ACRN.COM

[Photo courtesy of Kelley Lach]

By Dylan Thatcher, Contributor

At this point, The Laughing Chimes are not only a centerpiece of the Athens music scene, but also rising stars in the jangle pop and post-punk genres. The Chimes have come a long way since their two-piece days. In the past year, the band has released several singles and even added a new member. With the addition of Ella Franks playing synth and guitar, they now boast a four-piece arrangement. The Laughing Chimes came into Lobsterfest 2024 red-hot following their performance opening for Guided By Voices. In anticipation for Lobsterfest, ACRN had the chance to talk with band members Evan Seurkamp, Ella Franks, and Avery Bookman.

[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]

Dylan: First off, congratulations on opening for Guided by Voices! With that in mind, is anybody coming into Lobsterfest hotter than The Laughing Chimes?

[Laughter]

Evan: Oh, well I try to stay humble about it. That was really great, I mean it was such a—I don’t want to say once in a lifetime experience because obviously I’d like to play with them again. Anyways, I’m just super excited for Lobsterfest because there’s gonna be a lot of other great bands playing. I’m especially excited to see Merce Lemon, Big Fat Head, and They Are Gutting A Body of Water. 

Dylan: Concerning The Laughing Chimes, what’s the vibe going into this weekend?

Evan: We feel pretty good. We did a lot of work preparing for the Guided By Voices set and we will be playing a very similar set for Lobsterfest, so we feel pretty confident already. Today we were like, ‘let’s just have a fun practice instead of a hard work, grinding practice.’

Dylan: What is it about this specific set that makes you all so comfortable playing it?

Evan: I think it’s because it’s a mixture of a lot of stuff that we’ve played for awhile. At least for me, Quinn (drummer), and Avery. Ella joined the band more recently so she hasn’t had as much time to play them, but they’re not hard songs and she’s picked up on them quickly because she’s super talented. So for a lot of the songs, we’ve just been playing them forever so we’re confident with them. On the other side of that, our newer songs were kind of written around being able to play them live. In the past, a lot of those songs were written before Quinn and I had a full band and played a lot of live shows, so there was a little bit of work to do in figuring out how to do them live. We went into the newer songs thinking about how we would play them in front of an audience, so they’ve been easier to figure out.

Dylan: How many different iterations of the band has there been?

Evan: So we started in 2020 and it was just me and Quinn then. It was really just a recording project then. In 2022, Quinn and I started to play live shows, we played one live show at The Union. After the show we said, ‘That was a lot of fun, but we really need a bassist!’  

[Laughter] 

So I told my cousin Avery that he was gonna play bass for us. He had never played before so I just showed him the bassics of it.

[Laughter]

Sorry. Avery picked up on it very quickly though. Since then, we’ve had other guitar players in the band, but it ultimately just didn’t work out. In the fall of 2023, I asked Ella to play with us.

Dylan: With the addition of Ella, what is new about your music?

Evan: It’s very nice because Ella can play keys and guitar, so there’s a lot more variety in what we can do. Also with Ella joining, we were able to perform songs that we had written with keys in mind.

Ella: It’s funny because I didn’t really play keys before he asked me to play. A lot of the synth stuff isn’t super complex and I did piano as a kid for a little bit, so it was easy to pick up on. I’ve definitely enjoyed it a lot! I was a fan of The Chimes last year and I was like, ‘No way they want me to be in the band.’ It’s just crazy the difference from last year, I was just a Union-goer and now, this year, I’m actually involved in the scene, so it’s cool.

Dylan: When you first joined the band, what were you trying to add to their sound?

Ella: I guess I want to say we have a fuller sound with all of us and I think we all sound really good together. I also feel like the synth contributes a lot because recently, the band has gone a bit in the gothic new wave direction. It gives that 80s feel as well. 

Dylan: how does everyone feel about where the band is currently?

Evan: I think we feel pretty good about it! I know in the past, it’s been obvious when things aren’t going to work, especially when all of our styles didn’t mesh well. I think now we’re in a place where everyone realizes what the music is that we’re making. I think that allows us all to feel pretty good.

Ella: It’s important to have that common ground of music interest. I know Evan came to me because he saw I was interested in the kind of music [the band] plays. That has to be the core mindset when you’re in a particular genre.

Dylan: Could you explain Jangle Pop for those that don’t know exactly what it is?

