the transition from Dalliance to Chase Atlantic the album to be as smooth as it could be after still following a band after they drop off the Earth for a second, and in the fashion they did. Who teases an EP that isn't ever released, then goes MIA? Chase Atlantic does. Who still bumps their music like she never doubted they were ever coming back, and could never come back with the same sound (or unbeknownst to me, even better)? Chey does. Much like the day Joan Didion was a part of Jim Morrison's life, Chase Atlantic showed back up without causing too much of an immediate stir in the real world, but I sure did notice the moment they walked through that door, even if no one else did.

After these years of listening from afar and more recently: struggling with this newfound degree of taking charge of who I am, what I'm doing, and where I'm going, I found myself in a sea of already sweating people packed into Cat's Cradle waiting for a half an hour long set. I can't necessarily say that it was a spiritual moment or like this particular set was better or even close to any sets I had seen prior, but considering it was the first time I had ever seen Chase Atlantic, it is impossible to even say I had expectations set. However, any expectations I could have had were absolutely blown out of the water. The main point I want to stress is how addicting that energy was.

Concerts have always created a shift in the air for me. It's a pinch of anxiety bubbling in the air with the scent of weed or alcohol coming from the trashcans in the back. It is a completely different atmosphere than anything I could ever adequately explain to you. While this was no different, the standard was surpassed, without a doubt. As I said prior, there's a certain infectious quality Chase Atlantic brings to their music, and there was no shortage of that on Thursday night. These are guys I could give shit to all day long, but the talent these three (four? Sup, Jesse) possess is a level of talent that is so rarely genuinely unearthed. The lyrics are sexual in nature and often make me stop and think "what am I listening to?" but the essence of the writing and the delivery of the words from these songs is almost completely unlike anything anyone else could match. And it isn't just recently, it has been so for as long as Chase Atlantic has been a band.

Often, the music I listen to makes me think of who I am in the current moment, not who I could be or who I want to be. I've realized recently that they bring out that alternate state of thinking. One that wants to create what I don't normally, and from the stories they tell through their songs, be a creator that is able to articulate my life and other people's lives through words alone. To paint a picture with what I'm telling you. It's the type of persona that wears a white see through lace low cut bodysuit out in public when the normal version of me only ever feels 100% comfortable with MULTIPLE layers on. And it's LIBERATING. And I want to revel in it forever, despite my day to day personality being one of introversion and an unassuming nature. The past few weeks have been a testament to this new found persona, as I've noticed changes in my personality that have been bubbling, but have never started to boil. I say even if it's shallow, why not go for the gold?

The main point of all of this poorly worded piece of text is to simply plug Chase Atlantic and stress the importance of letting your life take you where it wants to take you, especially if it's through music. Music creates so much of an experience in my life and it would be wrong for me to ignore it as a factor that has this much power over me. Bonus points for well thought out and well constructed lyrics. Bonus bonus points for the visuals, which Chase Atlantic always delivers. I can't say I'll be a different person by the next time I see Chase Atlantic, but if they keep going at the rate their going, and I let that influence continue its hold on me, I'm in for a wild (and slightly rude) awakening.

#JoanDidion #reflection #myself #creating #inspiration #music