Chevy Chase Stole My WifeA Profile
“….I was trying to think of band names, but not really finding anything that I liked, then a friend of mine started shouting out, Daily Star inspired headlines, like that one, ‘Freddie Starr ate my Hamster’ and then he said, ‘Chevy Chase Stole My Wife’, and I was like, yes, that’s the one, and he said no, I was joking, but it was too late, my mind was made up….” Emma Howett
A band name can do many things to those who see it. It could stir up feelings of intrigue, curiosity, or even cause you to wince slightly. But with experience you can learn to take away a lot from just a bands name, and when that name makes you smile, your guaranteed to go deeper. That is exactly the reaction I had when reading the name, Chevy Chase Stole My Wife, and since pressing play, that smile has stuck.
So who is Chevy Chase Stole My Wife? To answer this, we must go back to the year 2013 and to a small pub in Worcester and join the table of three great musicians and friends, Emma Howett, Stu Silcock, and Neil Burton.
“….We were in a pub and just kicking around the idea of putting a band together, but Stu was in about seven different projects at the time, so I said as soon as he comes out of one we’ll grab him, and thats what we did….” Emma So as Stu and Emma began to lay the foundations for the band, Neil had actually begun to make moves, to move.
“….Around that time I’d been planning to move back down South, but then Emma sent me a message saying do you want to do some drums for this new band, and I said, yes, but you do know I’m moving don’t you…..” Neil
“….And then I said, not after you’ve heard these songs you won’t….” Emma
With that exchange, and a few other circumstantial things, Neil remained and the band and they got to work. At this point, Rose Hannant joined them as Bass player and so the quartet was formed, now it was time to forge their path.
“….I was in a band before, ‘Will Dance For Chocolate’, and we kind of had a dress wearing, sort of official vibe when we were on stage, but this time I just wanted to form the band for fun, and sort of turn up in jeans and t shirt and just rock out….” Emma
So with this prevailing attitude the band set to work rehearsing, writing, and crafting hwhat would soon become their trademark sound of quirk, fun, and all out Alt-Rock.
“….When I write songs, I like to include something real, because you listen to some bands and they write about their feelings or other things that to me feel a bit wishy washy, so I wanted to include things that are real, words like, pizza, tightrope walker, and lava lamp….” Emma
In combining Emma’s stream of consciousness inspired songwriting with the influences of bands like Muse, Foo Fighters, and more, the band began to put together their first few singles.“….Emma has always written, brilliant pop songs for her solo stuff, so when we get to add the Chevy spin on them they sort of elevate and evolve into great punky, grungy songs….” Stu
“….I like things like Foo Fighters, Muse, hard fast rock, but sometimes Emma’s songs help slow me down and let me explore other ways of creating drum patterns, but then I will still get to go all out from time to time, so its a great balance for me….” Neil
Working hard, the band began performing around the midlands, from Kidderminster to Birmingham, Stourport to Stafford. Gaining momentum and confidence with each performance it wasn’t long before they had gathered up enough songs to hit the studio.
“….The way it works with studio stuff is, first we get a demo from Emma, with the bare bones of the track, then we work on our parts then bring them together in rehearsal and develop it into a complete track….” Neil
“….We’d also usually gig the tracks before performing, as it helped to see what works and sometimes we’d discover something new for the track that would end up on the final recording, it sort of cuts down the time we spend in the studio….” Emma
So tracks gigged and recorded the band dropped their first album in 2015 titled Black & White which was a joining of their 2013 and 2015 EP releases Showcasing their sound, the 8 track offering pulled in an enthusiastic response and encouraged them onwards to keep creating. Soon they followed this up with an EP titled, Haitian Honeymoon, and would then go on to release several more singles, including their latest release Anxious Teeth that dropped 20th July 2020.
During this creative burst the band would say goodbye to Rose, welcoming Saffron Box. Unfortunately Saffron would then make way for their current bass player Jamie Raynor. However this did nothing to slow them down and instead each player brought their own unique feel to the rhythm section, each time evolving the band into something bright and new.
As events, gigs, and festivals have been cancelled across the world, once again Chevy Chase Stole My Wife are also suffering that itch to perform during lockdown.
“….We’ve done a few live streams, I did a literal, live lounge, live from my own living room, and then we got together to record a video in Stu’s garden, as a socially distanced acoustic thing, and then sent it of to be included in a online festival, so that was fun while we were doing it, but we just really want to get out and gig again….” Emma
So with this burning desire they have kept creative and recorded several tracks while in lockdown, Anxious Teeth being the first release of that batch of songs.
“…I was inspired to write ‘Anxious Teeth’ as anxiety seems to be the prevailing feeling in the world right now, and this was sort of my own stream of consciousness song and that particular topic…” Emma
Moving forwards the band have a date coming up in September at the Stratford Playhouse and are looking forward to filling their calendar and getting back to business as soon as possible, and with the tour de force that is Emma Howett at the helm, it’ll be a night to remember once she leads her merry men on to that stage and takes her foot of the brake.
“….We just want to rock out, and have fun doing it….” Chevy Chase Stole My Wife
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