Wicked Din from Wicked Din by ChameleouS

Tracking: Wicked is a weird song that we've never been able to think of in any genre other than a Halloween song, and that’s basically what we went into the studio to create. Jules’s oddball synth sounds, Rich’s parts at the beginning, Brian’s lap steel with an almost theremin-sounding effect over it…all that is the stuff that makes this song fun for us, and we loved recording it!

Mac’s Songwriting Notes: For most of the 2000s, I worked in admissions for Maryville College, a great little liberal arts school in Maryville, TN while I was trying to learn how to start and run technology businesses as a side hustle. I met a lot of interesting people at college fairs, including Brett Winston, a fellow Knoxville-based admissions counselor who is also a musician and songwriter. One afternoon, he showed me a “hot jazz march” progression using jazz chords that a buddy of his had taught him shortly before that, and right after that, I had a series of overnight travel trips for MC in northern Tennessee and Kentucky. I stayed in downtown Louisville towards the end of that road trip, and we were encouraged to find “safe but affordable” lodging. I don’t remember the name of the hotel I stayed in that night, but it was old, it hadn’t been remodeled since the 70s, and I was the ONLY person staying there that night. The clerk at the desk told me so when I was checking in, and asked me if I’d like to stay in the biggest suite in the hotel. I’m sure I said something like, “Hell yeah!” But when I got in that suite, it was huge, it was as 70s as could be, with high, deep-orange shag carpet, giant olive-colored floor lamps with bases wider than I could wrap my arms around, and when I pulled the shades back, out the window I could see a neon sign for a strip club. I always traveled with my guitar back then, and Wicked Din came out of me pretty quickly, combining the creepiest hotel room I could imagine with a good ol’ hot jazz march. The red neon light for the strip club brought up the idea of sin, that went to original sin, and then I threw in a break down of sorts in the middle.

ChameleouS is a six-piece rock band from Tennessee whose music blends modern classic rock, Southern psychedelia, and alt-country roots into something both familiar and uniquely their own. True to their name, they shift fluidly through musical colors — each song a new sonic landscape shaped by the band's many influences, decades of songwriting and a shared passion for creating something special.

chameleous.com