Chris Conley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christopher Lane Conley
Chris Conley (Photo: Mary Gaston)
Chris Conley (Photo: Mary Gaston)
Background information
Born February 29, 1980 (1980-02-29) (age 28)
Origin Princeton, New Jersey, U.S.
Genre(s) Emo
Indie rock
Power pop
Punk rock
Instrument(s) Singer, Guitar, Bass
Years active 1997 - Present
Label(s) Equal Vision
DreamWorks
Vagrant
Associated acts Saves the Day
Two Tongues

Christopher Lane Conley (born February 29, 1980) is an American musician and songwriter/composer, and the lead-singer/rhythm guitarist in Saves the Day. As he is the only remaining original member as well as major artistic contributor, Saves the Day has been referred to, in recent years, as "essentially the Chris Conley show"[1].

Contents

[edit] Background

Conley was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, and began playing the guitar when he was thirteen years old. He says that listening to Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith as a child made him interested in writing and playing music. The first song he ever learned on guitar was Stairway to Heaven [2].

Immediately after learning how to play the guitar, he formed a band with a group of classmates at Princeton Day School.[3] The band was originally titled Indifference, but later renamed the band Sefler. Conley has cited some of his early influences as the Beatles, the Smiths, Billy Joel, Superchunk, the Smashing Pumpkins, Sunny Day Real Estate, Archers of Loaf, Screeching Weasel, Jawbreaker, Gorilla Biscuits and Lifetime[4].

Sefler was originally composed of Chris Conley, Bryan Newman, Chris Zampella and Justin Gaylord. They recorded a 3-track 7" entitled "13 Hours of Everything" one afternoon in a friend's basement. They then recorded a nine-track demo at Trax East Studio in New Jersey. While recording, a friend of the band (and later bassist), Sean McGrath, suggested that they change their name to Saves the Day, which they did.

[edit] Saves the Day

Saves the Day signed to Equal Vision Records and recorded their first album Can't Slow Down, which was released in 1998 during their first US tour alongside bands Bane and Countervail. Lyrically the album included idealistic dreams, feeling inadequate, honesty and unhappiness, which reflected Conley's life at the time. The style of music is often considered very similar to that of the band Lifetime[5].

In 1999 the band released their second album Through Being Cool. With this album, Conley's lyrics started becoming morbid and corporeal, and the style of music changed into a more pop punk sound.

At age 19/20 he started listening to the Beatles and has cited them as the main influence for In Reverie [6].

Conley, with Saves the Day have released 4 other albums, lyrically are all considered similar except for In Reverie, which is a more positive album. This is largely due to the fact that there was no turmoil in Conley's life at the time, therefore there wasn't much to vent about as he recalls.[7]. This lack of turmoil impacted upon Conley's songwriting ultimately resulting in them being released from their major label Dreamworks. In April 2006, Conley made comment in Rolling Stone magazine that Saves the Day's last release Sound the Alarm, is "about the black clouds inside my mind, It was these intense fears and paranoia and diluted thoughts that were eating me alive. It was utter insanity." in regards to the failure of In Reverie and subsequent release from Dreamworks[8].

[edit] Solo Touring

While there are no plans for any solo recordings, Chris has recently toured throughout the USA, playing acoustic versions of Saves the Day songs.[9],[10] Conley, and an army of committed fans recently have posted performances via the bands website[1], the band's official YouTube account and elsewhere on the YouTube site.[11][2]. He has also been involved in music production, working as a sound engineer and producer on a release by Kid Dynamite as well as a Bob Dylan tribute album.[12]

[edit] Crohn's disease

Conley suffers from Crohn's disease and is active in bringing awareness to the disease[13],[14]. The Saves the Day song "Where Are You?" was penned highlighting his struggle living with the disease "I have a stomach disorder called Crohn's disease and it was getting really bad when we were getting ready to tour with Weezer. I had to take steroids, which disturbs your emotional state and balance; your equilibrium is thrown off and it makes the lows lower. I happened to be going through a sad period. The overall theme is about taking everything in, the depression, confusion and anxiety, but also the incredible highs."[15]

[edit] Discography (Conley as primary composer)

[edit] Compilations featuring Conley's compositions

  • The Rebirth Of Hardcore:1999 on Supersoul Records, Good Life Recordings, Temperance Records (1999) (features "The Art of Misplacing Firearms")
  • Punk Uprisings: Incompatible, Vol. 2 (1999) (features "Shoulder to the Wheel")
  • City Rockers: A Tribute to the Clash (1999) (features cover of Clash' "Clash City Rockers")
  • Equal Visions Records Sampler (2000) (features "Always Ten Feet Tall")
  • Vagrant Records: Summer Sampler (2000) (features "Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots")
  • Another Year on the Streets (2000) (features "Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven", "A Drag in D Flat")
  • Another Year on the Streets Vol. 2 (2002) (features "Ups and Downs", "Nightingale")
  • Welcome To Vagrant Records (2003) (features "At Your Funeral")
  • Living Tomorrow Today: A Benefit for Ty Cambra (2003) (features "A Drag in D Flat")
  • Another Year on the Streets Vol. 3 (2004) (features "When It Isn't Like It Should Be")
  • A Compilation to Beat Cancer (2004) (features "Don't Go Outside")
  • Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (2005) (features cover of Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer")
  • Warped Tour 2006 Compilation (2006) (features "The End")

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sound the Alarm album revue (Scenepointblank.com)(The Cavalier Daily)
  2. ^ Saves The Day : In Reverie. Modernrock.com. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  3. ^ "A perfect world Princeton's Chris Conley puts life's imperfections in perspective", Home News Tribune, March 26, 2004. Accessed August 19, 2007. "Saves the Day - also Eben D'Amico, bass; David Soloway, guitar; and Pete Parada, drums - was formed in the halls of the Princeton Day School high school in the mid-1990s."
  4. ^ "Band 'Saves' day with solid new effort" (The Cavalier Daily)
  5. ^ Wilson, MacKenzie. Saves The Day : Equal Vision Records. Equal Vision Records. Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
  6. ^ "Band 'Saves' day with solid new effort" (The Cavalier Daily)
  7. ^ Change what you are(Aversion Magazine)
  8. ^ "Article about Conley in Rolling Stone Magazine" (Rolling Stone)
  9. ^ Chris Conley Tour Dates
  10. ^ ReadJunk.com article announcing Chris Conley solo tour
  11. ^ Chris Conley solo performances on YouTube
  12. ^ All Music Guide
  13. ^ Crohn's disease
  14. ^ About Crohn's Disease
  15. ^ Music emmisions

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Saves the Day
Chris Conley · David Soloway · Manuel Carrero · Durijah Lang
Chris Zampella · Eben D'Amico · Ted Alexander · Bryan Newman · Anthony Anastasio · Sean McGrath · Justin Gaylord · Pete Parada
Studio albums
EPs
Compilations
Singles
"Shoulder to the Wheel" · "At Your Funeral" · "Freakish" · "Anywhere with You" · "Eulogy" · "The End" · "Can't Stay the Same"
Labels
Related