Working with the Pros, "Control the Chaos" Records at The Village!

There are a few times in a band's history that stand out as those major experiences that change everything. Most bands would agree that one of those moments is when you finally get into the recording studio to commit your tracks to a final piece of work to be proud of.

Although 'Control the Chaos' has been recording and releasing their own music since initial formation, they've always imagined setting foot in a major recording studio with engineering staff and a production team to oversee the project. That's why the guys were totally psyched when veteran producer/engineer, Dave Hampton presented the opportunity to record and mix their latest project at the legendary "Village" studios in Los Angeles, CA.

"We've recorded in the past. Mostly out of our Vegas place, on our own. Then we got the opportunity to work in the studio with Pat Kearney (from Henry Hanks and Lords of the North) up in Seattle. That was our first time working in a more structured production environment under someone else's direction. It was really cool to have Pat's insight and guidance, which readied the band for this opportunity at the Village," states Hector Gomez, drummer.

"You look at who's been at the Village, the projects that have come out of that studio and you get a little overwhelmed at first," added bassist CJ Hulet. "Every generation of hits is represented on those walls. Every legend, every genre. Just being in the hallways is inspirational."

As it states on the studio website:
In every decade since its founding, The Village has produced the favorite songs of that era, and as the look and sound of music changes, so does The Village. These days, you will find a diverse roster, with names like Lady Gaga, The Raconteurs, Weezer, B. B. King, The Pussycat Dolls and The Foo Fighters.


In addition to creating chart topping albums, The Village is well known for its impressive list of movie soundtracks. From The Bodyguard and Shawshank Redemption, to Wall-E and Walk The Line, we are equipped to handle any and all situations while also solving each and every need of our clients. Music is everywhere, but it sounds better in The Village.

Recording in the big room, "Studio D" - CTC will finally get to unleash their "Molten-Metal" style into an environment that has produced hit after hit, with aspirations of doing the same.

"This came together sooner than expected, so everyone's understandably excited. We're especially grateful to Dave Hampton and the folks at the Village including Jeff Greenberg and Tina Morris for helping us coordinate the session," said Ed Fassio, band Manager.

"This is new material, so it's gonna be intense...and a lot of fun," added Zach Fassio and Cody Davis.

Since 2008, Control the Chaos has been developing their unique blend of Heavy Metal into their own creation dubbed "Vegas Molten Metal". Acknowledged by the People's Choice for Best Teen Metal band in 2009 and Best Teen Band, All genres in 2010 by Vegas Rocks! Magazine, CTC embarked on their first self-managed, multi-state tour in June 2010 with performances across the west coast including opening for national headliners: Devil Driver, Kittie and Kataklysm during the six month excursion. Securing endorsements and sponsorships along the way, the band's homecoming show features a Charity event at Las Vegas metal shop, the Cheyenne Saloon with Century Media recording artists Warbringer on November 20, 2010.

The session at the Village will be the band's fourth recording project.

For additional information on "Control the Chaos" - visit them at:
www.myspace.com/controlthechaos7744
www.reverbnation.com/controlthechaos

For more info on "The Village" recording studios, visit:
www.villagestudios.com
(Studio images from The Village Studios official website)

For information on Dave Hampton, visit:
www.davehampton.com

Inked!

All bands know that the best time to get tattoos is when you're on tour! And even better if you can find a cool shop that is willing to sponsor the band's ink work. That's why we were so excited when our original designer, Don Melendez informed us that his close friends over at Triple Crown Tattoo (in Bremerton, WA) were excited to come to our show, work with us and agree to sponsor and endorse our tattoo work for the band.

Accomplished artist Gary Graves has been doing tattoo art for over 12 years. He joined Andrew Christian to help launch Triple Crown, an upscale boutique which caters to those who require prestige and professionalism when it comes to body art. Needless to say, the band was stoked.

With the exception of Bones, this was the band's first experience under the needle. Entertaining to say the least. The pain was a little expected but probably under anticipated, but Gary was incredible at his skill and speed. In one afternoon, he was able to get all the band members inked up with their initial outlines, including details.

