John Lancaster brings "Hell on Earth" to V Club Saturday

photo: Laura Dial

On the heels of releasing “A Penchant for Hell on Earth,” their third record in five years, John Lancaster and his band (L-R: Mac Walker, Lancaster, Josh Adkins, Barry Smith) will perform at The V Club Saturday night with opening acts Floraburn and Sly Roosevelt


Reposted with permission from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch

You could say things have kind of slowed down for John Lancaster in the two decades since he was fronting the Huntington-based melodic hard rock band Chum.

Between then, you know, the 90’s, through bands like Guru Lovechild and Earth To Eros, it’s been Lancaster’s own labor of love to front a rock band. With help from old friends he’s not only now released three solo records in five years, but has a rock band he has fun playing shows with.

“Overall, we don’t play out a whole lot,” Lancaster said over the phone. “We do what we can, we kind of have other things going on. We do enough to keep us all somewhat sane I guess,” the singer-guitarist said with a laugh.

Lancaster will bring his atmospheric (apocalyptic?) melodic hard rock band (Lancaster; Mac Walker: guitar; Barry Smith: bass; Josh Adkins: drums) to The V Club Saturday night, where they’ll be joined by Floraburn and Sly Roosevelt.

But just because there aren’t a lot of shows may not mean things are slowing down creatively for Lancaster.

Since releasing the debut full-length, “Phantom Moon” in 2010, following that up with the six-song EP “Crash Test In Progress” in 2012, Lancaster’s studio project has congealed into a band, has opened for acts like Byzantine, Karma To Burn, and Dream The Electric Sleep, and released the six-song concept EP “A Penchant for Hell on Earth” in January.

“You know, this whole thing originally started with the idea that this was going to be a studio project,” Lancaster admitted. “When the first record was coming together, I had the idea of all these different friends coming together and coming in to play on different things.

“But there was really no intention for it to be a live thing. But after “Phantom Moon” was released, I was missing playing out at the time, so I thought ‘Why not put together a solid band to play some of these songs live?’ I wanted to kind of keep the songs alive on some level.

“So we started doing that, and that’s where it’s been ever since,” Lancaster said of the project. “We’ve got three releases now; the first full-length and the two EPs. We kind of take our time with the recording side of things, and we do everything ourselves, so that gives us the opportunity to take our time with the recording.”

Breathing life into the project as a live band has been made easier by working with longtime collaborators Walker and Smith, who recorded and mixed the new EP.



“I love working with Mac,” Lancaster said with emphasis. “I’ve known him for a long time, and I’ve played with him in various projects for years. The same goes with Barry; we did a project together back in the early 90’s, then we did Earth To Eros. But with those two guys, there’s a lot of history there, and I love working with them.

“But back to Mac, our guitar tones seem to mesh really well, and our styles seem to compliment each other really well, and that’s really nice. When I present these songs, it’s just in demo format and it’s just my guitar, so, it’s nice to add these other guys and their playing styles to what I have. It kind of breathes life into the songs.”

Lancaster said that from “Phantom Moon” to “A Penchant for Hell on Earth,” what began as a studio project has become an actual rock band.

“One thing that was different in the process on that record, was, on the previous two records, definitely on the first record, and pretty much the second one, was that a lot of those songs, I’d already written them and demo’d them myself, and then showed them to the guys, and from there we recorded them.

“So, the difference with the latest record is we worked on those songs quite a bit in rehearsal. This latest record sounds more like what we sound like live. The vocals are more aggressive on this record, and I think that’s because when you’re working on vocals in a live environment, it definitely pushes you more. The difference in the process made the end product something I’m really proud of.”

While not meant to literally be about Hell on Earth, obviously, Lancaster said it may not be a surprise the new EP plays like a concept album.

“The interesting thing is that it wasn’t meant to be a concept record, but it totally plays like one. I’ll admit that and I’m happy that it does. It does have the same themes lyrically throughout, which is more or less, letting go of things that you can’t control, and moving forward, you know?

“But, without getting into each song, it does have sort of a conceptual vibe to it,” Lancaster added. “I didn’t really mean it to, but it has part one at the beginning and part two at the end, so it kind of wraps the idea up at the end and gives you an intro and then concludes at the end. So it does have a conceptual feel.”

