INTERVIEW: ChameleouS shares debut album

Hailing from Tennessee, ChameleouS is a six-piece rock outfit with a unique sound that sees modern classic rock meet Southern swing, psychedelia, roots rock and jam band stylings, creating music that’s expansive and melodic while retaining a strong emotional magnetism. Behind the music is a group of experienced musicians, each bringing decades of playing and songwriting experience to a project built around an increasingly seldom seen idea that an album can still be an experience in itself.

That context drives the band’s debut record titled Wicked Din, an eight-track album that first landed in November last year. The release is intended to be experienced from beginning to end, with its sound moving between modern classic rock, psychedelic and alternative textures, roots music and Americana, adding touches of swing and twang to an adventurous approach to songwriting.

For a band whose members have spent decades cutting their teeth, the album carries the confidence of musicians who know exactly what they want to achieve. The songs have room to breathe, moving from intimate and reflective passages into expansive rock anthems, with rich vocals, slick guitars, pedal steel, vintage keyboards and cinematic arrangements helping to give the record its considerable sense of scale.

At the centre of ChameleouS is frontman and principal songwriter Mac Bartine, whose musical journey stretches back more than three decades. The material selected for Wicked Din was originally penned between the late 90s and 2006 before being revisited, updated and transformed by the band’s current lineup. The collaborative element is crucial to the album’s character, with Mac handling lead vocals and rhythm guitar alongside Rich Adlin on lead guitar and harmony vocals, Heath Nicholls on bass and harmony vocals, J Miller on drums, Jules Bryce on keyboards and Brian Wooten on pedal and lap steel.

Recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by Seva at Sequoyah Studios in Knoxville, Tennessee, Wicked Din was shaped around capturing warmth, energy and genuine musicianship. The album took more than a year and a half of recording and relentless attention to detail, with every element considered as part of the wider whole, resulting in an empahtic artistic statement of intent. ChameleouS continually changes shape, moving between rock styles without allowing any single influence to dictate where the music should go and Wicked Din provides the perfect run-through of that ethos.

“I Knew” sets up the record with the roll of pattering drums and pulsing bass guitar, forming a smokey groove as hazy guitar textures drift in. Progressing with moody leads and chiming keys, Mac’s commanding vocals enter to spin expressive melodic leads above while splashing drums and wailing guitars add to the country-tinged rock atmosphere. “The Beanstalk Speaks” jumps into a lively scene of crashing drums and guitars before gliding through moments of delicate energy capped by theatrical vocals, crafting an epic slice of psych-inflected classic rock cut with bright lead guitar flourishes.

Title track “Wicked Din” forms with the steady punch of kick as the pulse of bass and airy guitar textures are met with airy keys and misty synth tones. Flowing with a smooth rhythmic bouncy, Mac’s compelling voice floats above the atmospheric arrangement to deliver a spectacular showcase of the band’s songwriting flair and performance talent on this superb prog rock outing. Tracks like “Lonely Lady” reveal the more tender side of the band’s vision with a laid back soundscape of lilting rhythmic sway and drifting pedal steel elements as hushed vocals add to the intimate listening experience.

“Life Fever” leans into a bluesy groove with the twang of lead guitar, shuffle of drums and hop of organ combining to create an engaging jam that swells with infectious vocal leads and playful instrumental flutters. Closing the album with “Unshakable No,” the mellow tones of lightly gritty guitar, rustle of drums and shimmering organ tones swirl below rich vocals to present a spectacular conclusion to the band’s incredible debut album.

We caught up with ChameleouS to find out more about their musical journey so far, their debut album Wicked Din and what they’ve got lined up for the future. Check out our interview with ChameleouS below.

How did you get together as a band?

Rich Adlin: I jammed with Mac and his band at the time 20+ years ago after another project of mine (Adlin & Appleford) ended. Nothing really came of it, though I remember thinking that the music was really good. But I moved on and recorded another album with Adlin & Appleford and lost touch with Mac.

Mac Bartine: We met through a personals ad I posted in The Daily Beacon, the University of Tennessee’s student newspaper, essentially saying I was looking for people to start a band with. By the time we were playing together, I’d already started a band with someone else I met through the ad. He was a pretty creative lead player, and that stuck in my head.

