Chasen in "The Link"

Here's what The Link said about Chasen:
http://upstatelink.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070206/LINK/702060312/1164

Chasen's next step
Upstate Christian rock band begins a journey this week into the much larger world of rock music

Published: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 - 6:00 am



By Justin Chappell
STAFF WRITER
jchappell@UpstateLink.com

Chasen, an eight-year brainchild of front man Chasen Callahan, 22, of Powdersville, will begin recording its first full-length album in February that's to be nationally distributed, the result of being signed to Greenville-based and Edwin McCain-backed OMG Records, and will head out on a multi-month tour that'll lead these twenty-somethings from West Virginia to Texas.

"We just want to get out of South Carolina and let people know who we are and what we're about in other states," Callahan says.

The album, presently unnamed and slated for a fall release, comes on the heels of a "Fresh New Music" designation by Dasani water that led to the band's EP being distributed in Greenville-area Bi-Lo stores - and more than 2,000 sales of that five-song debut since fall, says Gene Krcelic, OMG Records principal partner.

The five-man group all live in the Powdersville area and have been playing together for about two years. Though all originally from the Upstate, they didn't go to high school together. They met over the years through various church-related music events.

The band began congealing at Marathon Church in Powdersville and soon was playing shows around the Upstate, performing more than 250 times in one year. In early January last year, Krcelic, at the fledgling OMG Records, was exposed to Chasen's demo by the record exec's neighbor. That led to a series of meetings, evaluations and the preliminary EP recording, until, ultimately, the band was signed Sept. 1.

A big key to the signing, Krcelic says, was the support of the label's engineer and producer, Noel Golden, the Grammy Award-winning guy with bands like Matchbox 20 and McCain. Golden gave Krcelic two gold thumbs up. Also, when McCain told the band he liked it, Chasen was in.

"To have someone from the secular industry believe in me and my faith and believe that I can make a difference - as soon as he said that, that's when we all sat down and talked," Callahan says.

And with that, the band stepped into a very different musical atmosphere - one that they hope is the beginning of a long run.

"To never die out - really that's what our goal is," Callahan says. "God gave us talents, and he gave us this vision, and that's not for a season. It's for a lifetime."

That doesn't mean playing for churches and church groups alone, he says, but going wherever he feels his lyrics might be valued.

"Whether you're a Christian or not," he says, "people still need hope. People still need to feel like they're loved, and they belong in the world."

Yes, the next few months are going to be busy and hectic. They'll tour a few states (in McCain's tour bus), head back to Greenville for recording and then tour some more. But that set-up, he says, will let them test and hone their songs with fans and nail down the stuff that people really like.

It's a full-on endeavor, and there's only one way to go at it, Callahan says.

"If you're going to go for something, go for the whole thing - never just a piece of it."