"I Didn't Want To Just Put Music On The Internet." | Interview With Chase Duvall
- Karly Maroney
- 7 days ago
- 8 min read
Musicians may spend hours, days, sometimes years, making one song. Once released, the music sits on streaming services waiting to be discovered. After years of working on their latest debut album, Visitor Center decided it was time to take a break from screens and connect with their fans during their first tour together.
Interview by Karly Smith (VASH) and Chase Duvall (Visitor Center). https://visitorcenter.bandcamp.com/
Q: How has your band evolved since it was founded?
CD: I had the inception for going as far back as like pre-COVID. I was in some other bands before that. Then around COVID, I committed a little bit more to the idea of pursuing this band that was a little bit more in line with the music I was listening to at the time, which was, weirdly, a lot of stuff that's really popular right now.
A lot of like early 2000s, “dance punk.” [LCD Soundsystem, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV On The Radio, Foals, The Rapture]
I was also listening to a lot of hardcore and a lot of electronic and house music and stuff like that. So anyway, I wanted to do something that was a little different from the normal kind of indie rock and math rock bands that I had been in at that point and make something that was a little dancier and a little more fun, I guess, and guitar and synth driven. That sort of eventually resulted in me sitting down and writing the songs that became our first EP, which came out in 2024, “Late Bloomer.”
By the time that had come out, it had sort of evolved from it being in principle like my thing, to being more collaborative, like a real rock band, because I wanted to play the songs live.
I didn't just want to just put stuff out on the internet.
So I formed a band around it and by the time that EP had come out, we were like a real band playing shows and stuff like that. I think just as time has gone on, we've had some lineup changes and stuff like that, as you know, since then.
The big thing is that it's transitioned from being solely me driving everything to being a little bit more of a collaborative environment for everybody. I like my bandmates and I think that they all are really talented, great, talented people. I think that there's just a lot of history there.
Q: How have you adjusted from working solo on your music, to staying open minded to others opinions in your band?
CD: It would be really rude of me to invite a lot of people in to this thing and then not let them have the space to do like what they want to do.
I largely still drive things, a large majority of the ideas for songs come from me, and I tend to write a lot and give them early versions or early sketches of stuff. Then we'll work it out together as a group. That's really comfortable for me because, there is a real control freak part of me that wants to be like, no, no, no, no, we should just do it my way.
But I feel like I kind of have to be objective a little bit and sort of take a step back and remember that there's this many people and none of us are getting paid. We're doing this because we like to do it and because we're all friends. I sort of have to remove that part of myself in order for other people to come in and have their space. I feel like I do a good job maybe "directing" things when we're writing together and stuff. It's a good time for me.
That's a good place for me to put my producer hat on because I feel like a lot of the times I can sort of take a step back and think about what does this song need, what does this thing need that we're working on, and I can still have that control freak kind of thing, but give other people the space to do stuff, the stuff that they're good at, that I am maybe not so good at, you know.
I'm primarily a guitar player. I wouldn't even call myself an outstanding singer. I can't play drums that well, but our drummer I think is great and he can play drums really well and he takes feedback and stuff really well and is very creative. The same thing for everybody in the band, you know.
Letting them have the space to do their thing in turn sort of helps me. It sort of feeds that part of my brain that wants to have its hands on everything, but, that knows that I can't.
Q: What keeps driving your band?
CD: I think the the just the love of doing it, I I think is a really big thing. I never started making music with the idea that I was going to like make a lot of money or be famous or be successful or whatever. And I'm certainly not either (that would be great though.)
but, so I guess, as cheesy as it sounds, it is kind of the love of the game.
I have a drive personally at this point in my life, I have a a really like intense, need to make music and make art and stuff and do things that are like really kind of off the wall and a little different. I get a a real joy from doing that. And I can't speak for the rest of the band, but I think that we all sort of feel the same way, which is is just that there would be no other reason for us to do it otherwise if we didn't enjoy it, you know. So, I know that's kind of like a cliche answer, but it's the truth, you know.
Your band is currently planning a tour. Could you share more about the process, or anything you've learned about planning so far?
CD: I have toured before, but I haven't done it with this band. I think the planning aspect of it is always is the number one thing I would say to anyone is to if you're thinking about doing it, start now, don't wait. It always takes longer than you think and it's always hard.
The really hard thing is not like locking a venue down, it's finding other bands to play with, who especially if you're a small band and you don't have any budget or funding behind you, you really have to like sell yourself to people.
And that's true not just like of touring, but it like in general. I think small bands, in some ways probably have it, harder now than they ever have. In some ways it's probably a lot easier, but I think in some ways it's probably a lot harder now, because the market is so oversaturated. The biggest challenge is finding other bands that want to play with you. Finding a venue is not impossible, it's not that hard.
If you're a really small band, the best thing you could probably do is almost not even play at a bar or something. For us, I've noticed a lot of the places that we're playing at coming up are bookstores and libraries. There's one spot that is a record store. Record stores are great.
There's one here in Baltimore, there's tons of record stores that put on live music, too.
I guess they call those third spaces, I've heard them referred to as that before. Just places that you wouldn't have a chance to normally play, especially if you're young and maybe you're 19 or something and you can't go play in a bar. Those are spots that are really great because you can play and there's no expectation for you to make money, it's really low pressure. That's something that I learned touring, the little bit of touring I did before being in this band, I learned that that those kinds of spots are really crucial.
Q: What song are you most proud of on The House You Built?
CD: I'm a really big fan of Runner's High. I think that's a great song. The kind of the atmosphere, the vibe we got was like bang on exactly what I had in my head. When we wrote it, we knocked it out in like a night.
I remember like coming out of writing that and and feeling good about it, but I didn't really know what we had done, you know. And then we had like a cell phone recording of it, and the next day I remember listening back to it and being like, holy shit, this is like insane. I really wanted to get the feeling that I got from listening to the cell phone recording. I wanted the same feeling from that with the final song.
The layers and layers, and the wall of guitars that come in at the end, the distorted rock guitars that come in at the end, is one of the coolest things I've ever done. That was so much fun to to track. We must have done that for like an hour, just constantly swapping out amps and guitar pedals and we played a bunch of different guitars. As a guitar player, it was awesome. It was the best part of the whole thing for me because I felt like a kid in a candy store. I'm really proud of that one.
I'm also pretty proud of From the Beach because I remember in mixing, I was agonizing over it, especially the end part is so big and dramatic and there's so much stuff going on in it. I remember really, really, really struggling with it and, I was really happy with how that one turned out. Similarly also "Kascada." I know you asked for one song, but I I have I have a bunch of favorites.
So, "Kascada" I was almost going to go to bat to cut that song, until the very last mix before we got it mastered, because I was not I was not feeling it. And I was feeling maybe we need to just put this one away and come back to it later.
So all of the whole album, I'm really proud of, especially as a largely DIY effort, but those those three in particular were hard songs to get right and I I felt like we did a really great job.
Q: How did you determine the album name?
CD: It's about people who are maybe more or less like unassuming on the surface who will be persuaded to do things that are against their own interests.
I found that to be fitting for the political climate we live in, and, I thought the more that I kind of pondered on that, the more I thought it made a great name for a song, and then also, subsequently, I think it works as the album title for that reason, you know.
It's a real statement.
Q: The world could look different if...
CD: I think that making stuff is a healthy outlet and I think more people are capable of doing it than they think they are. If more people were able to listen to the more creative sides of themselves, I think things would probably look a little different from how they look right now.
Editor's Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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