Rich: Fast forward to 2019. I gave one of my CDs to my yoga instructor, who had great taste in music, thinking it was up her alley. The next yoga class, she told me that she listened to my CD and said, “Funny thing, I played it for my husband and he said, ‘I know that guy!’” It turns out that my yoga instructor of several years was Mac’s wife Jill. We started jamming again and discussed our love of songwriting. I eventually had him introduce his songs to other friends I had been jamming with for several years. That’s how ChameleouS was hatched.

Mac: All the stuff Rich said + we started jamming again in the middle of Covid – November of 2021 is when we first played together with other people.

Which artists do you draw the most inspiration from?

Rich: The source of my musical inspiration is all over the map, from a variety of music genres, but I’ll boil it down to the top ones from rock music. As trite as it sounds—The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and the rest of the classic rock pantheon. Then there are the prog rock bands—Rush—a huge inspiration from my teens that is in my bones, but also Yes and King Crimson. My more recent inspirations are Wilco, Beck, Clem Snide, Radiohead, and the Flaming Lips. Mr. Tom Waits is in a category all his own. Then there are my guitar heroes—Hendrix, David Gilmour, Page, Alex Lifeson, Brian May, Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Andy Summers, and Marc Ribot. From bluesy to quirky.

Mac: Seriously, Rich. You completely stole my thunder. Give a guy a chance to talk.

How else do you find inspiration for your music?

Mac: Rich mentioned that my wife has great taste in music. She does. We’re constantly listening to music around the house, and enjoy going out to musicals, which is actually pretty inspiring to me, because it’s music that’s full of all kinds of emotions and stories. Also, I love bands that are doing something unique. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Angine de Poitrine since March.

Rich: I also listen to ambient & more experimental music, new music, the kind you find at the Big Ears Festival here in Knoxville, which has become internationally famous. Of course, turning the music off and seeing what kind of interesting sounds and musical ideas come up while I’m washing the dishes, driving, or hiking in the woods. Sometimes I wake up with them.

What do you love about the Tennessee music scene?

Rich: I can speak more specifically about the Knoxville music scene. It’s small but strong, most likely due to the presence of the University of Tennessee, especially the music program. So, there are a lot of very talented musicians in a small city. And it used to be the case that touring artists would neglect little old Knoxville, but not so much anymore, so we get everyone from Paul McCartney to obscure touring indie acts. The Pilot Light is a small club and nonprofit dedicated to artists of all kinds of independent creative music—really a gem—and we play there regularly. It’s not Nashville, of course, but I think the Knoxville scene has more interesting music to offer and more variety, with a little less flash.

Mac: What interests me about Tennessee’s music scene is how impactful and diverse it is. In addition to the modern country in Nashville that most people think of, Tennessee is the state that produced Elvis, Al Green, Dolly, Aretha Franklin, Johnny Cash, and everyone who followed in their footsteps. I love Knoxville’s scene because it’s open to anyone with some talent and a little hustle, and our city’s musical soul is a musical melting pot that comes from being the state that is the birthplace of blues, rock ‘n’ roll, and country.

What would you say is the perfect setting for listeners to enjoy your sound?

Rich: Anywhere you can turn it up loud. It’s very dynamic music. But with headphones on and your eyes closed, it’s an adventure.

Mac: We put a lot of detail and texture into the record, and purposely left it there to discover. We didn’t polish the shit out of all the album’s rough corners so it would sound the same in earbuds as on a good set of speakers. We wanted people to feel like they hear new things across listens. So yeah – headphones or good speakers. Loud is always fun when you’re into what you’re hearing.

How has your own style and sound evolved since you started out?

Rich: I’d say that the most significant evolution occurred during the recording process when all the music was stretched out in front of us, after playing most of the songs for a couple years. We were able to take stock of it and put together a more unified jigsaw puzzle of the music of six musicians. It has been a challenge for all of us to learn how to tame ourselves to allow the songs to take on a recognizable shape instead of a jumble of sound. Each of us has become better at locating ourselves in space sonically, to create something special for each song, and within each song. This was especially so in the recording process for Wicked Din, by going through it all with a fine-tooth comb and with a producer who was listening with a different ear and helping us shape our sound more clearly.

Mac: Dude. What am I supposed to say in addition to that?

Who would be your dream artist to collaborate with?

