Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: Well to start off Aleks and Heber are both brothers (blood cousins raised very close together) from the same family. Aleks was born into a musical family as his father had been in bands in Kansas City playing in regional mexican music from the early 2000’s to the early 2010’s. Aleks was given a drum set at around the age of 8 years old which is when his own musical journey began. His older brother/cousin Heber was always into music from a young age because of his dad, however Heber didn’t pick up instruments until he was 12/13 years old. Collectively they began to make music together when Heber was in highschool and Aleks was still in middle school. The early inspiration for their collective music taste came from either records from Aleks’ dad’s collection (i.e. Nirvana’s Unplugged, Molotov’s Dance, Dense & Denso, Pearl Jam’s Ten) or from Heber’s dad’s collection (i.e. Pink Floyd’s catalog, Santana’s catalog and Led Zeppelin to name a few.)
Q: Can you describe Chewy Soliloqui’s musical style in three words?
A: Experimental Grunge Noise
Q: How do you stay connected with your fans, and what role do they play in shaping your musical journey?
A: As of now we can’t really claim a fanbase but we are trying to grow one by staying active on our social medias and trying to show a bit of our humor and personalities through posts and videos online.
Q: You have just released your new EP, ‘Chew On This’. Is there a story behind it?
A: A full story to the EP, no. However there is a loose concept in the sequencing and naming of the songs. Now, if you’re wanting to see the story behind the making of the project, we have a mini doc out now on our youtube, The Making of Chew On This.
Q: What is your favorite track from the EP and why?
A: Aleks’ favorite track off the EP is “Used” specifically the experimental madness towards the end of the song.Heber’s favorite track is “1:41 The Mood” because of how well the recording of it came out.
Q: Can you walk us through the creative process of producing the EP, “Chew On This”?
A: Short answer, the process dragged a bit. We’re just glad we finally put those songs out. But once again, we will redirect our fans that are curious about this to our Mini doc on our youtube.
Q: What has been the most memorable concert or performance for Chewy Soliloqui so far?
A: Out of the two… our debut show. We had a big crowd, all the special people were there, the music sounded fresh despite our nerves and at the end of the day, we shook off the rust and began our live concert era.
Q: Reflecting on your body of work, each song holding its unique significance, could you share a particular track that stands out to you personally? What makes that specific tune special, and why does it hold a place of pride in your musical journey?
A: “9:16 In KC” because the sound is a departure from the rest of the sounds on the EP but it’s a good foreshadowing of the sounds to come.What makes this song even more special is the improvised nature of its creation and how it helped weave the tracklist sonically without contrasting too much upon its placement in the tracklist.
Q: Exploring the diverse creative processes within the music industry is always fascinating. Could you provide insight into Chewy Soliloqui’s unique approach to crafting music? From the initial spark of an idea to the finished song, how do you navigate the creative journey and bring its musical concepts to life?
A: JAMS JAMS JAMS. We cannot stress this enough. In order to stay creative we just pick up our instruments and just make noise with no end goal in mind until something stands out and we channel those vibes into a full song. Improvisation and consistency is the secret recipe for our song making. Seldom has anyone brought in a finished composition up until this point. Everything is collaborative and entirely made here in our HQ. Some of our best songs have come from random riffs while trying to set the tones on pedals correctly, or bass lines being jammed on during tune up. We are masters at being conduits to the sound and just riding the groove until we feel like we have some semblance of structure.
Q: As we wrap up our conversation, looking ahead, what aspirations or dreams do you have for Chewy Soliloqui, and what message would you like to share with your fans as they continue to accompany you on this musical journey?
A: We’re thinking big here. Can you see it? Chewy Soliloqui getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one day. That’s the goal. Anything short of that is still a fun ride but we want to be remembered as some of the best to ever do it. Why not? As for a message to our fans “Welcome, thank you for your support. It’s only going to get weirder from here.”
