Just Checking In

Well hey there folks. It's a new year. In fact it has been a new year for 3 months or so now. What have I been up to, you ask? Well I suppose I have no choice but to tell you.

Recording!

EP #2 is pretty far along in the mixing process, which is one of the final phases of production (for you novices out there). As I mentioned in my last post, I'm really happy with how it's turned out and I can't wait to share it with you. 

In addition to that, I put my lab coat and goggles back on and started writing and demoing songs like a son of a gun. I've been on what we in the business call a "somewhat of a roll". I ain't talking about no sourdough or Dutch crunch roll either. I'm talking about a legitimate musical roll in the metaphoric sense, referring to the fact that I've been continuously making new songs without stopping, much like a wheel or a ball continues to roll down a slanted driveway (provided there is nothing in the way of said wheel/ball, preventing it from moving.)  

In other recording-related news, I'll be releasing a deluxe edition of the Guest At Home EP online, which will feature a couple of bonus treats. You heard it here first folks... More on that soon. 

Shows!

Shows have been slim as of late, due to the cave dwelling nature of recording. Rest assured though, this ol' bear won't be hibernating for too much longer. I'm looking forward to getting out there, wrapping the ol' paws around a guitar and sticking the ol' snout into a microphone soon. 

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That's about it for now. I just wanted to check in, since it's been a while and I miss checking in. I feel good about this. This went well. I feel like we bonded a little bit. Let's do it again soon. 

Until then, hope your lives are going well. 

Best,

-Henry

2016 In Review

Well well well... What a year it's been... Dead rockstars, a reality star President and Cats is back on Broadway... In a larger sense it's been a somewhat turbulent year for the country and world, but what else is new? In times like these I think it's more important than ever to take a look at what day to day life actually looks like, regardless of what's going on around it. 

In review, I have had one of the more exciting years of my life thus far, and one that is filled with good memories.

-I released my first solo EP and 3 music videos, which have gotten "tips of the hats" from the likes of Rolling Stone, Time, Paste, Huffington Post, Indie Shuffle and more. I recently crossed over 100K plays on Spotify, which may not sound like much to some, but is crazy to me. 

-I jumped in a van with 4 of my best friends, The Coffis Brothers, and drove through Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Utah, Kansas, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado. 

-I recorded an album to tape with the Coffis Brothers in LA at the wonderful Barefoot Recording, where, among other things, we ate what has to be the spiciest hot sauce known to man. I also got to play timpani there, fulfilling a life long dream.

-I played shows with my band of highly trained professionals, Henry Chadwick and Battlesnake in Santa Cruz, San Francisco, LA and New York.

-I got to spend a week at Refuge Recording in Brooklyn, NY, finishing the recording of my 2nd EP. We also hired a professional Cellist to play on 2 songs, fulfilling another life long dream of mine.

-I've gotten to record some really talented local artists who continue to inspire and challenge me creatively at The Compound Recording and Hale Kua Studio... (That sentence was disgustingly cheesy, but true all the same)

-I also moved into an awesome house with my girlfriend, and have watched some quality shows online, such as Stranger Things, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Black Mirror, Horris and Pete, and oh so many more. I have a record player, an espresso machine, a refrigerator and many other household appliances. I made some killer tuna fish sandwiches. 

All things considered it has been one of the best years of my life, in spite of the craziness. I look forward to seeing what 2017 has to offer.

Cheers everyone, Happy New Year!

-HC

Summer 2016 - Thank You

The past few months have been very "cool"... not "cool" in the temperature way, but in the slang way that means something like "neat"... not "neat" in the tidy way, but in the slang way that means something like "good" or "Favorable". 

"Guest At Home" EP

I released my first EP, "Guest At Home", and the response has been a little overwhelming. Thank you to all who have been listening to it. I put out the music in hopes that it might reach people's ears and tickle their fancies, and it seems to have been doing just that. 

The first single I put out, "Alright", recently surpassed 50k plays on Spotify and is approaching 30k streams on Soundcloud. May not be huge news for some, but that's quite a few plays for the likes of me. I got some very cool tip-of-the-hats from the likes of Rolling Stone, Time Magazine, Indie Shuffle, Huffington Post, Paste Magazine and many more kind and benevolent blogs, magazines radio stations and more, including some local love in the form of a cover story from the Santa Cruz Good Times.

I've had a helluva time making a few music videos, two of which were shot by Element Productions in Santa Cruz, and the other of which was shot by my very own brother, George Chadwick. 

