Chaser is a really good band which I have missed and I really want to get a hold of all their records., Haven´t you heard them please take a look or better is that you givet hem a listen. Here´s the interview done in october 2024.

I have totally missed your band, you have been active since 2000 if I understand it right, have you been playing together all the time?

-Yes, we started the band when we were in high school in the year 2000. And we played very steadily and consistently up until 2012, when we took a five year hiatus to focus on other things in life, like starting families and careers. Then in 2017 we got back together with a slightly new lineup and new energy, and have been writing and playing live consistently since then.

Have it been many members you have changed through the times?

-Since we’ve been together for over 20 years, we have had some lineup/member changes over the years. We started the band when we were in high school so the original lineup consisted of three high school friends. Then in the year 2006 we got Jesse Stopnitzky who is our current bass player And a different guitarist. Then after our hiatus in 2017, we took on Bill Hockmuth on guitar and it’s been the current lineup that we have today.

Your new album Small Victories is one of this years best album I think? Does your other albums sounds the same way?

-Thank you I’m glad to hear you love “Small Victories”! Yes, our style has always been melodic skate punk, so our previous albums all have that same feeling and tone. Check out “Dreamers” and “Sound the Sirens” when you get a chance as well!

How can I get the old albums? How much do you sell of your albums?

-Most of our albums can be bought online or at our shows. However, there are a few that are completely out of print, and those would be 2018’s “Sound the Sirens” and our 2003 release “In Control”. It’s probably time we do a repress on those! We usually sell vinyls records for $25 and CD’s for $10.

There are many melodic punkbands which is coming from USA which is really bit like Bad Religion, Pennywise etc. What it is the explanation that you produce so many great bands?

-Yes, Southern California is Home to so many great skate punk bands because I believe it’s the Southern California culture that produces them. It’s the whole surf, skate, snowboard, motocross culture that influences so many great punk bands. Those types of alternative sports and punk rock music go perfect together.

Is there any swedish bands you like?

-Absolutely! I love No Fun At All, Millencolin, Satanic Surfers and Adhesive. 

When you give out music must it be physical releases or can you feel that you have released an album if you only release it on  for example Spotify?

-No, we truly feel that a proper release has to have physical and tangible media that go along with it. We’ve never done a digital only release. When we put out new music or new albums, we always put out vinyl records, CDs, skate decks, etc.. with it. The whole package. 

When you do songs, how does it working, is it someone who does everything or do you do them in the rehearsal rom?

-Both Jesse, our Bass player, and myself write the songs and the lyrics. We will both come up with basic song ideas and instrumental/rhythm guitar foundations on our own and put Melody to it, even without the lyrics. Most the time I’ll just make words up or hum the melody lol. We record them on the voice memo app on our phones, then send them to each other. Once we have what we feel is a well enough crafted song foundation, we’ll then do a full practice with the whole band and start putting it together with drums, bass guitar, rhythm guitar and vocals. So the songs always start very basic with just me and my acoustic guitar humming melody over chords, then it gets put together with the full band in the studio once we have a good foundation. Lyrics Always come last. Sometimes I write lyrics based on the feeling or mood of the song and the music, so lyrics are always the last step of the writing process 

I got this album from SBÄM RECORDS,  what do you like the other bands there? Any favorites?

-Yes, we love all of our labels! Thousand Islands records, SBAM, and Pee records! All three of them have amazing rosters and I’d strongly encourage anyone reading this to check out all the bands on those labels rosters! 

Your lyrics, is it very important that they are about something important?

-Absolutely! To me lyrics are one of the most important aspects of a song. I always write them from a personal standpoint and wear my heart on my sleeve, so if I’m going through something at any certain time in life, and a listener hears my lyrics, my hope is that they might be able to relate to what I’m saying in one way or another. My absolute favorite thing about music and my favorite songs is when I’m able to relate to what the lyrics are saying and the message within the song. So yes the lyrics are very important to us. We work very hard to make sure we have quality lyrics and messages in our songs. 

Or can you do songs about”nothing”?

-Haha no we never write songs about nothing or subjects that are meaningless. We always try to focus on putting out a heartfelt messages and lyrics that people can hopefully relate to or appreciate. 

How is it to live in USA right now with the upcoming election and everything?

