by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
“Music isn’t changing in the mainstream, so I ask myself, my other egos, if they want to be part of the revolution or the dying breed.”
I first met Chase Capo when I was putting together the 2000 Conmoto Trench Festival. He was part of this strange misfit ilk of punk rocker that they were raising out in Middleburg or Keystone Heights or Green Cove Springs. They were all wilted Mohawks and cutoff jeans and they called themselves Shed Punk because they practiced in some ramshackle shed in the woods of Clay County.
Chase was in a band called Truckasaurus (to date one of the better band names I’ve heard) and the other Shed Punks included Grab Bag and Choose Your Own Adventure. They coined anthemic slogans such as “You’ve got a cell phone; you suck.” Shed Punk was all about annoying your audience, thus they rarely had one. But Chase is older now and he is no longer interested in annoying his audience.
“I don’t mean to be underground, but that’s just how it goes. Laser Star is all about getting people up and getting them dancing. Music is the greatest frontier for getting people to be part of their community. Getting people to dance is as good as getting them to connect at the hip to someone else.”
Chase has been booked under the moniker Purple of Cassius ever since he first started booking shows with his five piece psychedelic pop band.
“Purple of Cassius is a colloidal alloy that a German Chemist made in the 40s. The original bassist came up with it. I hate coming up with a name.”
But the band drifted apart from its center and Chase just hasn’t made the effort to change the name to his solo moniker: Laser Star.
“8 Bit Hero is the working title for the new album. It will be influenced by mid-seventies prog and synthesizer stuff. It’s a departure from the serious stuff. This album is going to be fun.”
Chase sees his performances as a sort of schizoidal release, surrendering to the other people in his mind. He often takes on characters or dresses outrageously to underscore the performance itself.
“I bring a lot of equipment to satisfy those that pay to see me. I do the glam.” Chase points at the glitter peppered onto his face, “I like to give up as much personality as I can. I love performing because it’s the time that you can surrender to the other person in your brain.”
I interviewed Chase before Purple of Cassius performed at the Battle for Planetfest, but I asked him why he wanted to be a part of the “Battle Royale” of new metal.
“Battle for Planetfest is bullshit. It’s such a scam. It uses [Jacksonville’s] artistic resources to promote Clear Channel. ‘Let’s see how much money you can make for a company you don’t even work for.’ Robert Goodman is the saving grace of Planet Radio. No one breaks from Jacksonville because the radio isn’t part of the local music scene.”
I’m not certain how it panned out, but his plan was to follow up the standard fare of metal bands with his one-man synth pop show and play happy fun songs. In the middle of the set he hoped to inform people that they were all tools being manipulated by Clear Channel, then play a love song to close out his set. So Chase Capo still has some shed punk in him. He just went the Adam Ant route: converting from punk to new wave to pop.
“Ryan Taylor, from Truckasaurus, and I have known each other since kindergarten. Our drummer, Josh Blanton, lives up in Atlanta. He’s an amazing songwriter now. Choose Your Own Adventure was the band that made me realize I wanted to do live stuff. The guitarist, Jean Baker, taught me how to listen to music.”
Catch Chase Capo live on the Burrito Gallery stage at the Conmoto Trench Festival on October 7th. If you miss that early show, check TSI later the same day to see if he’s playing a secret show.
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