John Congleton - the pAper chAse
Interview composed by Stu Hood - April 2002

I noticed you've been nominated for a few awards in the Dallas Observer. How has that been treating you?

I was nominated six times last year...and didn't win a single one. It was funny. No but seriously it's cool to be appreciated.

How has recording the new album, 'Hide the Kitchen Knives', been?

Well it's been done for a while now, just waiting for it to come out.

What can we look forward to with its release that you feel is a solid progression from past releases?

For sure. It sounds to me like we are getting older...but in a good way. The sounds on Hide the Kitchen Knives blow away the other albums at least in the terms of dynamics. I've become so much smarter about when to pull back and when to let the insanity fly. I concentrated so much harder on the vocals and the melody as opposed to just the malady.

You've worked with a lot of big acts as a freelance producer and recording engineer. Do you think a lot of this experience has played a big part in you're band's studio sound?

Only that it makes me more eager to break the rules and just have fun on my albums.

What kind of music have you and the guys in the band been into to lately?

We are pretty boring. Dalton and I like a lot of modern classical, and we all share a love for a lot of singer songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Roger Waters, Will Oldman. Recently all of us have been pretty dumbfounded with the Bright Eyes material. we also really like some bands from Dallas; Centromatic, Pleasant Grove (who just put out a great record), Mercova, and Lift to Experience.

A lot of reviews of the paper chase's music has it being coined something new and original in the world of rock music. How different do you personally find your style compared to other bands you've heard these days.

You know, I feel like I'm jinxing myself when I listen to that stuff in reviews but it makes me very happy that people feel that way. You see, I know where my influences lie and it's easy for me to hone in on them and locate the moment of suggestion that something has had on me. But apparently it's heavily cloaked and that's good.

Now Ctrl-alt-delete-U is apparently a soundtrack? How did this come about?

I just wanted to be apart of a movie! An old friend of mine is directing it.

How do people in your hometown take to your music compared to the towns you play for while touring?

About the same I would say.

Does the chAse have a solid following back home?

Yes, all of the midwest has been good to us.

Any heavy touring planned? Maybe to Canada? You guy can come play at my house.

Yeah the new album comes out July 8th in America and shortly before that in Europe. We will be touring in July in America and Europe in August/september. We would love to come to Canada. Could you help our booking agent find some shows? jeremy@flowerbooking.com