The videos, and the EP are available for visual and auditory consumption at their respective online homes (Youtube, iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Soundcloud, Google Play etc.). Feel free to check it all out if you haven't! 

Showtime

I'm very excited to announce that the band of hooligans who who call themselves Battlesnake and I will be gracing the "stage" at the one and only Crepe Place in Santa Cruz. We will be joined by the one and only Jackie Zealous on the one and only Friday, September 9th, 2016.

We also have more shows in the works and I'll make another announcement on tour dates very soon. For now, I just wanted to say to all who have been so kind, supportive and nice; thanks for the kind words, support and niceness and for listening and sharing the music! 

The World Of Coffis

Speaking of shows, I just got done with a jam packed 3 week tour with the one and only Coffis Brothers, the band in which I drum. We went all the way out to Wisconsin, with stops in Bend, OR, Ashland, OR, Santa Rosa, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, Lawrence, KS, Kansas City, MO, Chicago, IL, Door County, WI, and Denver, CO. 

It was a helluva time. It was also hot. Very hot. It was also ridiculously humid. That was a difficult combo.. But we survived and came away with plenty of good memories for the old memory bank. 

In Other News

I've been working in the studio on a couple of cool projects, including an epic punk-rock-double-concept album by local musician, Chris Levy and a gorgeously lush, yet down-and-dirty rock/folk/alt-country EP with McCoy Tyler, which features the entire Coffis Brothers gang backing him up. We've all had a great time working on this one and can't wait to show it the light of day. 

That's all for now folks. More to come soon!

-Henry

Fruits Of Labor part 2

Where to begin? Things have been happening. All kinds of things. Things you wouldn't believe, and some things you would believe. Believe it or not, all of them are true. Truly.

Guest At Home EP

I suppose I should start with the update on my new EP. I released my first single last month, "Alright", and people are actually listening to it. Not to "toot my own horn" as they say in the business, but as I'm writing this it has over 20k streams on Soundcloud and almost 30k Spotify plays. That is, as they say in the business, pretty cool. I'm choosing to assume that means people are enjoying it. If you have listened to it and/or are listening to it now and/or are about to listen to it I thank you sincerely. 

I put a music video out for "Alright" as well, which I'm proud of and i believe to be a humorous and compelling piece of musical cinema. Thanks to the kind and talented folks at Element Productions here in Santa Cruz for their excellent work. This ain't the first time we've worked together. The kind and talented folks at Element Productions used to be the kind and talented folks at 3 Cameras Later productions and we worked on 2 videos for my old band My Stupid Brother, "She's A Freak" and "Robot Song", both of which are youtubeable. My how the time flies, how the people grow, how the flowers bloom, how the leaves fall and then we're right back at it if you know what I mean...I'm not sure i do.

My 2nd single and title track, "Guest At Home" premiered at the Huffington Post and again at Paste Magazine along with an interview. I have grown both fond and proud of this track and I'm happy it's out there in the world ready for the likes of your ears to listen to and hopefully enjoy.

I, along with the scraggly bunch of rock n' roll stallions who are known as Battlesnake, recently strapped on our respective instruments, plugged in to our respective amps, smacked our respective drum set and crooned into our respective microphones at an exclusive, local EP release show at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz on Sunday, May 8th. The people that showed up got a copy of the EP before it will be available elsewhere a little later on. Thanks to all who came and made the night what we call in the business, a very good time.

In other news...

I spent some time with the Coffis Brothers, the band in which I drum, in an amazing studio in LA called Barefoot Recording. We were joined by our long time producer extraordinaire Andy Zenczak, and engineer wizard Cian Riordan. We spent a week tracking 17 songs (we'll see if all of them wind up on the album,) mostly live and to tape. It was a truly unforgettable trip and experience. The recordings are sounding, as they say in the business, very good. 

More to come on all fronts. 

Until then, stay classy... and thanks for stopping by... But mainly stay classy.

-Henry

Fruits Of Labor part 1

As I have been gearing up for a Spring release of my new EP, Guest At Home, starting something new with The Coffis Brothers, and being involved in various stages of production on other people's projects, I've started feeling a little bit like Old MacDonald....

If you'll allow me this in depth analogy to explain...

You see, being involved in the creation of music or art is a lot like being a farmer —  I should clarify that I have no idea what it's like to be a farmer as I've never farmed before... I Imagine it's pretty physically taxing and you have to wake up very early everyday, which is not always the case as a musician/artist — Regardless, for the sake of my analogy, let's pretend I  know what I'm talking about.