Lancaster said despite the Bandcamp, iTunes, Spotify pages and social media platforms, getting the music out these days, compared to the 1990’s is easier. Getting people to shows? Sometimes, not so much.

“On paper, you would think, in this day and age it’s perfect for getting your music out,” he said after an exhausted sigh. “But there’s just so much out there, and I think a lot of people just aren’t as excited about hearing new music or seeking out new bands that excite them, at least not like they used to be. We’re definitely in different times now,” the 42-year old Huntington music scene veteran said with an understated laugh.

“You’d think with the technology you have, you’d just be able to promote yourself better, and you have the possibility to, but I just think it’s a lot harder to get people to come to shows now. Everybody has their reasons why they think that is, and there’s not one specific reason, I think it’s a lot of different reasons. Umm, I don’t know. It’s definitely a different time. And it’s not just around here, it’s everywhere.

“I was having a conversation the other day with somebody, and we were both talking about how we just hope it’s one of those cycles that’ll come back around. You see how that works, you know? It’ll be really hot for a while then it’ll die off. Then, at some point, it’ll come right back. Hopefully that’s how this’ll turn out.”

Moving forward with his band into 2015, with his old friends backing him up, Lancaster said he not only is looking forward to playing The V Club Saturday, but just having a good time playing shows.

“I have a family and help run a business, so obviously my priorities lie there. But music is still important to me and it’ll be important to me until I’m long gone. I think I look at getting out and playing shows differently. Like, I appreciate it more, you know? I don’t get to do it as much as I used to. In a strange way I enjoy it more and appreciate it more.

“You know, I’ve just tried to approach this whole project with the idea that it needs to be fun. If it’s not fun, just don’t do it. It’s not worth it if it’s not fun. We’ll play a gig somewhere and there’ll be five people there, and we’ll still have a good time.”


WANT TO GO?
John Lancaster, Floraburn, Sly Roosevelt
WHERE: The V Club, 741 6th Ave.
WHEN: 10 p.m., Saturday March 21
COST: $5
INFO: www.vclublive.com
ONLINE: www.johnlancaster.com

Top 10 CDs of 2012

10. The Renfields: All the Stuff and GORE

Not only do fans of Team Transylvania’s horror movie-inspired pogo-punk stylings get pretty much every song recorded in this two-disc box set spectacular, there’s enough unreleased material to get this in the top 10.

Songs like “Renfields Go!” “Transylvania Fight Song,” “Ramones Zombie Massacre,” and “Porkchop” will be new favorites. If you’ve lost a copy of The Night THEY Came Home, Bastard Sons of Ed Wood, or the Stalk and Slash Splatterama series, that’s all here.

So, if you’re looking for that special something for that hard-to-buy-for Renfields fan this holiday season, All the Stuff and GORE makes the perfect stocking stuffer. The Renfields may be number ten on this list, but they’re number one in our heart.






9. Sly Roosevelt: Animal Tracks

If you fell asleep eating animal crackers watching Matt Taibbi on Bill Moyers, half reading a book on Teddy Roosevelt, and dreamt of a high energy post punk concept record, Animal Tracks may be that record.

The full-length debut from this Huntington-based indie rock outfit may not be some linear journey concept record, but the songs, (e.g. “Lion,” “Wolf,”) lyrics and CD art (awesomely done by Jarrod Schneider) all tie Animal Tracks into a really good record with a vision.









8. GoodWolf: Shitty Kids

Sleepwalker singer-guitarist Tyler Grady steps out to record more stuff on this largely solo, mostly melancholy, eight-song post-grunge release.

“Last Year” was the feel good, slacker hit of the summer. “Bikini Girl” and the highly charged, intensely personal middle finger to an ex, “Letter,” stand out. Not sure who the kids are, but whatever the motivation it’s promising to see Grady operating as GoodWolf.

Goodwolf – Last Year from Geoff Hoskinson on Vimeo.

7. John Lancaster: Crash Test in Progress

Following up on 2010’s Phantom Moon, Lancaster continues charting new sonic territory, this time with his live band. “Saigon Moment” channels Lancaster’s inner Dave Grohl. His soulful vocals on the bluesy parts of “Like Castles” actually sound like Huntington’s own Bud Carroll, the song standing out among his solo material for taking this kind of direction.