Evan: I describe it as very guitar based pop music. I guess it’s not pop music in the sense of what it is nowadays, but it’s like the pop music of the 60s or 70s. There’s many different ways to go about doing Jangle Pop. I know some people say bands like The Byrds or The Beatles helped to start it. There’s also bands like The Smiths, which is a big Jangle Pop band, and they really don’t sound a lot like The Beatles and The Byrds at first glance. I would just describe it as guitar based pop music that is really defined by a bright or dreamy guitar sound.

Ella: When I hear that full, twelve-string guitar sound, that’s it for me.

Dylan: Going back to last week’s show with Guided By Voices, what was it like to share the stage with a band of that caliber?

Evan: Well for me personally, it was like a dream come true and a ‘pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming moment.’ They were one of the bands that when someone first played their music for me, I said, ‘What is this?’, and it just clicked for me. They really made me want to make my own music. They have such a charm to them. 

Ella: It was just crazy. I feel like that was the most legitimate show I’ve ever played. I only started playing in bands semi-seriously in this past year, so it was just insane to me. Getting to have the things like the big green, the load-in, people willing to help you and give you snacks—it was just like ‘we’re making it!’ 

[Laughter] 

People asked for us to sign records, and I didn’t even help make them! 

[Laughter] 

It was just awesome. The whole thing was surreal.

[Avery Bookman arrives]

Dylan: What was your experience like in sharing the stage with Guided By Voices?

Avery: It was pretty surreal. I felt like we were getting the celebrity treatment when we got there. [Laughter] They were loading all of our crap in for us, it was just cool. I like how the venue prepared us. Most of the venues we play at kinda just throw us into this crusty green room and say ‘fuck off until you start playing.’ 

[Laughter]

Dylan: So, what’s next for The Laughing Chimes after Lobsterfest?

Evan: Next, we play a show at The Union on April 26. We don’t have summer completely planned out yet, but we are doing our first tour. It’ll be a small, week-long tour along the East coast with Lightheaded, they’re on Slumberland Records with us. Lightheaded is great. Also in the summer, I think we’re gonna try to get a few shows in cities outside of Ohio, not a bunch though. We should have a couple shows in Athens in August, but that’s it for now.

Avery: We’re basically using the time to record new stuff.

Evan: We also finished up our second album. It took a really long time, but it’s finally done. We just have to wait for the production of it to start. It’ll probably come out in the fall at some point. That’s also in the future for us.

Dylan: Ella, how have you dealt with this crazy experience that you’ve had with The Chimes so far?

Ella: It’s been awesome. I just wanna keep going! I wanna keep the momentum up because it’s been really fun so far. Besides the Guided By Voices show, I’ve gotten to a point where I don’t really get too nervous on stage anymore. At the Guided By Voices show, I know me and Avery were tweaking before it.

[Laughter]

Evan: I think we all were!

Ella: It wasn’t until five seconds before we got on stage and I started getting jittery. I’ve mostly gotten to the point where I can play a show and I know I’m not gonna freak out.

Avery: It always feels better once you’re actually on stage.

Ella: That too. Once you walk on you’re like, ‘Oh I can do this.’ I feel like if you told me any of this was happening last year, I’d think you were crazy.

Dylan: Avery, on your instrument, what are you trying to bring to the band?

Avery: I mean usually bass is just pulling down root notes, and I mean—I do that too. I don’t know, I also take after Peter Hook a lot. He does a lot of melodic stuff. I just think it’s really cool. I try to bring in a unique sound because most people just have their bass buried [in the mix]. I guess I just try to bring a melody.

Evan: I think it works really well that Avery takes that approach.

Dylan: Is there anything you all would like to mention?

Evan: I would just say that we’ve been super excited to play Lobsterfest. [ACRN] got a very good lineup for this year, last year was a fucking amazing lineup too. 

Avery: I’m really excited for They Are Gutting A Body Of Water, I’ve been looking at them for awhile now.

Ella: Me too! And Merce Lemon too.

Dylan: Where can the people listen to your music? 

Evan: People can find us on—

Avery: Pretty much anywhere.

Evan: Yeah, pretty much anywhere. If you actually want to support us, if you actually like the music that much, purchasing something on Bandcamp, even if it’s just something small, it helps us tremendously. Streaming services aren’t very kind to us.

[Laughter]

Dylan: Well, thanks for showing up guys!

Evan: Thank you!