This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Artist Interviews
Q&A: Chief
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 18 January 2011
LA-ites Evan Koga, Mike Moonves and brothers Danny and Michael Fujikawa came together under the Chief banner after meeting as students on the other side of America at New York University. Their music is a contemporary re-imagining of the classic folk-rock sound of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young et al; sunlit guitar-driven songs for the road, piqued by a longing and timeless nostalgic sentiment. Having worked with Grammy-winning Noah & The Whale producer Emery Dobyns, they released their mellow and melodious debut ‘Modern Rituals’ through Domino last September to a warm reception. We caught up with Mike Moonves to glean his answers to our now classic Same Six Questions.
Q1 How did you start out making music?
I started making music pretty much as soon as I started playing music. I was learning Nirvana and Green Day songs when I was around eleven years old, playing power chords on my nylon string. Once I had the power chords down, I started writing these pop-punk songs that were the basis for my first band, which was called Contraband. We were badass.
Q2 What inspired your latest album?
It’s hard to pinpoint something like that, especially with this album, which is comprised of both songs that were written years ago and songs that were written just months ago. The inspiration is always shifting, but we are definitely inspired a lot by our surroundings, whether that be New York, LA or the road.
Q3 What process do you go through in creating a track?
Well, the writing process differs occasionally, but with Chief, most of the time, either Evan or Danny will bring in a song (which a lot of the time is 99% done when we hear it for the first time), and then the rest of us will throw in our two cents and it’ll become a Chief song. There have been a few situations that were different, such as ‘Your Direction’, where Danny wrote the music entirely and Evan brought in the lyrics, and ‘Night And Day’ where I brought in the initial riffs and Evan and I finished the lyrics and the rest of the song after that. Everyone generally writes what they play though, which is really important and adds to our entire aesthetic as a “band’s band”.
Q4 Which artists influence your work?
We get a lot of comparisons to Neil Young and The Band, and other bands in that same vein, which is very complimentary, but maybe not the most accurate description of our current sound. Admittedly, our early singles were more in the classic rock vein, and therefore paid a little homage to those bands. But most of the album ending up sounding, for lack of a better word, very modern. We all love the classics, but also have our varying tastes within that broad genre, so overall our record is a nice melange of styles.
Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
I don’t believe in disclaimers, but I’d tell them to be quiet if they were talking or doing something noisy.
Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
The sky’s the limit. If this album brings us a new fan base, no matter how big or small, I’ll consider it a success. Our next album is where we can prove ourselves and advance up to the next level. It’s gonna take work, but I got all the time in the world, a heart full of passion and a brain full of smarts, so we’re gonna be just fine.
MORE>> www.chieftheband.com