Most of the material, though, like “The Riot Act,” and “Catacomb Satellite” tie back into or at least jump off from what’s heard on the solo debut, making the six songs found on Crash Test In Progress feel like some sort of expansion pack for the CD. Great material, even for a seasoned, polished hard rock work in progress.






6. Bud Carroll: At Least I Can Still Smoke In My Car

While you’d be right to imagine the guitar hero and multi-instrumental talent Carroll could knock out a few crunchy grooves in his Trackside Studios in a few hours, this release finds him standing astride his bluesy Southern Souls days (“I’m No Stranger”) now into AC30, still singing soulful songs about his nowhere towns and lost loves.

Standout songs include “There Someday,” “I Just Wanted You To Know,” and “We’ll Be Together Again.” Carroll released this (not surprisingly) stellar 12-song effort in January, and it’s stood out since.







5. Bishops (self-titled)

Would you believe that if Demon Beat bassist Tucker Riggleman recruited cohort Adam Meisterhans to shred in his nascent garage rock band with Paul Cogle (Nagato/Vox Populi) that the result would be killer?

Riggleman’s own singing and songwriting efforts pre-date his involvement in The Demon Beat and Prison Book Club, and hearing songs like the opener, “My Own Way,” “Happy,” and “Shit Happens” will likely excite fans of both groups.

How many Demon Beat side projects can there be? Never enough! Talented dudes, each, and it’s Riggleman’s chance to stand out here.








4. Spirit Night: One Man Houses

Shepherdstown native Dylan Balliett releases a killer, amped-up sophomore full-length and promptly gets dropped off in NYC by The Demon Beat dudes and sets up residence. Maybe he moved up there, then released it right after. Whatever.

Following up on 2010’s What We Will Be and the Normal EP, Balliett, again joined by drummer Pete Wilmoth (FOX Japan) and Ryan Hizer (Librarians/Good Sport) on bass mostly shed their dreamy lo-fi atmospherics for something approaching high energy 80’s post punk on this nine-song effort.

“Goodbye Jones” and “Summer Clothes” are standout tracks, but it’s Balliett’s version of “Rubberneck” that might take WVRockscene best song of 2012, if there were such an ill-conceived thing. Hopefully there’s more Spirit Night to come out of NYC in 2013.

3. The Tom McGees: This Just In

You’ll be fallin’ out, spinning and kicking, and raising your fists to the high-energy, hilarious, totally NSFW ska stylings of this Charleston-based eight-piece “punk party” band.

You’ll come for the driving punk rock, the alternately blaring and swooning horn section, and machine gun snare rolls. You’ll stay for the endearing, jilted love songs Mike Withrow and Adam Dittebrand are singing. Never has cussing out your ex-girlfriend, or, then, telling her you really love her, seemed so fun. Hear “The Choice” and “Half That Bad” for that. Just a killer nine-song debut from these characters.






2. Juna: Sing

Like the mountains that surround us, John Morgan’s Appalachian folk symphony manifested as Juna seems at once imposing, maybe these days, cold, but unfolds itself to reveal a warm, stunning, sonic beauty.

That he’s able to create and record the richly arranged songs like “Even” and “Banner” all by himself, makes this 10-song effort all the more impressive.

Fans may expect this kind of sound as Morgan follows up on last year’s release, Hunt. It’s so much more, though, as Morgan provides a snapshot into his own life, the forces that pull, and the ties that bind him, and some of us, here in West Virginia.







1. The Demon Beat: Less Is Less

Like the cover itself, with Adam Meisterhans, Tucker Riggleman and Jordan Hudkins blended together to form one super-rocker, everything just seems to come together on this, the fourth full-length studio effort from these Shepherdstown-based dudes. Ironically, maybe, given the title of the record, fans of the band could be said to receive more than they expected, even out of these guys.

The amalgamated rocker on the cover sports a flannel maybe as a nod to the fat, fuzzy, feedback-flecked grunge, almost stoner rock sound found on songs like “Bummer Machine,” “Fingers,” and “Bored Forever.” “Teenage Wasteland” and “Wunderwal” rock hard. “Song 2 Part 2” and “I Melted” are more melodic, some might say pretty, rock songs.

Space jams “Off The Wall” and “The Wall” close out the record impressively and more experimentally, as these guys are wont to do. Like the diamonds they sometimes adorn their album art with or get tattooed on their arms, the material on Less Is Less, instead of some huge departure from their previous material, just shines a little differently, reflecting a slightly different angle.