Rich: Well, with six of us, there isn’t much room. I’ll choose a producer. Rick Rubin, give us a call! : )

Mac: I’d love to write a song or two with an adventurous R&B or rap artist. Also, I’ve had multiple blissful dreams that somehow Paul McCartney hears our music and likes it and invites us to write a song with him. Since he and Paul are friends, maybe Rich is onto something with Rick Rubin.

How did you find making your album ‘Wicked Din’?

Mac: A year and a half is a long time to spend on a debut album for a band that no one has heard of. So it was a marathon, and there were some moments of frustration and just being exhausted by it, but we’d hear a new mix of a song from Seva and it would fire us back up again. Lots of time, love and care.

Rich: It was an emotional roller coaster, for sure. But it started and ended with excitement. We all added some gray hair. But our producer, engineer, and friend Seva, a jack of all trades and also master of all, saw something special in our music and was the enthusiastic midwife and sherpa of Wicked Din.

What message did you want to get across with this release?

Mac: I’ve always wanted to record a great album from front to back with no scrub songs as fillers. When we started recording Wicked Din, that’s what I was thinking about. And the message I wanted the album to convey is: “This is an indication of our future. We think putting in the time, love and effort needed to make something exceptional is one of the most worthwhile things we can do with our lives, and this is truly a debut: just the beginning.”

Rich: No particular message. Maybe others, like Mac, who is our chief wordsmith, can say more about that. Maybe more of a message to myself: I’m doing this in spite of everything that seeks to pull me away from it—responsibilities, obligations, all the obstacles, and even the frustrations involved in it. Why? Because this is part of the essence of who I am.

What artist have you been listening to most recently?

Rich: I’ve gone back to Rush lately because they reunited for the 50-something tour in the wake of Neil Peart’s passing. While my musical rambling has gone in many different directions over the course of my life, returning to the inspiration of my teenage years has not only been nostalgic; I’ve been mining some of their later music that I hadn’t been familiar with and have been inspired all over again by them. I’ve also been listening to Paul Simon more lately, especially his latest album, Psalms, which is so soul-searching and profound, just as the title suggests. Another one, In the Blue Light, consists of rearrangements of some of his earlier music. The song called “Rene and Georgette Magritte with Their Dog After the War” is sublime. The most recent find that I’ve been wearing out has been “Old Saw,” an ambient, experimental ensemble of mostly traditional folk instruments. Oh, and Maddie Ashman! Wow! Microtonal avant-pop. I’m hooked.

Mac: I’m all over the map right now. There are always throwbacks to my childhood, the Beatles, and I enjoy being surprised by new bands. There’s so much great new music out there, it’s humbling and super motivating. I got a recommendation today to listen to Penelope Road, a great mix of yacht rock-style R&B and Southern rock. Unbelievably good! And it seems like every week at least, there’s someone new who’s truly exceptional.

What’s the main thing you want people to get out of listening to your music?

Rich: We are all old enough to know what it meant to buy a new record album by a newly discovered band, find a whole new world of sound as well as image, live with it, and let it become part of you. ChameleouS’s music is something new, alive, life-affirming, and even unusual in some ways. We can all use as much of that as possible these days.

Mac: Curiosity – enjoyment. Hopefully some people will react to us like I’m reacting to all the other great new music out there.

What’s been your favourite live performance so far?

Mac: Our latest gig is almost always my favorite gig, because we just keep getting better, and that makes it more fun to play and watch the audience enjoy the show.

Rich: Our first gig at the Pilot Light in Knoxville. What an honor to play there. I had never played there before but had seen some excellent creative performances there. You’d think you were in some hole in the wall in NYC, but you’re in scruffy little Knoxville. I really felt it that first night we played.

Who would be three artists to headline your dream festival? And where would it be?

Mac: Trombone Shorty, Angine de Poitrine, and Paul McCartney at Bonnaroo.

Rich: Wilco, Radiohead, Flaming Lips.

Do you have any advice for a new artist wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Rich: Dedication to the craft. Daily. Learn from others you revere, and then do your own experimentation and see where it leads.

Mac: Everything Rich said. Also, you’ve got to pour your love into it. It’s OK if it takes you time to get there. If you love it, stick to it.

Finally, what do you have lined up next?

We’re playing some small festivals and events in October, lining things up for some other towns in the Southeast, and looking for some festivals for next summer. We’re also working on new music, of course, and deciding what will go on our 2nd album.

Listen to Wicked Din below