Revision as of 04:10, 1 June 2014

Matt rocking the bowler hat for a show with A Black Tie Affair in early January 2013

Matt Chase was the drummer for A Black Tie Affair and Mackenzie Heights.

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Matt Chase

Instruments

• Drums
• Percussion
• Bass
• Guitar

Early Drumming

Matt began playing drums on a practice pad he got for his 13th birthday, but before then he could tap steady beats and bounce and bop steady to songs that would play on radios or cd's. He went into Tiger Music at Westgate high school in Grade 8 and got chosen to play the drums, out of almost the entire class which consisted of almost 200 others, who wanted to play the instrument. In the middle of his freshman year of high school, and on his 15th birthday, Matt's parents bought him his first drum kit, a Taye RockPro drum kit. Also in Grade 9, he met Riley Cummine, who later that year, began an unnamed band with him. They played together for almost a year, before the first year of Superior Rock Camp. In Rock Camp, Matt began a band with guitarists Mike Murray and Brady Geurts; bassist Graeme McMaster; and guitarist/vocalist Sara Collison. Calling themselves Illness To Cure, they went on to play after Rock Camp, replacing Sara with Courtney Wall.

Illness To Cure and A Black Tie Affair

Almost a year later, having done one show with Illness To Cure, Matt went back to Rock Camp and was put in a band with Riley Cummine, Brady Geurts, Dalton Thompson, and Darren Lammi. This band would later become the hard rock band we know today as A Black Tie Affair. Calling themselves Nothing Special at first, they played a show at the end of the camp at the Community Auditorium. Matt played with the band for two and a half years, playing shows at Kilroy's, Black Pirates Pub, Jack's, and the Kakabeka Street Fair 2010. He also recorded drums on the band's first recorded song, I Wanna Come Home.

Departure From ABTA

In December 2011, Matt quit A Black Tie Affair, due to conflicts between band members and wanting to try new styles of music.

Mackenzie Heights

In February 2012, Matt was asked to join pop punk band, Mackenzie Heights, by Tanner Bell, who was in the band at the time. Matt agreed and began working on writing and recording their first EP. They played many shows at Black Pirates Pub and Crock's. Due to the high financial demands of the band and not enjoying the genre, Matt quit and has since cut ties with the band. Even though they played Matt's least favourite music, he has stated that he had the most fun with the band.

Rejoining A Black Tie Affair

In October 2012, Matt rejoined A Black Tie Affair after 10 months of being away from them. He has rejoined as co-manager and drummer.

Departure from A Black Tie Affair and Antheridium's Current Status

In April 2013, Matt decided to leave A Black Tie Affair for a second time. His reasons were because of conflicts with band members and his style of playing not fitting the band's genre/style. He has wished them well in future endeavours and is trying to leave on a good note. Antheridium, as of now, is up in the air. Matt has told everyone that it will take a major turn towards progressive music but two members are on the fence about continuing on with it. Matt has decided not to continue with Antheridium, due to creative differences.

Future Projects

Matt has decided to take a breather from the music scene and try to focus on his future. With Humber College on the horizon, he will be going there to get his Bachelor of Music. He has began jamming with a few people, all of whom are no stranger to Thunder Bay's music scene, and hopes to get an experimental rock group playing shows.

Equipment

Matt has 3 drum kits, one electric and 2 acoustic. He uses the following for shows and recordings the most

Matt uses Gretsch Renown '57 in Red in the following configuration: 14 x 6.5 Pearl Artisan II snare (low)/14 x 6.5 snare (medium)/13 x 4 Dixon maple snare (high), 10 x 8 tom, 12 x 9 tom, 16 x 16 floor tom, 22 x 18 bass drum.

He uses a mixture of mainly Sabian cymbals with a Dream cymbal in the mix: 14 inch HHX Click hats, 18 inch AA medium-thin crash, 10 inch Paragon splash, 22 inch Paragon ride or 22 inch AAX OMNI, 19 inch AAXplosion crash.

Just to show how much equipment Matt likes to use. This was originally going to be Antheridium's kit but Matt reconfigured with less cymbals and hardware

Matt uses a mixture of Taye, Gibraltar, Pearl, and Network hardware. He uses Sonor Jojo Mayer Perfect Balance pedal, Pearl Demonator double pedal (rarely), and Mano Percussion and RhythmTech percussion. He owns a Roland electronic kit too and uses Pro-Mark Rock 747 wood tip sticks

His live kit varies on the genre of music played.

Influences & Style

Matt plays many different genres of music, from jazz to metal and from funk to progressive. His main influences are Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, and Mike Mangini. Other influences include Gene Krupa, Gavin Harrison, Teddy Campbell, Tre Cool, Thomas Pridgen, Jojo Mayer, and Thomas Lang.

Matt bases his style mainly from Neil Peart and Mike Mangini. His playing is considered to be powerful, energetic, and amazing by some. He began incorporating jazz and big band drumming into his style. When playing with A Black Tie Affair, he tends to focus on consistency with fills and beats.