Justin Johnson continues Embracing The Eyesore

Longtime readers and/or browsers of WVRockscene will of course remember fondly Justin Johnson's 1318 4th Ave. series from a few years ago. Focusing on the 90's Gumby's/Drop Shop days and the bands that came through, Johnson diligently documented those days, a delight for anyone who was there at some point.

Well, Justin just launched his own blog dedicated to "Embracing The Eyesore" and it's definitely something you should get keen to.

Johnson has been catching readers up on the beginning of Gumby's in 1990 and the bands and has been tying things up catching people up on Chum members John Lancaster and Chris Tackett. It was so great to have him doing "1318" for rockscene and we're stoked to see him kick this thing off.

It's even more fitting that Johnson does this now: Herald-Dispatch reporter and friend of those days Bryan Chambers tweeted recently he's working on a story for this weekend about a construction project that will see the building demolished. (correction: 'twas another eyesore Chambers meant! whew! confirm information!)

Friendships keep energy high for Chum reunion show (H-D repost)

photo: Courtney Bell

The Huntington-based band Chum, made up of (from left to right) Jude Blevins, John Lancaster, Chris Tackett and Mac Walker is reuniting for a show on Saturday, Oct. 1 at the V Club, 741 6th Ave., Huntington

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch


The story of Chum reads like a literal version of musical chairs. Nearly twenty years after junior high friends Mac Walker and Chris Tackett called up John Lancaster to see about jamming, more than a decade after their sophomore record never got released, after numerous lineup changes and a reunion in 2005, the Huntington-based sludge rock band is back.

Chum plays the V Club October 1st with Horseburner and Tower of the Elephant.

A band’s story can read like any relationship between two people over the years: they form, break up and/or fall apart over time. But what makes Chum’s story unique so many years after original drummer Chuck Nicholas jumped ship and founding members Walker and Tackett left is that Walker, Tackett and Lancaster, friends since junior high, are still that: friends.

“We’re all deaf and hoarse right now, so bear with us,” Lancaster said with a laugh over the phone after a just-finished band rehearsal in Walker’s basement.

The guys in Chum (Lancaster: vocals/guitar; Walker: guitar; Tackett: bass; Jude Blevins: drums) have been gathering at Walker’s every so often preparing for a pair of shows in Huntington and next week in Lexington, where Tackett calls home these days. After years of on-again off-again status, it’s good to get together and have a good time, Lancaster said.

“We just make a marathon weekend out of it. Everybody comes in Friday night, and we do a few hours, then go all afternoon Saturday and Sunday. It’s been a blast.”

“We just make a big party out of it,” Walker added.

Tackett said that the enduring friendship and musical collaborations that have existed in the intervening years have helped Chum retain its energy.

“I can tell you right now it sounds really f---ing heavy. I don’t know if you can put that in there. It’s been cool because with John and Mac playing together in John’s solo project, and with Jude, Mac and myself playing in Hyatari together, it almost seems like it was inevitable that we’d get together and do this.”

Bringing Blevins on as drummer was a no-brainer and, for Blevins, who’d seen Chum open for Helmet at Ritter Park years ago, a great call to get.

“I was honored, of course,” Blevins said. “I’m sure they could’ve had anybody, any drummer they would’ve called would have jumped at it. I think it’s pretty cool.

Walker said the original chemistry is still there.

“It gets to be kind of like second nature, because you can almost predict what the other guy is thinking when you’re playing and writing. A few of these songs we are playing, we never released, so it’s great to bring those songs back to life.”



John Lancaster on Headhunter:
“For these upcoming shows we actually recorded an old song we wrote around 1997 called “Headhunter.” It was originally intended for that second record that never happened. When we played it live, people really liked it, so we thought it would be cool to record it and put it online for a free download.”

Tackett said what was once old, as far as Chum goes, is new again.

“One of the reasons I like to revisit Chum is because the material holds up even though some of this stuff is fifteen years old. A lot of the stuff we were writing back at that time, I consider it to be pushing the envelope as far as our song structures and tunings. It’s a little more common nowadays, but back then you didn’t hear it too often. The songs have held up well and have that energy and are really heavy, so I like to revisit it because they don’t feel old to me, they feel just as current as when we were writing them back in the day.”

