The Power of East Coast Surf

 

Name: The Chillers

Genre: Surf / Garage

Geographical Area: N.J., N.Y., PA

Interview with: Wally Van Treek by email on 3/20/07

1. What is the current line-up of your band?
 

Mike Brajer - Guitar & Vocals
Mike Hars - Drums & Vocals
Wally Van Treek - Bass & Vocals

Lately on occasion we have added:
Jen Meany - Guitar & Vocals
Wendy Williamson - Bass, Keyboards & Vocals


2. How and when did you get started with your band?

We started playing together regularly in 1988 as The Legend with a friend of ours, Jeff Lascko. Jeff quit the band the following year, then we changed the name to The Chillers in 1991. We were all friends since high school and before that my father and Mike Hars's father were friends growing up. After college in the mid 1980's, we found out that each other played various instruments; Mike Brajer & Mike Hars played in a band called The Plague and Jeff brought them over to his house to jam one day with a few other people and it was a complete disaster. To humor ourselves we decided to get together again and it was another disaster. Then the three of us got together working on originals and it clicked. Here it almost twenty years later and we're still together. Originally we're all from Morris County, N.J. Our first gig was at the Show Place in Dover, NJ, a club that I worked at and used to manage in the 70s & 80s that featured original music.  
 

3. What bands or music have influenced you most?
 

Growing up in the era that we did the British Invasion had a big influence on all of us early on. The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Cream were all huge influences. On this side of the Atlantic Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean along with The Ventures were some of the early influences. My stepfather, Dave Smith played sax in a band called The Crescents in the 60's that opened up my eyes to alot of cool instrumentals like Rumble and Tequila. I grew up across the street from a beach and some of the early instrumentals that I heard at an early age were Pipeline, Walk Don't Run among others.  They were all Summer party songs. Growing up the three of us spent alot of time during the summer at the Jersey Shore and heard alot of those same tunes.  

In the 70s, I managed the Show Place and that was when the New York Underground Scene broke. I noticed that there was a fine line between some of the earlier Surf Music and the early music being played by groups such as The Ramones, Blondie, The Dictators and The Heartbreakers. There was connection between those styles along with some of the garage bands. Mike Hars was actually a DJ that specialized in The British Invasion and the British Punk Scene of the 70s until he got fired for not playing songs that were on the playlist. We always had some type surf music thrown in to our sets.
       

In the late 1990s I moved to the Jersey Shore and we started write some surf and beach influenced and we called the project "Indigo Surf". We played Pipeline and Walk, Don't Run at a beach party and people went nuts and asked us to play them again. We felt that we kind of found our niche.    
       

On our website Mike Brajer lists some of his influences as Pete Townsend, Bob Bogle, Chuck Berry, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. Mike Hars lists some of his influences as Keith Moon, Buddy Rich, Dennis Diken, Ginger Baker and Rick Buckler.  I list Jack Bruce, John Entwhistle, Charles Mingus, Jan Berry and Arthur "Killer" Kane as some of my influences. Some of our most recent influences are Brian Setzer, Dick Dale, The Smithereens and The Velvet Underground.


4. What is the breakdown of cover vs. original material in your live shows and/or recordings?
 

We play about 80% originals when we play out live and we'll throw in some vintage surf and hot rod numbers. When we first started out we played all original venues and clubs and went over fairly well. Then we got the great idea to play at places that were used to hearing cover music and they weren't ready for us.  
 

5. What recording have you done?

Our first recording was done in 1991 and we called it "Sodium Vapor Fade Away" which was a ten song demo. The masters have been "lost" and it was never released. In 2003 we did a live EP called "Four On The Floor-Live!". In 2004 we did another EP called "Indigo Surf Sessions" which got us hooked up with Unsteady Freddie and NESMA. Last year we released two efforts that were compilations of demos, live cuts and out takes called "Raw Bar" and "Raw Bar Vol. 2".  We have over ninety originals and hope to go back into the studio soon.            

