Chasing Mars is a local trio searching out their own sound while trying to balance thoughts of what might appeal to a crowd. They are fascinated by space, but who isn't. The band released their full-length debut album back in April as a pay-what-you-want digital album through bandcamp. High school friends, Neven Armic, Sean Goes, and Sam Brown recently took some time to answer a few of my questions.

Deli: How did the band start?

Neven Armic: “Well we've been involved with different musical projects around our neighborhood (Western suburbs of Chicago) since we were all in high school. We had the same group of friends and we were in different bands with a lot of the same people at different times. Sean and I started writing music together consistently after I wrote a song and borrowed his digital 8-track. I told him I had some musical ideas and he should add to it, little did he know I would record a whole song with multiple guitar parts and vocals. After that we just started working on music together.”

Sean Goes : “Neven and I started writing songs years ago and kept each other motivated. Hearing his songs improve gave me the drive to start fully developing my own song ideas.”

Sam Brown: “I joined the band after doing some studio work with Neven and Sean. They were happy with my playing, and we worked well together so I was asked to be a full time member. ”

Deli: Where did the band name come from?

NA: “Sean came up with it.”

SG: “From the combination of two words, already in existence.”

SB: “Neven and Sean had been trying to come up with names for several months, and hadn’t settled on anything they both liked. Eventually they started asking if the other had heard of “thus and such” band, as to pitch a new band name without the other knowing it was being pitched. Sean came up with Chasing Mars on a drive over to rehearsal and asked Neven if he had heard of them. Neven said “No, but that’s a really cool band name.” so Chasing Mars stuck.”

Deli: What are your biggest musical influences?

NA: “I love all types of music but my biggest influences are probably Rachmaninov, Radiohead, The Beatles, Bjork, and Elliot Smith.,”

SG: “Radiohead, the Flaming Lips, Coldplay, Grandaddy, Weezer and Depeche Mode are some of my biggest influences.”

SB: “I take influence from everything I’ve listened to or played, but Phil Selway of Radiohead, Jimmy Chamberlin of the Smashing Pumpkins, and Jason McGerr of Death Cab for Cutie have all greatly influenced my drumming style.”

Deli: What artists (local, national and/or international) are you currently listening to?

NA: “Arcade Fire- The Suburbs and also Black Mirror, Bjork- Homogenic and Volta, and the new Sufjan Stevens”

SG: “Madvillain, Muse, Sigur Ros.”

SB: “Dinosaur Jr. – You’re Living All Over Me, The Velvet Underground – Loaded, OFF! – First Four EPs, and Boris – Pink among others”

Deli: What's the first concert that you ever attended and first album that you ever bought?

NA: “Warp Tour: We went to see Rancid and the Dropkick Murpheys ”

SG: “Weezer was my first concert. I won tickets on q101. I was caller 101! And Greenday, Dookie was my first album.”

SB: “My parents took me to see Brian Wilson when I was in first grade. The Offspring – Americana was the first album I bought. ”

Deli: What do you love about Chicago?

NA: “The People ”

SG: “The loop. Something about it is very calming. There's people running around everywhere, cars and busses all over, but it's a strange, beautiful alien-like city.”

SB: “The music scene”

Deli: What do you hate about it?

NA: “The People.”

SG: “The government.”

SB: “The weather.”

Deli: What are your plans for 2011?

NA: “Play as many shows as we can and keep making new music!”

SG: “Play more music for more people.”

Deli: What was your most memorable live show?


NA: “That’s a tough one. I'd say Phoenix at the house of Blues. The phoenix show was truly amazing, we were right up front, and the band sounded so good. Everyone was getting into the show so much that the floor was bending up and down from the audience's jumping! It was also apparently the first time they played Wolfgang Amadeus from start to finish.”

SG: “Flaming Lips, all three times I've seen them. Their live shows are legendary and I don't know any other band that knows how to connect with the audience so well.”

SB: “I traveled with my dad to see Radiohead in St. Louis on their Hail to Thief tour. Being Radiohead, they played great, and the light show was unbelievable. My dad and I together were the oldest and youngest people in the pit. Ed took notice of this and gave us a nod and a smile. That was one of the first shows I was really excited to see, but Phoenix with Neven takes a close second.”

Deli: Can you name a few other local bands you feel particularly close to on an artistic level?

NA: “I like Big Science and Empires. They're both really great live bands.”

SG: “There's a lot of great bands in Chicago but none with a particularly large style overlap, that I'm aware of. A Lull puts on a great show.

SB: “Maps & Atlases is a phenomenal band. They really deserve all the attention they’ve been getting this past year.

Deli: What's your favorite thing to get at the deli?

NA: “Italian Ice”

SG: “Cheese. The stinkier, the better.

SB: “A hot pastrami sandwich, with a side of local music news.