It almost seemed like a drag, or maybe it was fitting, to ask the “heavy” questions of the guys: why did things go wrong, and when, back in the mid-to-late 1990’s?

Maybe it was the lack of label support after releasing “Dead To The World” on the Santa Monica, California-based Century Media Records? Walker addressed that angle.

“I think what happened was, the label wasn’t really into the band anymore, they weren’t liking the new material. We were rehearsing and writing new material and it just seemed like a lot of work wasn’t going anywhere. That seemed like the beginning of the end.”

For Tackett, internal chemistry issues arose after original drummer Chuck Nicholas left to join West Virginia contemporaries Karma To Burn before DTTW was even released.

“For me, when Chuck left the band, the songwriting, the whole process kind of changed,” Tackett said, speaking diplomatically. “Mac and myself feed off each other, and Chuck and John fed off each other, and we all worked well as a foursome. All the songs that were on [DTTW] and the two [1994 cassette] EPs were hashed out in a room together.

“We had that chemistry, and the songwriting was effortless.

“After Chuck left, we had to write with other people and it wasn’t the same, and the music started to change, not for better or worse, just different. So for me, the Chum era kind of ended when Chuck left the band.”

Tackett on Nicholas leaving (continued):
“Chuck doesn’t get enough credit as a songwriter. Correct me if I’m wrong John, but didn’t Chuck contribute lyrics and concepts? (John answers in background) He definitely helped with arrangements. With Chuck, he was really an experimental guy, and he’d just go off the deep end and just do stuff to be funny and it would end up a song. It was a weird way to write but it worked for us as a band.”

So many years later, Lancaster, Tackett and Walker, with mutual friend Blevins, are looking to not only keep their friendship intact, but Chum too. The internet age offers an avenue of communication that can facilitate long-distance collaboration, as Lancaster displayed recording and releasing his solo debut, “Phantom Moon,” last year.

Also, just as important, Chum’s fans are able to generate a mutually reinforcing energy, whether its picking songs for a set list, asking about merch, or remembering favorite shows from the past on the Chum Facebook page.

“It’s pretty much the main inspiration for us doing it at this point,” Lancaster said of the fans. “We get messages from people talking about the band, it’s just great to know that people are excited about it.”

Tackett on new Chum releases:
“We haven’t discussed making a new album together at this point, but at this point who needs a record label? With a project like Chum, if we wanted to release a record for free, at this point it’s about sharing the music with people who love it. It’s a labor of love for us to play and record this music.”

Walker said, just like at practice, at the V Club show Saturday, it’s going to be a party.

“It’s great. We’ve got people coming in from all over the place, so it’s more than a reunion, we’re getting to see old friends too.”

Old friends indeed, Tackett said, summing up Chum’s future.

“We’re all basically like brothers at this point, having grown up together. I don’t see any reason for us to stop making music anytime soon.”


If you go:
Chum, Horseburner, Tower of the Elephant
Where: The V Club, 741 6th Avenue, Huntington (304) 781-0680
When: Saturday, October 1st, 10 p.m.
Cost: $8
Info: http://www.vclublive.com/

John Lancaster remembers 1318 4th Avenue

As an addendum to Justin Johnson’s 1318 4th Avenue - An Aural History series, we wanted to bring John Lancaster on to get his take on the venue that Johnson has been writing about over the past few months. Not only did Justin rank Lancaster’s band Chum in his top five shows, he noted how much Lancaster would have wanted to see Godflesh in December 1996, Justin’s third-ranked show in his Top 10.


Below are some of Lancaster’s thoughts and memories of 1318 4th Avenue…

WVRockscene: What are some of your favorite memories at Gumby’s or Drop Shop? First show, either attending or playing?
Lancaster: Between the two places there are way too many memories to list, so I’ll go with the first gig that I played at Gumby’s. It was quite an experience. The band I was in was called Soul Circus at the time (went on to be renamed Guru Lovechild another show or two later). It was our first show and it was the first time I had ever sang in front of anyone, so needless to say I was quite the bundle of nerves that day.