Planting the seed:

Much like a farmer plants a seed, the artist must have a vision or idea. Whether it's an idea for a song, a plan for a tour, or the fledgeling stages of clay a sculpture — I also have no clue what the process of sculpting is like, I just thought I should throw in some other type of art form, — the artist must plant a seed within his or her brain.

Watering the Garden:

The artist then, much as the farmer water's their garden, must water their brain. Here's where it get's tricky though — the artist doesn't need to use actual water to water their brain.. actually that's not entirely true.. It's important to stay hydrated.. but there is more!

The songwriting "farmer"  must water their song with thought, musicians, arrangements, studio time, CD production and/or online distribution, and last but certainly not least, practice for live shows. 

If it's a seed that one wishes to grow into a beautiful show or tour, the show planning "farmer" must water his or her crops by sending out numerous emails regularly and planning/clearing their schedule accordingly.

 A sculpting "farmer" must water their creation by adding more clay I assume.

Fruits of Labor:

This is what it's all about folks. The fruits of the labor. It's a labor of love and we love them fruits. Just as a farmer enjoys the fruits of his/her labor, the artist enjoys their art. In an ideal situation, just as the farmer sells their food, the artist makes something the rest of the world can enjoy.

The music farmer has created a wonderful recording that exists in a place that's accessible to the public. And the show seeds they planted in January have sprouted into beautiful season full of festival shows that bloom all summer and beyond. 

The sculpting farmer now has a sculpture of some kind.

So you see? We're all farmers really... pushing our ploughs along through this crazy field we call life...

And with that, I'll say goodbye until next time.

-Henry

The Story of HC + Battlesnake (abridged)

HC & Battlesnake

After a long, lonely journey in the studio crafting my upcoming EP, I finally found myself ready to assemble a group of musicians to bring the music to life in a live setting. I was in the market for some Class A session cats.. cats with claws sharp enough to shred through the gnarliest licks and with enough balance to land on all fours if things started to fall apart.. But where would I find such beasts?

As luck would have it, a few old stray cats wandered in through the old studio door one night when I set some food out and they've been hanging around ever since. I've tried calling them each a few different names but they only seem to respond to one; 'Battlesnake'. In unison, their heads turn.. It's as if they've been called that name before...perhaps in another life.

They looked rough.. weary.. road-worn.. I was hesitant at first of the shaggy beasts, but I decided to take a chance. I did, after all, need a band and there was just something about this unlikely crew that 'struck a chord' with me. Once they got cleaned up and they sharpened up the old claws, one thing was perfectly clear.. These cats could play... And play they did... And play they do... And play they shall... At our first show on Saturday, January 16th at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz.

Eventually they told me their individual names..

Battlesnake is:

• Kyle Poppen - guitar
• Aidan Collins - bass
• Jesse Wilkinson - drums

The cats can play. The cats are a snake.

Henry Chadwick and Battlesnake

•  Saturday, January 16
• The Crepe Place, Santa Cruz CA
• All Ages
• $10
• Tickets: http://thecrepeplace.com/events/104434/

Crowd Surfing, Caves, Fires and the Coffee Bros

Been a busy couple months, apologies for the lack of updates.  

OK, let's get down to the brass tax..

Coffis Brothers and the Mountain Men

Since my last update I've been busy playing some drums with the Coffis Brothers. We got to do a couple of dates with Hot Buttered Rum as well as a couple of dates with The Dirty Knobs, featuring Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Let me tell you a little something; that guy is a grade A, cage-free, free-range badass-and-a-half, as are the rest of the Knobs. Their guitar/everything tech, Chinner, has actually achieved double-badass status — Very prestigious in the world of rock and roll.

We also recently played an extremely fun headlining show at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz with our good friends The McCoy Tyler band. The show was up there for craziest Co Bro show to date, complete with crowd surfing, a mosh pit and stage trespassers... It was a new level of awesome and strange. Nicely done Santa Cruz, thanks for a good time.

We wrapped up our summer festival season with a "bang" at the Petaluma Music Festival. That's one of the weaker puns I could use to hint at the fact that one of our monitors actually burst into flames during our set. Never have I seen something quite as awesome. I feel a sense of completion. 

