Imagine your on a surfboard, sitting in a shark-free ocean. The sky is that exquisite shade of blue and the breeze keeps the summer sun from completely frying your brain. The water’s salty and clear – just the perfect day. And as you look over your shoulder, you spot the perfect wave. In your gut, you know this is gonna be the ride of a life time and you start your paddle….
That’s Velvet Chain. Peaked, ready for that perfect wave to just ride them into chart-topping stardom. And it’s not because they have the “now” sound or do synchronized moves, but because their funky-cool infusion of music has the quality that would keep fans knee deep in their best-selling albums for years to come. With Erika Amato’s cool blues style fronting to Jeff’s Stacy (composer-producer-bassist) wild mix of rock, funk and jazz, Velvet Chain’s unique sound has started that paddle for soar.
“That was a big, big ‘break’ that we got is being on national television,” Jeff expounds. VC appeared on Buffy the Vampire Slayer back in [look up date and episode]. “We’re on for forty five seconds or whatever it was, we got more fans from that than two hundred gigs in LA.”
But the show wasn’t the only thing contributing to that on-coming breaker. “Because we were hooked into the Internet early and because the fan-base of Buffy are very Internet-base with the whole posting board thing, w were able to really hook into that and take advantage of that exposure.”
But now that the band has got attention, what to do now? Well, give the fans what they want. With four albums available from their website [url]http://www.velvetchain.com Velvet Chain[/url], one of them being fully customizable, they’re working feverishly on their fifth compilation. Initially to be a double album, recent noodling has led Jeff to keep the cost down by putting about twenty tracks on one release.
“Because, as an independent band, its very hard to operate at any kind of a profit. So, you’re constantly trying to figure out ways to produce quality – and the recordings have to be industry standard.” Jeff tends to find himself in many roles as producer. “But then you’ve got photographers, graphic arts and printing – you’ve got your merchandising and stuff. I have a lot of fun with that but its hard to make in such a way.”
“It’s just the fact that we’re popular enough that we get a lot of orders, but we’re not big enough that I can hire anybody to take care of ‘em so I have to do all that and it’s a pain in a butt,” Erika laughs. “So anybody whoever orders anything just know that that is my little handwriting and that’s me, that’s me, its all me, if it’s not packed, well, blame me.”
Obviously dedicated to the band and their music, this dynamic duo seem virtually unstoppable. But what makes them truly ready to surf that curl is the true diversity amongst its two main members.
“It’s my first band,” Erika coos. “You know, it’s just – I love the music, It’s the perfect performance outlet for me. I love it. I love it. I’m happy. I’m more about the performance. I love performing. I enjoy recording as well, but for me, the best part of being in Velvet Chain is the opportunity to do what we do on stage.”
“I just enjoy having the creative outlet. The band is a huge benefit to have these people helping you,” Jeff counters. “It’s one of the only things I have found in my life that I never get tired of. I’m not good at going to parties and like doing all the networking that you’re supposed to do. I would rather be in the studio working on music than going to the movies or going to parties or anything.”
“What inspires me creatively is what he usually has developed something really cool and I sing over it. So, I’m inspired by the coolness of the music. But what really motivates creatively is I’m just a performance hound.” Erika smiles.
Ying and yang, they balance. Like the arms slicing through the water synchronized to pull the board along, their motivation propels Velvet Chain towards the rising swell of prevalence. Where will the band be going?
“[In five years,] I see us having been able to tour the country again.” Of course, Erika goes for the performance angle. “I don’t know if we’ll have a label deal. But I see us being financially independent through the band. Whether that be through a label or through our own endeavors, I see the band being lucrative enough that we actually are in the black instead of the red.”
“It just takes one heavy weight in the industry that decides that you’re the next big thing then all of a sudden you have money behind you and you have distribution behind you and so there’s a very good chance that we could be a big band that you hear on the radio all the time. But the only way that happens is through the record industry.” Sticking to his studio and his producing, Jeff would rather look at his mixing board rather than down the road.
But looking or not, the tide his high and Velvet Chain is ready, whether they know it or not. With the experience under their swim-trunks and the wax of accomplishment on their board, Jeff and Erika are poised and ready for the big wave to carry them ot shoar and into the waiting ears of hungry music audience for the next extensive sound.
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