During set up/soundcheck I met the legendary John Kerwood and needless to say his antics provided a necessary distraction from those nerves. At one point his girlfriend at the time had taken his keys from him for some reason and he was chasing her around the bar like a madman yelling “Keeeys! My keeeeys! Give...me...my...keeeeys!” Haha; a pretty tame Kerwood moment relatively speaking, but an interesting introduction to the man nonetheless. Anybody that knew John knew that the guy was quite a character but he did so much for live music in this town back then. He is missed for sure.

---
rockscene: This show that Justin lists 11.20.96; you had just released your debut, Dead to the World, and Justin says you were at the top of your game; where was the band at at this point in time?
Lancaster: Wow, Justin has a hell of a memory. I couldn’t really say where we were based on that date but I believe this is right before the tour we went on that went South -- both geographically and figuratively! Haha. If that’s the case then I think we were really excited to finally be getting out on a tour since it had been nearly six months of auditions, rehearsals and occasional local shows since the record had been released.



---
rockscene: How much turmoil befell Chum in the sense of the drummer situation and then the broken down van on the tour of the South? As much critical acclaim you may have had, how much of it was tough sledding?
Lancaster: I’d say a majority of our run was tough sledding from the drummer situation on. We lost Chuck right after we recorded Dead to the World and before that point we had really reached a comfortable groove with one another creatively. Everyone played an important role in how our sound came together so once he was gone, I think we tried too hard to keep that same momentum going that we had with Chuck which in hindsight was never going to happen. No disrespect whatsoever to the drummers that followed him, they were all incredible musicians. Chuck’s style had just become an important element to Chum’s sound and I don’t think we were able to look beyond that.

So that caused problems creatively, and then there were always problems in trying to promote ourselves in a pre-internet age with no money. Our label at the time helped to get our name out somewhat in the beginning but pretty much left it in our court in terms of going on the road, finding/arranging tours, etc. It was a constant struggle and in short, it eventually it brought things to a close for us.

---
rockscene: Back to this venue, Justin says that in the mid-late 90’s he would put Huntington as a college town up against all others. How cool was it during this time period and would you agree with that?
Lancaster: I agree one hundred percent and I have said the same thing. It just seemed like an exciting time not only to play music but to go out and see great music on random nights throughout the week.

---
rockscene: You’ve seen bars at this location come and go; what’s the difference between now and then when it comes to how venue owners operate and/or book bands, and the state of the Huntington scene now versus then in the general sense?
Lancaster: I think all you need to do, as I did recently, is look at the Drop Shop Facebook page and check out one of the old random monthly schedules that have been posted. The months were filled with shows from all genres whether it be locals or nationals. There really was something for everyone.

---
rockscene: Justin mentions you being stranded down South not being able to see Godflesh in December ‘96, you being their biggest fan, was that something you were trying to get to?
Lancaster: No, I knew ahead of time I wasn’t going to be in town to see it, but it still pained me a great deal! There were also couple of shows we played on that tour where Godflesh had just played the same venue a night or two before, too, so that wasn’t too helpful. The expression “insult to injury” came to mind quite a bit!

---
rockscene: So many people have such fond memories of Huntington in this time period, whether they loved the bands or the atmosphere at a specific venue or what. You still being involved with the scene as a solo rocker, how neat is it for you to be able to look back and say ‘I was a part of that,’ or hear people say how much your music meant to them; that they might still have these Chum cassettes laying around and they still rock them out?
Lancaster: I’m very glad to have been a part of it. As I said before it was an exciting time that I will never forget and I’m sure anyone else that took part in it won’t forget it either. There are still some people that ask me about those days and Chum specifically, and for anyone to still remember us in any kind of positive light is beyond flattering.

mp3: “Greetings (From The Inner Self)“ by Chum


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Related: CD Review -- John Lancaster Phantom Moon; For John Lancaster, the Fire Has Just Begun (Huntington Herald-Dispatch)

See also: Chum downloads on Exploding Eardrums

photo: Laura Gregory

For John Lancaster, The Fire Has Just Begun

Singer/songwriter John Lancaster is no stranger to the local music scene as he's performed in multiple Huntington-based bands. He's released a new solo album called "Phantom Moon."

Reposted from The Huntington Herald-Dispatch


HUNTINGTON — John Lancaster is no stranger to the Huntington music scene.

So, when it came time to record his debut solo CD, the former singer/guitarist for Chum, these days married with kids, didn’t have time to mess around.

