Slow Chase
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Slow Chase

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The project has been active for almost five years and has previously released The Blind Spot EP in 2010, but now, with a lineup change – drummer Emily Shaw – Gresty feels as though Slow Chase has hit a sweet spot musically, and he anticipates that their upcoming Melbourne single launch at Ding Dong will be the band at its best.

“Everything musically and otherwise is going so well at the moment, and we can’t wait to play both old and new material,” he enthuses. “Emily has toured with Stonefield previously, including playing the Big Day Out and regional tours. And we have Alex Hingston on bass who we met through The Quarters who he played drums for.”

The new single from Slow Chase is titled Exorcism, and while the ominous tones elicited by the title and the corresponding lyrics in the song relate to darker personal times for Gresty, the title also acts as an allegory for Slow Chase’s 12 months leading up to this album.

“The last 12 months have been pretty difficult with life just getting in the way a bit,” Gresty admits. “We found it hard to maintain the momentum and stay in the spotlight, but this new song was recorded with Jonathan Burnside in Mixmasters Adelaide, where we recorded The Blindspot EP and we all have really good feelings associated with this song and the process of writing and recording it.” He now expands further on the break between musical output for Slow Chase, cleverly using a mixed metaphor to mirror upheaval and uncertainty. “It was a difficult pregnancy because it took us a while to get our ducks lined up, and we had learnt a lot from our experience with The Blind Spot EP so we just wanted to make sure that we had our live set ready to go for the release of any new material.”

Producer Jonathan Burnside is no stranger to deep textured rock music, having previously produced Clutch, Fu Manchu and Grinspoon, but in his role as an engineer, the name dropping gets even more intimidating with Nirvana, Faith No More and The Melvins on the list.

According to Gresty, working with this certified alternative-rock expert was a remarkable twist of fate that occurred when Gresty was looking to record Slow Chase’s first EP.

“I was working in a recording studio in Melbourne and Jonathon was running Eastern Bloc Studios in Hawthorn,” he recalls. “I was checking out studios to record in and he was in the process of selling the studio and moving back to San Francisco. But before he left I played him a couple of demos, and he said ‘I like it, you have either two options: you can come and track it before I leave, or you can record in San Francisco.’ So that’s how it came about. Looking at his history he has some great stories, like how Kurt Cobain still owes him pizza money.”

BY DENVER MAXX