CTC was absolutely delighted with the results. Future ideas included doing additional design collaboration and a grand opening event. Stay tuned!

A little R&R

So after a few thousand miles, a couple of shows and an adjustment from leaving Vegas it seemed like a perfect time for CTC to take a weekend off and enjoy the great outdoors. Since we were already in the Great Pacific Northwest, it only seemed suitable that we'd take our adventures to the Mt. Rainier National Forest - so we headed out to Bumping Lake to enjoy a little camping.

The drive up was beautiful as we took in all the incredible landscapes. Once up to the campground, we quickly set-up and acclimated ourselves to a world-without-toilets. That was an adventure in itself, but NOTHING compared to dealing with the man-eating insects. Though doused in bug-spray and non-stop burning of citronella candles, we learned quickly that in the thick of night the bed-bugs do indeed BITE! CJ probably got it the worst. The 1st day his forearm got attacked and swelled up like a golf ball had been implanted. The 2nd night he woke up looking like the pillow kicked his ass. His face was read and his eye was almost swollen shut. Must've been one hungry spider. 2nd was Zach. Event bathed in chemicals and 2 layers of clothing -he still managed to get about 17 bites on his back, shoulders and nether regions. The other guys escaped with minimal damage. Cody must not taste good because he was almost entirely unscathed. Evan and Sam seemed to luck out as well and Ed got the inconvenient delight of a bit on the pinky - the most treacherous injury of them all.

Late night coyotes kept us on alert. Saw a couple of interesting animal tracks about 100 feet from camp and a low supply of firewood made us appreciate the term "black as night".

By the end of the weekend, we had accomplished a great weekend of male-bonding, had a chance to appreciate the conveniences of modern plumbing and returned home: exhausted, stanky and itching. Showers here we come!!

Former Porn Theatre Makes for Cool Venue

Okay, so skin and rock have gone hand-in-hand forever. Porn and Metal music - nothing new there. That's why when we arrived in Bremerton, WA to play at our 2nd stop: a quaint, little ex-porn theatre turned music venue known locally as "The Charleston" aka "The Chuck", we weren't too surprised.

The place was Punk extreme. This place had character. Tons of culture and it was just as dark, gritty and sticky as one would assume. But absolutely friggin' cool! Everything was decorated in graffiti or band items. Freelance artwork, school-kid drawings. Vintage video games. The place was "ALIVE".

The sound guy was definitely on-point. He was pretty proud of his set-up too, walking us through all the components, how it was built and where the best acoustic advantage was in the venue.

Given it's history, it's ironic that The Charleston is an ALL-AGES venue. But for those thirsty transients in need of tunes and beverage, there is a fully stocked (and equally decorated) bar for the 21+ patrons.

We arrived to learn that the other 2 bands had to cancel for the night: We Watched Them Burn and Headless Charlie. The booking agent told us that one of the drummer's broke his fingers and that since the bands were traveling together, neither would be able to make it. No worries, we were there to play regardless and we had a few eager fans so we'd make the most of it.

Another rockin' set! The sound was awesome, the vibe was killer and the new fans were totally into it. Also present was our original designer Don Melendez aka Crimson Brand and he brought some new folks to the gig from Triple Crown Tattoo - a really slick and upscale, new ink-shop right in down-town B-town.

The owner of the shop (Andrew), his lead piercing artist (Alex) and lead tattoo artist (Gary) showed up to the gig and helped us rock out. Also talked a little collab business with the guys, so there's a story to be continued there.

Afterwards,headed to Grandma's (since she lives in B-town) and grabbed some awesome grub (again!). A light night run to the Bainbridge ferry got us home by 2am'ish.

All-in-all, fun night and good times.

Emerald City Rocks!

Getting to the venue last night was no easy task. Traffic, which is notoriously bad - was no exception for us. We hit it full-on at the peak of rush-hour on our way to the El Corazon and once we got there, the street traffic was just as intense. Didn't help that Zach had to piss like a racehorse.