He enlisted an all-star lineup of guest musicians both near and far and used available technology to record the heavy, melodic, richly textured 14-song “Phantom Moon.”

Lancaster, more recently in Huntington bands like Earth To Eros and with his old Chum friends in Hyatari, said he has been looking forward to releasing the CD. Answering questions over the phone thoughtfully, yet excitedly, you might even say he’s tired of talking about it.

“It seems like this project has been in the works for so long, and it’s really been a small circle of friends who’ve even heard anything off of it,” he said. “I’m excited to get it out and put it in someone else’s hands for a change, you know? It was a lot of fun to make though. I’m curious to see what people think about it.”

There’s already been praise for “Phantom Moon” on social networking sites. Songs like “Liars” and “This Fire Has Just Begun” have been well received, and Lancaster said it’s appreciated.

“It’s exciting. It makes me want to get it out even sooner. When I post certain songs on ReverbNation or MySpace, people don’t get a sense of the whole thing, though. It’s cool, though, to give just a little taste in advance, especially since I’ve been talking about this record so long, like ‘I really have been working on this, I swear,’” he said, laughing.

He worked on “Phantom Moon” with some big names from the Huntington music scene and beyond, including Bud Carroll, Matt Wolfe (Byzantine/Scrap Iron Pickers), Jude Blevins (Hyatari/Satchell), and old friends and band mates Barry Smith and Rusty Knight from Guru Lovechild and E2E.

“It’s an honor,” Lancaster said of the lineup. “When you get a little older, you don’t have a lot of spare time. But with technology you don’t have to book a studio and arrange everybody’s schedule; they can work on their own time, and e-mail me the tracks.

“People like Dug Pinnick from King’s X, he’s not from around here. It was probably my favorite part of the whole project, getting to work with these people,” he said.

Another neat experience for Lancaster was being his own boss when it came to writing, allowing his more authoritarian tendencies to take over.

“I liked the fact that everything was my decision. It must have been the control freak in me,” he said, laughing again. “I knew that I had to do the best I could with it, since it’s my name on it.

“I used the opportunity of doing the solo record to try to blend whatever influences were hitting me at the time,” he added. “Sometimes, when you’re in a band, you’re like ‘I want to try such and such,’ and it may not fit, because you’ve painted yourself into a corner with a kind of label for your music.”

Lancaster spent long hours recording on his “modest” setup in his basement, as his kids have taken over the attic where he once recorded, he noted with amusement. A few of the songs that make up “Phantom Moon” grew out of, and branched off from, his more recent work with Smith and Knight in Earth To Eros.

“I started demoing stuff with the idea that I’d maybe do a solo record, maybe two or three years ago,” he said. “And, I sat on some for a while, because at the time we were doing the Earth To Eros thing. When that went down, that’s when the idea for a solo record really started to surface, because I was like ‘I’ve got all these songs here.’”

From the basement, the nascent songs were taken to Route 60 Music in Barboursville, where Smith added bass and recorded main tracks.

“With the technology, you can record pretty much anywhere, so we took advantage of that,” Lancaster said.

He applied the same do-it-yourself recording ethic to starting his own label, High Fidelio Recordings.

“In this day and age, the idea of having a record deal is not appealing to me,” he said. “That’s why I started High Fidelio, to put my own material out on in the future. We’ll see what happens with that. It’s fun.”

With all the time and effort Lancaster and friends put into “Phantom Moon,” and the anxious wait to get it out and the uncertainty of what the future may hold for him, musically, Lancaster said that’s what it all adds up to for him: fun.

“Playing music, originally I did it for fun,” he said. “Now, it’s kind of come back to that.”


--- Lancaster pic: Laura Gregory

Lancaster on the web:
You can hear more from artist John Lancaster at www.johnlancaster.com, www.reverbnation.com/johnlancaster and www.myspace.com/johnlancastermusic. The album is available at www.johnlancaster.com and Route 60 Music in Barboursville.

CD Review: "Phantom Moon"

CD: Phantom Moon
ARTIST: John Lancaster

It would surprise nobody that the guy who used to front Chum would release a rockin’ solo debut of richly arranged, groove-based melodic hard rock songs. What may surprise you is how Huntington’s John Lancaster pulled it off, and who came along with him for the ride.