-It’s a very scary and unnerving time in the US right now. Everybody is so completely polarized on one side or the other and there’s very little middle ground. We shall see what happens in November, but whatever the outcome is, there could very well be scary and impactful consequences.

Whats the best and whats the worst with America?

-One of the best things about America is that there’s so many beautiful places here and serene nature. One of the worst things is the traffic and overcrowding.

What do you know about Sweden?

-Not enough! Teach me more!

Are you playing much live? Where is best?

-Yes, we play live quite a bit. As much as we can for having families and careers. We’re very fortunate we get to go to Europe every summer, which is something we always look forward to because we love it there and we love the shows and the fans. Same with Canada. We absolutely love playing in Canada, and the fans and people there are so incredible and supportive. Playing live and being able to travel the world and meet our fans all over is the best part of being in a band. 

Have you been much outside USA and played gigs?

-Yes, so far we’ve been to many countries in Europe, eastern Canada, and Mexico. We plan on doing much more this upcoming year and eventually, we’d love to go to Japan and Australia.

Please tell me some funny story from some of your gigs, something crazy?

-A funny story that I absolutely loved doing was when we played a big festival in the Netherlands last year (Jera on Air), and I was able to crowd surf all the way to the bar, which is far away away from the stage, pay for a beer and get handed the beer, And crowd surfed all the way back to the stage without spilling a single drop. I’m pretty proud of that one lol 

What is your strength live?

-Our strength live is the energy, emotion, and fun that we have on stage while we play, which is completely palpable and felt by the crowd. An in turn, they’re feeling the energy and having a great time so we pick up on their energy and it’s just a really cool reciprocated Vibe, which makes for a really fun and energetic show. Everyone leaves smiling and stoked!

Do you play any covers When you play live?

-We used to always include covers in our sets, usually either You by Bad Religion or Linoleum by NOFX, but recently, now that we have a lot of albums out and a lot of songs to choose from, we’ve pretty much only been doing original songs in our set. But we’ll still throw one in from time to time just for fun! 

Which is your favorite Chaser song to play and which is the audiences favoritesong of Chasers songs?

-My favorite song to play live is a track off our New album called Fault Lines. It offers a lot of parts in the song for audience participation and a nice little pause after the bridge where I typically like to stage dive and crowd surf lol. I feel this is also a fan favorite For the audience. Another fan favorite would be the song 2020 off our Dreamers album, as there are a lot of “Whoas” that the crowd always sings at the top of their lungs. 

I really love vinylrecords which have colored vinyl and your is blue and white splatter, what do you like records like that?

-Yes, I really love splatter vinyl variants as well! That particular one we call “whitewash splatter”. I also really love our Sunburst orange variant. Both of those play really well with the colors from the artwork.

Are you buying much records yourself?

-Surprisingly, I’m not a vinyl collector, but I always keep at least one copy of each variant that we press from every album. Our bass player Jesse Stopnitzky is a big time vinyl collector though so he really loves when we do colors and patterns like the ones we have.

Is there any good record stores around where you live?

-Yes, there are several awesome record shops in Orange County and Riverside where I’m from. My favorite is called Rat Hole records in Riverside, CA. 

What does the word punk mean to you?

-Punk to me means expressing yourself for who you are, and not letting mainstream or cultural trends affect your personality, beliefs, the music you listen to, or the way you dress. But ultimately punk rock is a community and a scene filled with like-minded people that I’m happy to be a part of.  

Futureplans for the band?

-Future plans for Chaser will always include touring as much as we can with or that personal schedules and work schedules will allow, returning to countries and playing festivals that we have in the past, but also exploring new countries and playing in places we haven’t been yet. And of course, always writing new music and material. It’s a goal of ours to always try to put out a new album every 2 to 3 years if we can.

For yourself?

-As for myself, my future plans are to keep writing new songs on a consistent basis, always working on my vocal/singing, ability, and working hard to put our music out there and get exposure so we can play in front of as many people as possible wherever we go. We are a very transparent and accessible band and I think that’s something that really helps us stand out from a lot of other bands out there. We always write back on social media and we’re always in the crowd hanging out with the fans at every show, and that’s something we will always continue to do. 

Something more to add?

-We want to thank all the fans, supporters, and listeners out there for all the years of amazing support and for always showing up to our shows and singing their hearts out with us. That’s truly what keeps us going, so thank you all for being part of the Chaser family!