"I thought of the title while making a drive from Nashville to California," recalls O.C. Supertones singer Matt Morginsky, regarding the name of their third and much anticipated new album, Chase the Sun. "As I was driving through Arizona, the sun went down and created a beautiful sunset across the red-colored mountains before me. It made me think, if I get lost, I can just chase the sun back to California." Though thousands of kids were hoping for Return of the Supertones as the follow-up title to The Supertones Strike Back, the powerful spiritual metaphor of the sun leading someone home was too much for the band members to ignore.
Though together for eight years, the fundamental Supertone sound was first defined in 1995. Previously, the band was famous for playing songs from every musical genre, including but not limited to punk, disco, metal, funk, rap, hardcore, and rock balladry. However, the band soon embraced its dub and pop-punk influences to create a diverse yet cohesive high energy sound which made their 1996 debut, Adventures of the OC Supertones, an instant smash with over a hundred thousand records sold. Then, in 1997, the band followed up with The Supertones Strike Back, which debuted at #3 on the Billboard Heat Seekers, andwent on to sell over three hundred thousand records.
In anticipation of their third album, the Supertones spent nine months writing songs, recording demos, and re-recording them until they perfected fourteen remarkable songs for the new album. Then, to guarantee the absolute best representation of their music, The Supertones recorded at Sound City Studio(home of Nirvana's Nevermind) with Gggarth Richardson producing (Rage Against the Machine, L7, Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Darren Grone engineering (Metallica, Bryan Adams). Then, the band recruited Jim Rondinelli (Everclear, Matthew Sweet) for the mix. The result is Chase the Sun, an album that blows to bits the high expectations for one of the most successful bands ever in the CBA "alternative" market (as in alternative to Michael W. Smith).
Chase the Sun features fourteen brilliantly recorded songs whose diversity is held together by consistently huge pop hooks and the Supertones unmistakable musical stamp. Generally, the songs embrace a punk-influenced dub sound which, if comparisons are necessary, resembles a more punk rock Sublime with hip-hop flavored vocals. Still, many songs veer into new Supertone territory, such as the straight dub "Away from You," the hip-hop "Chase the Sun," the acoustic "Old Friend," and a variety of other songs which actually embrace Latin-influenced beats and Jimmy Buffet-style Island rhythms.
"We do the music that comes naturally to us and that means taking a lot of risks," explains Matt, whose hip-hop influence comes from growing up on Long Island when NY locals Run DMC and the Beastie Boys first broke out. "I'm proud of us for taking the risks instead of trying to duplicate something we did before."
Since the Supertones Strike Back was released in the summer of '97, the Supertones have experienced stellar success and explosive national recognition. Their music has been played at televised sporting events (including games by both the Chicago Bulls and Anaheim's Mighty Ducks), on MTV(including M2, 120 Minutes, and MTV proper), on the show Extreme Sports, and even at the 1998 MTV Video Awards. The band even played live on the MTV show Oddville.
But that's just the beginning. Even the press has embraced the Supertones, with two CCM covers, 7Ball cover, Release cover, and, in the general market, a Mean Street cover and twice on the front page of the calendar section of the LA Times - Orange County edition.
The Supertones have also had incredible general market exposure playing with bands like the Descendants, Buck-O-Nine, and Save Ferris. Even on their own, the Supertones sold out over five thousand tickets at the Bren Center in Irvine, CA exactly one week after the Mighty Mighty Bosstones sold less than two thousand at the same venue. Likewise, the Supertones headlined all the major CBA music festivals - Cornerstone, Creation, Agape, etc. - and played such major events as the packed out Harvest Crusades at the Ahola Bowl in Hawaii and Anaheim Stadium in California.
Still, with Chase the Sun, more is yet to come. On January 26th, the Supertones are set to "open" for the Pope and President Clinton at the Light of the World Papal Youth Ralley in St. Louis, MO, an event which only happens twice a decade. Fifty thousand people will be attending, and the event will be aired worldwide. Guitarist Brian Johnson remarks, "My mom didn't care about the MTV Video Awards, but this she wrote about in her Christmas cards!"
Despite all the recent success, the Supertones in no way weakened their pertinent spiritual message with Chase the Sun. Drummer Jason Carson remarks, "With everything, the band is all about the message. In a world where there is so much craziness and so many problems, there is very little in which a person can put his trust. God has done so much in our lives since we put our trust in him that we feel strongly about telling everyone about it. We use music and any other means we can to convey a message about how much God loves you and how much he's done for you."
After the album's release on February 23rd, the Supertones will hit the road and perform at all the major CBA festivals again this summer. A taste of past shows can be seen on the Supertones seventy minute video At the Movies (which features live footage, interviews, and all six music videos), but The Supertones live show is a must-see in person. Their energy is so high that it has actually caused band mishaps, as when Matt dislocated his shoulder by punching the air too hard and Jason fell off his ten foot drum riser by jumping around too much. Jason recalls, "And the whole band just fell over laughing, not even checking to see if I'm okay."
The Supertones are more than their label's top-selling artist or a piece of CBA history. The Supertones are a group of talented, progressive, spiritually-minded musicians whose torturous artistic drive has become their fans' marvelous good fortune. As with the Supertones Strikes Back, Chase the Sun is about to raise the Supertones yet another level higher in the musical stratosphere.
Discography
Go to the O.C Supertones' website
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