How and when was Sly-Chi formed?
We started in 2000. A few of us all lived in a house together — the infamous house known as “Roberts Street.” Mostly we all met through the music department at USM and hung out at the house from time to time. We’d play some tunes together and eventually took them out to the Old Port, playing at “The Basement.” We worked our way into the Portland music scene from there.
Who writes your original material?
We all do. Sometimes one person will write a tune top to bottom — vocals, harmonies, horn lines, everything. They’ll just bring it in and we’ll start working on learning it. Other times, someone will come up with a musical idea, present that to the band and ask for others’ input. We’ll pretty much end up writing the whole tune together. More often than not though, everyone in the band adds something to each original tune.
How is the new album different than “Wave Sound”?
The two albums are quite a bit different. Stylistically, we really mixed it up on the new one. Also, people will find that more of the tunes are pushed a little more tempo-wise than on “Wave Sound.” “The Space” is a little more energetic.
Will the band be playing regularly at the Big Easy this summer?
It’s hard to say. We had a steady weekly gig in town during the week for about seven years and sort of felt like it was time to give it a little bit of a rest. Hopefully we’ll play there once or twice this summer though. It’s a great place to play, definitely.
Do you have a lot of wedding gigs?
For a “non-wedding-band,” I would say yes, probably around 10 to 15 per summer, I think. Weddings are great for us because, yes, they’re a lot more work and usually require us to be there all day, but they also pay quite a bit more than a club gig. So really, being able to play weddings allows us to do things like buy and maintain a van, record a CD on our own, rent a trailer for extended trips. Not to mention that a lot of the time, there are 200 or 300 guests that see us play — so it’s decent exposure too.
What are the plans for the band?
It’s really hard to say. At the moment we’re working on getting the new CD distributed, we’re really trying to break into the college gig circuit, pondering the possibility of a tour or at least a mini-tour. It’s tough though, because most of us have day jobs, some of us have families, mortgages and things like that. Such things make it sort of hard for us to just drop everything and go on tour. But with that said, whatever opportunities may present themselves, I’m sure we will make something work.
Why do you think people love Sly-Chi so much?
I think that since we’ve been around for a while, people have gotten to know us even though the band’s lineup has changed a couple times over the years — some through our music, some personally and some both. The band really is a nice group of people. That, combined with the fact that we put most of our free time both as a group and individually into our craft so that we’re the best we can be on stage, has helped keep our fan base loyal. We all hope it continues to grow!