CHASE FRANK

Local Music Review
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Chase Frank has single-handedly created an explosive album by using symphonies of spacey guitar pedals while topping off the music with haunting, poetic vocals. Layers of sound build upon each other like steps on a staircase. The album, Winter Is My Summer, is a solo-crafted entity that follows closeley along the lines of great bands like Portishead and the fuzz-crunchiness of Sonic Youth. The album was conceived of and exectued by Chase, except for the toms and the shakers, which were played by MC Log 65. The album was produced by Robbie Reverberation, aka Jonathan Payne.

The choppy guitar twangs provide noodly echoes throughout the various songs while Frank sings in a dreamy state to add lushness. Her composition "More" will make you wish you had a drum set at home and a loud stereo so you could play along. Her guitar moans a grunge wail through time and space, giving the album a dark, ambient backdrop. Her sound, ethereal to say the least, is a mix of the indie world of today and the psychedelic one of the sixties. The thirteen songs on her album prove that you only need one to make it happen. "One" may not be the loneliest number in the world, after all.

The winters here in Long Beach are getting hotter, which sums up Chase Frank's first official release: super-hot, enjoyable indie rock. The album will be available at the following sites in early December: www.chasefrank.com, www.vesuviusrecords.com, iTunes, and of course our local Fingerprints CDs and LPs.

by Valdas Karalis - Long Beach Magazine (California)

Anna Maria Stjärnell
Sweden
February 23, 2006
Collected Sounds
http://www.collectedsounds.com
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chase Frank's debut "Bee of my Mind" was a special record, but this is something even better. She's more sonically abrasive and more daring than before.

"Tabitha's Plea" is a sparse, evocative song with shades of P.J Harvey. "If you want to be fearless you've got to bleed" she sings.

Frank's played most of this record by herself as well as writing all of it. That's very impressive.

"My Captor" is a startling lo-fi exercise in sound that recalls Sonic Youth.

"Gospel of Sue" is tough and haunting. Frank's relentless energy and intriguing approach to her music shines through here.

The white-hot intensity of "Tethered Heart" is accomplished with the slightest of instrumentation. But Frank's vocal is strong enough to carry it.

This record is a great accomplishment. - Collected Sounds

Wednesday, 14 December 2005
Guitarchestra-on-the-Go

CHASE FRANK
HELL AT NIGHT
PAPER PLANES
FITZGERALD'S, HUNTINGTON BEACH
FRIDAY, DEC. 9
+++++++++++++
It was loud and heavy and over before you knew it: a triple bill, maybe the best one that Chase Frank has booked in months and certainly the best in the county that evening, pitting Chase’s one-woman guitarchestra-on-the-go against twin-powered drums-and-guitar duo Hell at Night and capped off by reigning Long Beach rock & roll trio—and really smart, nice dudes—Paper Planes. Stumbling out of the bar at five after one, it seemed you could still hear the night echoing along Magnolia: Chase’s loop-de-loop mix of reverb and pedal effects; Hell at Night’s dirty, blown-out riffs; the stop-stop-start-stop drumming on Paper Planes’ last song, the eternally awesome “Mexico.” And it was fun, watching as Chase convinced half a dozen girls to ditch their boyfriends and pick up guitars simply by being confident enough to stand onstage and sing, as Hell at Night’s hybrid bro-dawg/hipster friends—I blame Seth Cohen for their evolution—toasted with beer bottles and karate kicks, unfortunately not simultaneously—and as Paper Planes singer Micah Panzich secretly smiled to himself during a particularly twangy guitar solo that even the lone, depressed-looking indie boy present couldn’t resist tapping his foot to. And while perhaps in the past this review would have been unfairly dedicated to the beer-bottle salutes and karate kicks, I realize now it’s fairly lame to judge a band by their fans—of which it should be noted Hell at Night, given the fact it was the twins’ birthday, by far had the most. So I’ll forgive them for their dudely friends—and for being really, really good-looking—and instead applaud Hell at Night for what they do really fucking well: synthesize a lifetime spent listening (I’m imagining here) to U2, and then to grunge, and then to the Pixies, and on to the White Stripes, Interpol and the Arcade Fire into a crude, raw cyst of noise and pop and screams that’s more developed and different and worthy of praise than much of what the ironic-band-T-shirt-wearing community routinely churns out. Congrats, boys. Now, everybody else? Please join me at their next show. - OC Weekly

Catching Up On Music
With Chase Frank

By Steve Irsay
my.style Contributor

Long Beach songstress Chase Frank just may have found the answer to the bane of every frustrated musician’s existence: the band that can’t break up. That’s because Chase Frank’s latest band is, well, Chase Frank.

Ladies and gentleman, give it up for the one! the only! “solo guitar orchestra,” as Frank calls herself on her latest album, “Winter is My Summer.”