On the whole, the songs on his 14-song effort Phantom Moon sound like Scott Weiland singing for old Sevendust, with more layers in the sound. At least enough atmospheric (sometimes haunting) synth and neat little stereo tricks to make things interesting with the headphones on.

Phantom Moon features a star-studded lineup of Huntington-area (and beyond) guest musicians. With all due respect, to list them all here would take too much space; see Lancaster’s site for the details, but the list just clues you into who Lancaster is.

If you’re into checking out cool Tri-State area rock outfits (and have internet access) you may have already heard three of the standout tracks on the CD, “Liars,” “When Shadows Grow Teeth,” (w/King’s X’s dUg Pinnick singing; nice changeup) or the opening track, “This Fire Has Just Begun.”

But there’s more than just those you’ll want to check out.

“A Burning Farewell To Us All” is maybe our favorite track; haunting, ethereal synth, the Weiland-esque vocals over space rock, with super-neato synth blurbs panned left to right, passing through your head like a wormhole, with “smoke signals outside the void, a burning farewell to us all.” Really cool synth on this track. Lotta smoke and fire imagery on the lyrics.

Lyrically, like a lot of songwriters, Lancaster makes Phantom Moon almost nebulous, conceptually. You could take them, on the whole, a number of ways. Singing of lies speaking volumes, burnt offerings, smoke signals, the panic setting in, and 24-hour alarmism in general, it could be he’s being apocalyptic. Maybe not. Maybe he’s just looking to make up for what he feels is lost time in the rock game “the terrors of the empty page,” on “Liars,” “Time exploding in the sky/our names in faded lights,” on “Millions.”

Maybe this phantom moon is getting ready to float into the sun.

“Mercurial” has great, angelic harmonic parts and pummeling breaks, a cool song.

“The Impersonator” is probably the most hard rockin’, uptempo type track on the CD, with Lancaster, seeming to sound more like Weiland in parts, singing “The mirror lied to you…the truth has cursed you.”

“Strange Ghosts” has a kind of creepy, but catchy guitar progression (that sounds like that song “hey hey we are the monsters”) with funky bass; cool song with nice hooks and droning in parts, emotive in other vocals from Lancaster:

“One day I won’t come back at all, to all these strange ghosts of the world. The angels of desire, I’m not seeing visions anymore.”

“Millions” has cool (but largely undecipherable) vocals by Dave Angstrom, something about “Empire,” and it maybe ain’t so good for the empire. But the vocals are rockin’.

“Forever the Alarmist” reminds us of a Queensryche song from back in the day; maybe the bass line for some reason. Listen to it, maybe you’ll think the same way, maybe not. “Stare in the face of the sun…primed for a revelation,” Lancaster sings.



There’s 90-second instrumental tracks like “No Waking World” and “Your Cautionary Tale,” the latter sounding something like you’d hear off NIN’s The Fragile, thrown in just to keep us off our toes.

The title track closes the CD nicely, and quite rockingly.

Aside from the guest musicians and the coherent tone over the duration of the record, probably one of the more instantly noticed aspects of Lancaster’s sound is the low end. Bassist and longtime Lancaster friend and band mate Barry Smith (who recorded the main tracks) lays down fat, deep punchy bass lines throughout, driving the sound. At first, we played the CD in a kind of generic CD player/boom box, and thought the speakers were gonna blow; that someone had hit “xtra bass” or something on it. There was no such button. Then, we put it in a kind of high end flat screen TV, and the same quality; killer bass guitar on this CD.

Look, WVRockscene is not a radio station. Nobody is going to run out and buy Phantom Moon if we’re all like: “Go out and buy this CD!” But, these songs remind you of something you’d hear on any rock and roll station interested in rocking. We wouldn’t be surprised if you heard one of these tunes on X106.3 if you haven’t yet. And not just Loud & Local (which has recently played some Bud Carroll and Byzantine, each act represented on this CD) -- the regular play list. During the week.

And hey, in this digital day and age, you can just swing by one of Lancaster’s many sites and hear a few of the tunes; not bad.

But come what may, with this debut effort, Lancaster proves the fire is still burning, he‘s seen it through; it’s an effort all involved should be proud of. Phantom Moon puts Lancaster back on the map for sure, whatever he does next.

mp3: “A Burning Farewell to us All” by John Lancaster


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