SPILL FEATURE: THIS IS GOING IN THE DIRECTION WE WANT IT TO – A CONVERSATION WITH VOX OF THE CHAMELEONS

THIS IS GOING IN THE DIRECTION WE WANT IT TO

A CONVERSATION WITH VOX OF THE CHAMELEONS

Since The Chameleons debuted with their single “In Shreds” (1982) which was followed by their debut album, Script Of The Bridge (1983), they have attracted a large and very loyal following. It is understandable. They came out with psychedelic, post-punk anthems in a time when synthesizers were king. The guitar-driven rock stood apart from the other bands in the 1980s. Original members Mark Burgess, who is now known as Vox (vocals and bass) and Reg Smithies (guitar and vocals) have kept the band together with help from three new members Stephen Rice (guitar), Danny Ashberry (keyboards), and Todd Demma (drums), who joined forces in 2021.

It has been a while since the band released a studio album, Arctic Moon, their first since 2001’s Why Call It Anything? I recently had a conversation with Vox to talk about the new album and the band. I caught up with Vox in Berlin.

The new album, Arctic Moon, has been a while coming, but it was due to circumstances beyond the band’s control. “When Reg rejoined, we were writing new material together, it was our first priority but then COVID got in the way for a couple of years. So, we weren’t able to do it. And then, in that time, once the industry started getting on its feet, we had the rest of the band in place, and we really felt that now we had the band that could take the music forward. It was really our producer and manager Christophe [Bride] who was pushing us to get into the studio and start work on it. We started work on it, properly, in January 2024. We were touring pretty heavily, touring most of the time. So, it was a question of finding windows where we could work on it and complete it. It took a bit long to finish, it did not take long to write, we wrote it very quickly. We had a lot more material than we really needed. We think in terms of vinyl records, so we knew that we wanted it to be around the 42-minute mark. We had well over 42 minutes of music by the end of February.”

The album was written and ready to be recorded, and the band went into the studio with completed songs and ideas of how the album/songs should sound. However, before the album was recorded the band did release an EP that was sold during their tour. “Once we started recording it, and in the studio working on it, it was really quick. It was just finding those windows while touring. It was all very natural and enjoyable. We wrote them in the studio, and we decided do we want to put a single out, or an EP (2024’s Where Are You?), and that one we were told it needed to be out in May and our drummer, Todd, was back in America. Our guitar player, Stephen Rice, played drums on the single because we had to get it together very quickly. When we came to re-record it for the album, that’s the reason it is a different version. It’s Todd playing drums. We played that song live, in the wake of its release, on the tour. We felt we improved it. The album was very organic, the whole thing.”

The band refrained from performing the new songs in concert. “Most of it was written in the studio. We didn’t have much opportunity to play the songs live. It was a conscious decision, when I think about it. We didn’t want the new material on YouTube before the album was released, which is a reality of the world we live in now. You know, you play shows, people film them, and they are up on YouTube in days. We didn’t want that to happen with the new material, we didn’t want spoilers. It wasn’t our plan to do a second EP. The second EP (Tomorrow Remember Yesterday) recorded was and we agreed to it on the basis that it was used as a promotional tool and not a commercial single as such.”

ARCTIC MOON ALBUM REVIEW

The bottom line for Vox and the band is that they have to like the music before it can be released as an album. “We believe in it. You get to the point where you can’t really worry too much about how it is going to go down. The only criteria is that we are excited by it, and that we are excited and proud of it and that we like. And that was evident when it was all coming together. You know, we thought, ‘this is going in the direction we want it to’. But that is the only criteria we can have, and that has always been the way with all of our records.”

Vox is very excited about the current lineup of the band. He is not, for one second, dismissing other lineups or what has gone before, but this current lineup seems to be his favourite. “I am immensely proud of the things I have been involved with and immensely proud of the people I have worked with. I have worked with really great people along the line, bar none. But, having said that, I feel that this is the best band I have ever played with. It is so enjoyable and so uncomplicated. There is no baggage, you don’t have to masturbate egos, it is just really easy. We are all living what we do and living what we are producing. I think that comes across on the album and the shows for the last couple of years, how much we are enjoying it.”

“When it comes to the new material, it will be challenging. Usually, the band gets together for a few days and rehearses together and go out and play the shows. But this really needs producing, because it is quite challenging to do. We look forward to that, we relish it, because it gives us new material. I remember when we were doing the Strange Times, that was atypical of the previous two records, and to make that happen on the stage was a bit of a challenge. This is a bit of the same, only more, said Vox. “But we are looking forward to it.”

Arctic Moon was a group effort. It is not a solo project for Vox, it is the band as a whole. “Everybody brought their own particular talents to it and made it what it was. I came in with a couple of things that were arranged but were quite different. Everybody’s input made the album what it was and transformed what I thought were good ideas into great tracks. Everybody brought their A game to this. I didn’t get into this to make music by myself, sometimes I have strong ideas. The whole point is to get the best out of each other and produce something collaboratively. It is better than anything any one of us could do on their own, and that is the whole ethos of being in a good band. The people around me are pushing me to do my best, and I do the same for them, it is a band. I like to work with people whose talent inspires me. That is what I have always done.”

Arctic Moon is a deeply personal album. A song like “David Bowie Takes My Hand” is a song about a dark time in Vox’s life, for example. Yet the album is very embracing and should appeal to a great many people. “I hope they hear a band that is not afraid of moving beyond its legacy. We are a band that is moving our music forward and progressing in the way that we play, the way that we sound and in the way that we write. I would hope people hear our music and say this is really healthy. Hopefully people will come to this who have not necessarily liked our records before or thought the stuff we have done before is not for them. I would like to bring more people to us.

Artist Links

Photo Credits: Mick Peek