Armed with just her songbird-sweet voice, trusty Fender electric guitar and a slew of effects pedals, Frank has created something refreshingly original: layers of looped guitar parts woven into full, sonically adventurous and solidly rocking motifs — all topped off with her honest, sometimes angsty, lyrics. Best of all, she somehow recreates the whole colorful package live — sans pre-recorded samples. (Take that, laptop jockeys!)

In addition to being an inspired performer, Frank also has been a tireless promoter of local music, most notably with her weekly Songwriters Supper Club showcase, which ended last month after a four-year run at DiPiazza’s.

We spoke to Frank about the end of the Supper Club, her seemingly breakup-proof band and what season it is for her now.

These days, you describe yourself as a “solo guitar orchestra.” First of all, what is that?

It’s just a catchy way to say I play solo. I layer guitar through two amps — a bass and a guitar amp — using one guitar. I try to separate the frequencies and tones so they come out sounding unique: sometimes bass-heavy, sometimes distorted guitar, a cello sound here, a slide part there. Then I sing over the layered, arranged parts. It’s really fun and there are no limits.

How and why did you come up with the solo guitar orchestra approach?

It started with the breakup of my band at the time. I was frustrated with bands forming and breaking up. That’s natural, really, but it seems like as soon as you start getting somewhere someone leaves. I like to say “this band will never break up” and people get the message.

Are there ever times you wish you were not playing solo?

I love collaboration and still do play with others as much as possible. And I love playing in a band — there’s nothing like it. Playing alone, sometimes I really have to push myself, but at least I don’t have to motivate a whole band. But I am always looking for musicians who share similar ideas. There are some things in the works for sure.

Have you gotten any interesting or unusual reactions from people after they see the solo guitar orchestra?

Always — usually love or hate. Musicians appreciate it because they’ve tried looping live via sample pedal and found it kind of difficult. It’s funny, usually people just say, “You’ve got a great voice!” They really don’t know what I’m doing! Some people have a more visceral experience. Repetitive loops have a frequency reaction on the body, actually. It’s been proven.

In addition to writing and performing, you also promote shows, most notably the weekly Songwriters Supper Club at DiPiazza’s. Tell us a little about the night and why you decided to end it?

I have been doing Supper Club for four-and-a-half years as a way to try to infuse Long Beach with new music and cross-pollinate our music scene. I try to pair like-minded acts and learn a lot about regional music that way. I met some of the people I ended up touring with there as well. It’s been great, but now I want to focus on my own music.

What are some fond memories of the Supper Club?

The Johnny Cash tribute, the Mia Doi Todd concert, the Future Ancients shows, and seeing new songwriters come up. People like Matt Costa, who played one of his first shows at my supper club, is now touring the world. That’s awesome. We tried to really foster a camaraderie for emerging artists — and it worked.

To paraphrase the title of your latest album, if winter is your summer, what season is it for you right now?

Winter. I’m hibernating, you could say.

____________________end

Getting The Frank Facts...

Here are three more fun things you probably didn’t know about Chase Frank:

1. She’s left-handed.

“So what,” you say? Well, she plays guitar right-handed! “This may contribute to my weird style,” she said.

2. Chase is not her real first name.

Ok, maybe you could have guessed that one. But do you know how she got the name Chase? A mildly frustrated friend once called her that. “She said, ‘Let me call you Chase because I can never catch up with you.’”

3. No, she’s not Rhonda.

Chase Frank has an identical twin sister named Rhonda, who used to live in Long Beach and now lives in Portland, Ore. As children, they recorded an album together. Don’t expect a follow-up anytime soon: Rhonda is now a dancer. So, do people mix them up? “Yes,” said Frank. “She really doesn’t like that. I don’t care, really.”

article link: http://www.gazettes.com/chasefrank07172006.html - Dowtown Gazette, Long Beach, CA

Big Wheel Magazine, CA
March, 2006
reviewer: Boyd Wunder

Chase Frank
WINTER IS MY SUMMER
Vesuvius Records/2006
.......................
I was off put by the trendy-looking album art, mistaking Chase Frank to be
a silly solo act who thought using dark words made up for vapid songs, but
I was pleansantly suprised. Chase Frank is a singer/songwriter who has an
album full of slow, haunting melodies. Reminiscent of Amiee Mann's 'Lost
in Space' -- but actually manages to be less hopeful. But fuck it, not
every day of your life is awesome. 'Front Lines' and 'Twelve Hours to Go'
are some great songs with some thinly veiled opinions on certain topics in
the U. S. Watch out Chase, or Dick Cheney might come shoot you in the
face. 'Kickstart' actually creeped me out a bit, with its effective
argument on how some people love being dependent on others. Wait for a
rainy day to head over to the records store, pick up this CD and drive
around listening to it. - Big Wheel, US nat'l.

www.youtube.com - FRONT LINES DIRECTED BY AZALIA SNAIL