Words I'd use to describe the festivals this Summer:

• Hot
• Sweaty
• Awesome
• Smelly
• Dry
• Great
• Fun
• inspiring
• Music-filled
• Hot
• Tiring
• Fun
• Hella
• Hecka
• Dope
• Rad
• Hot

Me Time

I've been in my studio/cave finishing recording and mixing my new 5 song EP and am sending the last of the files in to get mastered as we speak. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. I guess the best way to describe it is 10 pounds of fun in a 5 song EP. 

That's all I'll say for now about that.

More Cave Time

I've been doing more recording of music. My old friend Jesse Wilkinson has been in the studio tracking an EP for his new country project, Talk Slow. The EP's called "American Unknown" and I'm super stoked on the playing, tones and production so far. Nice job dude. 

Also in there once again is Mr. Austin Corona, who's working on a new Garage Rock Epic EP before he heads off to Berkley School of Music in Boston. Sounding cool so far. Congrats and Nice Job dude. 

If that ain't enough, Local Reggae dudes and old friends, The Leftovers have also entered the building to track a sweet 2 song EP.

Who will reach the finish line first? Only time will tell. 

The Coffee Brothers...

I'll leave you with this..

Kellen Coffis does not drink coffee. My coffee intake is currently at an all time high. We were bored in the van and arguing about coffee. Kellen judges a few of our coffee drinking habits. He's also been known to wake up early after a late night on the town and run a 5K, which is not normal human behavior. Some of us need a little help in the morning.. and a little more throughout  the day.

Anyways, as an attempt to keep the peace/meet somewhere in the middle, Kellen and I will each be spending a day in each-others shoes so to speak. We're going to the Northwest this week and on Thursday Kellen will be drinking coffee every time I do with absolutely no complaints. We'll be in Seattle, which is a big time coffee place so we'll have fun searching for the best cup of Joe. 

Friday, on the other hand will be a miserable day where I won't drink a single cup of coffee unless Kellen does — he won't.

Will I make it through the Portland show Friday or will I fall asleep? Tune in next blog and see. 

Until then, wish me and Kellen luck — mostly me.

 -Henry

Robots, Crepes and 3-day B-days; We Did It Ourselves In April, 2015

Hello again,

April has been quite a month. A lot has happened. I had yet another birthday. I am now 24. I have this thing where every year around my birthday I feel older. It's bizarre. I can't say I love the feeling. I've felt like an old man since I was about 14 years old though, so I'm used to it. I've learned to take that feeling with a grain of salt — Although, not too much salt – got to start watching that sodium intake am I right? 

I'm kidding-ish. The trouble is each birthday I actually am getting older, so you see where my concern lies...

That said, I did my birthday right this year with the birth of a new tradition; the 3-day B-day. It is exactly what it sounds like. Not 1, not 2, but 3 days of fun. This is something I plan on repeating every year and I encourage you to try it for yourselves. You'll be amazed at the results. 

Speaking of Me...

I kicked off the month with my first solo acoustic show at First Friday Photography showing of Conner Quinto's work. It was fun.

It was also quite a joy to simply marvel at the truly stunning photographs taken by Mr. Quinto, who incidentally is the man responsible for the cinematography and lots of editing on the "Robot Song" and "She's a Freak" music videos for my band, My Stupid Brother.. The cat can shoot... and edit. 

Speaking of My Stupid Brother and Robots...

I guess the big news for me this month is that the video for MSB's "Robot Song" is finally done. The response has been great so far, so thank you for watching/liking/commenting/sharing.

 I'm really proud of the video and feel lucky to have been a part of it. So much work went into this over the last year and I couldn't be more grateful to the whole crew, especially our director Nathan Kit Kennedy as well as technical director Garret Landon and the aforementioned Conner Quinto.

Thanks also to everyone who "kicked in" on the Kickstarter. It couldn't have happened without you. Your rewards are on their way.

Here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPT6d855hSk

We celebrated the release with an extraordinarily fun show at the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz which featured some special appearances, not the least of which was our old drummer, the ol' badass himself, Jesse Wilkinson, who sat in for 4 songs. It was the first time we've played together on stage in 5 years and it felt just like old times.

Thanks to all of you who came out and sang and clapped along. Also, thanks to SUBPAR, who opened up the evening.

Speaking of Jesse Wilkinson and SUBPAR...

I love recording music. In addition to my EP — which has been moving along nicely BTW, or "by the way" if your not hip to my abbreviation — I've been finding myself recording other people's projects. Most recently, I recorded aforementioned SUBPAR's self-titled, full length debut which was a blast. They set up and tracked all but vocals and some solos live. We tracked everything in a day. They played well and the album pleases me. 

