Today we’d like to introduce you to Chancla Fight Club.
Chancla Fight Club, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Ashley Dawson was a closet Austinite musician for years until happening upon Niko Zorich, who had been studying audio production at The Recording Conservatory of Austin. After being introduced via mutual friends, they began exchanging songs they had written themselves, which eventually lead to them taking original songs Ashley had written on an acoustic guitar and re-arranging them into the grungy rock fashion they’re in now.
Come 2017 Ashley had pulled together a solid line-up of musicians to play the songs and began playing various shows around Austin. They eventually parted ways to pursue other projects, with Ashley and Niko continuing to work on music in the studio.
In 2018 Ashley moved down to Houston to focus on the music, which gradually led to the formation of a new line-up, consisting of Zorich on guitar, TJ Mizell from Houston’s Islands of Pear, and Matthew Willhelm on bass.
They’re now in the final stages of production on their first full-length release and are currently playing shows all over Texas to get their name back out there.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do, why, and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
We make grungy and poppy indie rock. We like to infuse classic dark, and gritty rock sounds with poppy vocal melodies and stimulating mathrock-esque guitar licks. The songs come from Dawson’s heart and are brought to life in a new light thanks to Zorich, Mizell, and Willhelm, who truly capture the broody aspects of the music. Together they truly pack a wild punch and are worth the trip to see live.
“The whole reason I started playing shows in the first place was to hopefully touch someone the way music touched me. Growing up, music was my only ally, and I want anyone in a similar position to know they’re not alone in what they’re feeling.” – Ashley Dawson, vocalist
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
Besides common complaints like low revenue from streaming, how expensive touring is, trying to maintain a constant level of creativity and productivity, one thing we’ve noticed is how difficult it is to be a female working in the music industry.
“The amount of times I’ve been told to sexualize myself to reach a bigger audience is outrageous.” Dawson explains, “I want the music to be about the music not about my appearance. Luckily in recent years, female artists have been popping up more, but I have experienced not being taken seriously as a female musician, not being treated equally, and crude comments from audience members. I love having the opportunity to be an inspiration to other women, and I do believe as time goes on, and more women step into the industry, there will be a swift change in the way women are treated. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not always this way, and I have met several fellow musicians that respect me and other female artists, but when we aren’t treated equally, it can be discouraging.”
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can check us out online! We’re on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp, and we love to interact with our fans. Our current single “Piece of Glass” is out on Spotify, Apple Music, and most other major stores, with the new EP coming relatively soon!
Come to our shows, share our music with your friends, buy our merch, be our friends. We love what we do, and we want to share that with everyone!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://chanclafightclub.bandcamp.com/releases
- Phone: 9792158061
- Email: ashley@nitpickproductions.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanclafightclub/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chanclafightclub/
Image Credit:
Jonathan Rash, Jacob McCready, Nitpick Productions
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