Chasing Down Sunset is a modern-day pop punk quintet based in Central Jersey. The band has been very busy! Last month the band released their new EP, “A Proper Introduction” produced by Rob Chiarappa of The Stolen and went out on a self booked 10 day East coast tour.
Check out our interview with the band!
upfrontNY: Can you tell us about how the band was formed?
Chasing Down Sunset: The band was formed originally by Jill (guitar/vocals) and Dan (drums) being friends since they were little, they started jamming together in middle school and then decided to start a real project in the beginning of their freshman year of high school. That year we met Zion (guitar) and he joined as our second guitarist, and in early 2015, a friend of ours, James played bass for us, and Richie Mandanici took the place of our lead singer. We put out an EP in June of 2015, and then in the summer, Ryan joined the band as our new bassist. In December of 2015, Jimmy took the place of lead vocals. Here we are, all 5 of us living the same dream we all have always had!
upfrontNY: What has been the biggest accomplishment since Chasing Down Sunset was formed?
Chasing Down Sunset: This is such an easy question to answer for us, because all 5 of us share the greatest accomplishment and memory out of every amazing thing we have achieved so far as a band. We played a show a few months ago in North Jersey at a venue called Dingbatz, and a lovely lady named Bell came up to us after we played our set and said, “I have stage three and I felt no pain when I heard you guys play your music. Never stop being a band and keep doing what you’re doing because one day it will all be worth it.” And then thanked each of us. It was the most amazing thing to hear in the world and it really impacted us more than anything. Still to this day we think about that moment and what she said to us and it’s such a beautiful memory to look back on.
upfrontNY: You recently released your new EP, what was the experience like recording it?
Chasing Down Sunset: The experience of recording this EP, “A Proper Introduction” was definitely a process but it really was amazing and working with Rob is always an amazing experience. It was a pretty lengthy process because our schedules were so packed tight, so we went to the studio a countless amount of times separately ourselves, but Rob still made it sound like we were all in the same room at the same time recording the EP in one whole weekend. Seeing the whole EP come together slowly was so awesome to see how much we’ve evolved as a band since the last EP.
upfrontNY: Do you have a favorite track from the EP?
Chasing Down Sunset: Out of all of us, we can definitely all agree on the first track, “Words/Phrases” is our favorite song on the EP. Out of every song, this song is definitely the most co written and we all equally contributed so much into creating this song more than any other song we have. It definitely represents who we are the most and describes our sound the best.
upfrontNY: How would you describe your music?
Chasing Down Sunset: We like to consider that our music is definitely different from most pop punk sounding bands and we feel like our sound separates ourselves from most pop punk music since all of us have so many different influences of music and it all reflects a bit on our music but still all combines to good music and we all work so perfectly together. Our music is generally pop punk but our hooks are catchy with a mixture of very straight forward lyrics, but at the same time is very masked and hard to figure out what they mean for some lyrics.
upfrontNY: The band is going on a 10 day East coast tour, what is everyone looking forward to the most?
Chasing Down Sunset: We’re currently in the middle of our tour right now, and it couldn’t be going more amazing. Of course not every show we’re filling up the room in, there’s some nights where there’s not that many people in the room, but we still have just as much fun and we jam out playing our music that we created and enjoy playing and listening to. We’re living the dream right now and this is only the beginning. We definitely look forward the most to meeting new people at different shows from completely different areas then us. It’s so awesome meeting new people and making new friends and that’s definitely an important thing to do on tour, come out of our shells and talk to people.
upfrontNY: Is there a venue you have played that is your favorite / do you have a venue that is on the top of your bucket list to play?
Chasing Down Sunset: So far, we can’t say we definitely have a favorite venue, however we all really enjoyed playing Syracuse’s very own Funk N Waffles. Not only was the venue hosting a good line up, the whole interior theme of the venue sent out good vibes, as well as the top-notch waffles being served. A spot we recommend anyone to stop by for sure.
upfrontNY: What do you want other’s to know about the band and your music?
Chasing Down Sunset: We appreciate whoever is reading this interview and is actually interested in what we have to say for everything we’ve been so excited for. All of this is definitely just the beginning for this band, it’s an introduction to who we are and how much more we’ll be putting out for the future. A special thanks from Jill, Jimmy, Dan, Zion, and Ryan for checking out our music and reading this interview.
Learn more about Chasing Down Sunset!
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