I've also been working on aforementioned Jesse Wilkinson's new project, Talk Slow. It's is sounding really cool. Ajay Morrison, current MSB drummer has also been doing his new project, Barren Counters' EP with me. Those cats can both play drums, bass and guitar. Not too shabby.

My Stupid Brother has had nearly  as many drummers as Spinal Tap, and I feel happy to say that I've gotten to record 3 out of 4 of the MSB drummers' other projects over the last year or so. All them cats gots claws. Lookout. 

Speaking of Drumming...

Been another fun month of shows for the Coffis Brother's (the band I drum in.) So many highlights lowlights, black lights, and spotlights, I couldn't begin to go into all the details. 

One particular highlight comes to mind though. We were part of a really cool local festival by the name of D.I.O. Fest, or Do It Ourselves Festival if your not into abbreviations. It was a weekend long camping type festival with a big sense of community. A lot of our band friends were there too, so we had people to hang out with which was greatly pleasing.

Thanks to Ryan Avellone of Brothers Comatose and McCoy Tyler of The Mccoy Tyler Band for sitting in with us. Let me tell you something.. those guys aint no house cats.. we're talking about a couple of guitar lions.

What can I say, we did it ourselves and boy did it feel good. 

In Conclusion...

If you're reading this while on the toilet I support you and hope you enjoyed your time there as well a this blog.

Talk soon,

-Henry

Hello.

What is this place Henry?

I'll be keeping you updated — and by you I mean potentially nobody — on the status of me in regards to music. Why? Sometimes when I think about myself I think: "Wow my life is so Goddamn interesting, people would really just love to know about all my musical thoughts and happenings in a detailed blog post. Who am I to deny them that?" 

That thought usually is quickly countered by the realization that most people may not have time or interest to read these things. That's most likely why I haven't done a lot of blogging thus far. But all that's changing blogoshphere. HC is coming at you hot and strong like a fresh pot of coffee.

For reals, I make and listen to music because the world is confusing and music makes sense. It's also the most honest way I know how to communicate. Basically, I make music because I need to and I share it because people share things that are important to them.

OK, we have a lot of catching up to do.

Here's what I've been up to:

Working on a new EP...

I've been writing new music and recording my first very HC EP which has been a blast. This is the first batch of music I will have released under my own name and not for my band, My Stupid Brother. I've been doing it all by myself mostly which has been both liberating and frustrating and just a little lonely. Nothing quite like pressing record and running back and forth from the drums to the control room every time I make a mistake.

Not too lonely though, as I've enlisted the help of superbassman and fellow Coffis Brothers bandmate, Aidan Collins on the bass to help make these recordings sing like the wild peacocks they are. He's good. The cat can play. 

I'm also gathering more quality musicians to play these songs live. More info to come on the live situation and line-up but I'm excited about what's in the works. The cats can play.

Speaking of The Coffis Brothers...

As you may or may not know, I play the drums — or the "skins" if you are hip to my lingo — in a band by the name of The Coffis Brothers and The Mountain Men. The cats can play. 2014 was a year filled with much fun and 2015 has been shaping up to be another good one.

We've seen our share of ups and downs so far this year.

Ups: Playing to a sold out crowd at The Fillmore in San Francisco opening for Poor Man's Whiskey, as well as headlining a show at Slim's in SF. These were both great milestones for us at venues where I've seen some of my heroes and dreamed of the day I'd get a chance to play. 

Down (just 1 comes to mind): We most likely have to say goodbye to our tour van, Gretschen The White Falcon who caught on fire slightly and has probably flown her last flight. This is a sad day for all of us. But the show must go on. Gretschen will be missed.

My Stupid Robot Song Music Video...

My Stupid Brother, the band I sing/write/pay/produce for, released an album last summer, Welcome To My Head — which I am really proud of — and has been long at work on a music video for "Robot Song". it is finally nearing completion and will be released in April. It is looking awesome and it pleases me. 

In Conclusion...

You can take the man out of the songwriter but you can't take the songwriter out of the man. That doesn't make sense... what does these days... in this economy... 

Have you noticed that older people tend to overuse "..." in text messages etc.?... I have noticed that... maybe it's not just old people... or maybe this means I'm getting older... because... I'm doing that right now........

Ok goodbye for now talk to you soon.

-Henry