As we pulled around the corner, TOTAL SCORE - parking RIGHT in front of the door. Just big enough for our van and trailer to fit outside of the tow-away zone. Coolness.

The venue was dark. Tucked away and peppered with banners, stickers and the dank smell of wet and rock-n-roll. Okay, in reality it was pretty clean except the bathrooms carried there own unique blend of funk. The joint was dope. Reminds you of a smaller Whisky-a-Go-Go and you can tell that some GREAT acts had ripped in this place. The bulletin board was covered with upcoming shows. Some known, others to be known. Dan the sound guy was amazingly good at his job. Take the awesome sound of Las Vegas' Cheyenne Saloon and turn it up about 10 notches. The place rumbled off the richter scale. it was insane and unbelievably awesome!! ALWAYS tip your sound guy people!

The other bands were in full focus too. Tygerr's Lair was first to greet us, then Pangea. Cool guys. Ravages of Time came to set-up last, all the way from Concrete, WA. dude, those guys freakin' rocked it.

Here's the deal: Seattle bands definitely play with massive HEART. U could feel how
much this venue and this stage/audience meant to them. They connected with everyone and REALLY brought a show. CTC was no exception! All in all, we're proud to say the largest crowd was for us and that made us feel very welcome back in our old city.

People definitely took advantage of the bar. Someone even had a massive puke attack right on our trailer hitch. Wow, thanks to whoever did that INTENTIONALLY. That was really the only uncool part of the night.

Later, our cousin Tony hosted an after-party in Bellevue to celebrate the show. A ton of old friends were there, including our old homies Edgar and Rodrigo from Everett and it was awesome to see everyone. Even some old friends from way back in Middle school came out (Julie, Mikey, Brenna and Amanda - it was totally awesome that u guys made it!)

Tonight - round 2. A little tired, but still stoked: we head to Bremerton, WA in 2 hours!! Keep bangin out there.. we definitely WILL!!

Before the Show

Just a few hours before check-in time at the El Corazon (Seattle). Kinda muggy today with some high clouds. Luckily no rain! Everyone's fired up. This show is gonna kick ass.

Before heading out, did some last minute prep, checked the vocals, loaded the equipment and made a quick round of calls to friends and fans.

Got a call from our original designer, Don Melendez to wish us support and to let us know he'll be at our show in Bremerton tomorrow. It'll be cool to sync back up with him - the originator of the CTC logo! Haha!

Gas - check, directions - check, ready to ROCK - CHECK!!

Control the Chaos - Tour Update (Seattle)

After last night's s'mores bonfire and a little relaxation, we called it a night to get ready for a big working weekend.

Today is our manager's (Ed) birthday. Another beautiful sunny day in the Pacific NW and even though there is a relaxed setting and the aroma of home-made spaghetti sauce in the air (thanks Ed!) there is always work to do.

Checked the routine MySpace, Facebook and Reverbnation sites. Tons of well-wishers and supporters for the band - which is always very cool. Enjoyed hearing from everyone. A blast of text messages came in this week too, with folks all over the country checking in and providing words of encouragement.

Took our Aunt Heather (also our awesome band photographer) to the airport early this morning because she had to return to Paris. Sad to see her go, but she has her own exciting adventures to address... LOVE YOU Heather! See you again soon and thanks so much for the awesome photoshoot.

This afternoon, the band continued to rehearse for the upcoming shows, write more songs and refine lyrics. A little free-jam and a bit of fun expected tonight to celebrate. Pretty psyched about being here in Seattle and even more excited about the upcoming shows this week. The local bands supporting the show have been extremely cool (thanks Pangea and Tygerr's Lair) and the promoters have been awesome so far (thanks Dana, Adam, Andy!)

Anything weird about Seattle so far? Yeah... where did ALL the people go?? The traffic on the highways and on the ferry were unusually light!! Either everyone's on vacation or everyone's unemployed!! Weird.

More later...