 

6. What kind of gear do you use?

Mike Brajer has two Fender Custom Shop Strats a '54 NOS re-issue and a '55 Relic re-issue through Bad Cat amplification.  Mike Hars plays a Ludwig Fab Four kit with Zildjian cymbals. I play a '64 Fender Custom Shop Jazz Bass re-issue and a '62 Fender American Vintage Jazz Bass re-issue through Mesa Boogie amplification. For smaller gigs Mike Brajer will use a Tony Bruno Underground 30 & I'll use an Ampeg B115. All three of went to the vintage re-issues to try to get an Authentic Rock & Roll sound.    

 

7. What is your band’s favorite food/beverage?

Mine is Amstel Light and Coca Cola.(Not mixed!!)  Braj like John Courage Beer or Becks.  Hars likes Foster. All three of us love Italian food.



8. How do you get gigs?

We go after some. We're going to play a place in June, Adams Beer Garden in Rockaway, NJ on June 8th. We haven't played there since 1995, that's back from where we came from, so we're looking forward to it. There are some outdoor festivals that we play every year. We just love playing Unsteady Freddie's gigs at Otto's in NYC. There is also an agent that gets us some gigs from time to time.    

 

9. What are the difficulties you find playing your kind of music in your area?
 

It seems like there is a hole in the Jersey Shore area for surf music. You would think that it would it would be a natural. It seems that some people's idea of Surf Music is reggae or recycled Bruce Springsteen. A couple of clubs will advertise "Surf Night" and what you will hear is that type of music that I just described. You would think that the surf culture around here would embrace their own style of music. Whenever we did play some surf music at some Jersey Shore venues I saw heads bopping, toes tapping and people dancing so there is a market for it. When we play in North Jersey or out in Southwest Jersey and say that we're from the Jersey Shore the people love it.    

10. What positive attributes does your band have that sets you apart from other bands (of any genre)?

We just get out there and rock.  Forget the words, forget the music, just play your hearts out. We're not a typical surf band, we play a hybrid of rock & roll, blues and surf which our drummer coined "New Jersey Surf."  We live more than 100 miles apart from each other now but when we get together we let it all out.  We have a good time up on stage and people tell us that it shows.    



11. What have you found to be the single most effective promotional tool you’ve used to further your band’s musical path?

These days it seems that everyone has access to a computer so it would have to be the internet.  

 

12. What’s the most interesting performance experience you’ve had?

Actually we've had a few because we've been around a long time.  In 1989 we played at The Garden State Music Festival and at the end of our set Mike Hars kicked over drums ala Keith Moon.  It was a vintage '65 Ludwig kit that was never the same after that and come to think of it neither was Hars.   One time we played an impromptu gig in North Jersey at Adam's Beer Garden and the people were banging the ashtrays on the bar in unison to the beat.(You were allowed to smoke in bars back then.)  Most recently, we played at the historic Berkeley-Carteret Hotel in Asbury Park with a bunch of laid back jam bands, it was a mismatch but we opened up some people's eyes. Last, but not least, Unsteady Freddie's gigs are always a blast.              

 

13. What do you hope to get out of being a NESMA member?

I think that NESMA has helped create a scene here on the East Coast that will hopefully spread. It's an honor to be a part of it with so many great bands and musicians. NESMA has helped create a bond between musicians instead of a rivalry. A perfect example of that was the last time we played at Otto's and Dan from The Clams loaned Jen from our band his amp instead of using the house amp. Unsteady Freddie set that up and said something like "Hey you're both NESMA bands."  That type of comraderie goes a long way.  I think that  Mike Hars even loaned his trap or high-hat set up to one of the drummers from another band the first time we played there.  What we have with NESMA is an organized group of people that are working together for a common cause and that's to get the music out there for the people.          

 

14. Anything else?

Music is supposed to make people happy and when are people the happiest?  During the summer and Surf Music reminds people of the summer.  I would like to thank Sandy and Mike from The 9th Wave and NESMA along with Unsteady Freddie for keeping the spirit alive.  I would also like to thank our families and friends for their support.   I would love to help set up a show or series of NESMA shows at the Jersey Shore.  Long live rock!