Chevelle has sold over three million albums in the United States. The band's first full-length album, Point #1 was released on a small record label called Squint Entertainment. Chevelle's second album, Wonder What's Next, was certified Platinum by the RIAA after a debut at #14 on the United States albums chart, Billboard 200. This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), the band's third album debuted at #8 and has been certified Gold. Chevelle has since released a fourth album, Vena Sera and the band recently finished recording its fifth album, Sci-Fi Crimes, which was released on August 31, 2009. Other releases from Chevelle include two live albums and DVDs.
History
Formation and Point #1 (1990–2001)
Chevelle formed in 1990 in Grayslake, Illinois, when the brothers Pete Loeffler and Sam Loeffler started enjoying music. Pete started playing guitar and singing while Sam began playing drums in their parents' garage. Their youngest brother Joe joined the band in 1994. The name Chevelle came from the band members' passion for fast cars. It was also a car their father liked, the Chevrolet Chevelle. The band started playing small outdoor concerts and clubs around Chicago, Illinois, with Joe being only 14 years old.
Chevelle recorded a demo known as The Blue album, and played small concerts for the next three years until they were signed on to Steve Taylor's Squint Entertainment. The band recorded for 17 days in Electrical Audio studios, and in 1999, Chevelle released its first full length album, Point #1 which was produced by Steve Albini. Two singles were released from Point #1 with accompanying music videos, "Point #1" and "Mia". The songs received GMA Dove Awards for "Hard Music Song" with "Mia" in 2000 and "Point #1" in 2001. The album received an award for "Hard Music Album" in 2000 by the Dove Awards. Point #1 was well received by The Phantom Tollbooth, a Christian music website, and HM Magazine, yet was criticized for its repetitive song structures by Jesus Freak Hideout, a Christian music website.
Wonder What's Next (2002–2003)
In 2003, Chevelle co-headlined Ozzfest, where the band recorded and later released its first live album, Live from the Road, and a live DVD, Live from the Norva. The band toured Europe with Audioslave in early 2003, and later in the year they played on the Music as a Weapon II tour with Disturbed. On the tour with Disturbed, Chevelle appeared on the tour compilation album, titled Music as a Weapon II, featuring the songs "The Red" and "Forfeit".
This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) and the departure of Joe Loeffler (2004–2006)
This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) was recorded in early 2004, and was released in September 2004. The album debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold by the RIAA six weeks later. Johnny Loftus of Allmusic described the songs on the album as "strong dynamically, but sound predetermined — they don't separate from the general loud rock malaise." The song "Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)" was released as the first single from the album and reached the number one position on the Mainstream Rock chart. Two other singles were released from the album, the titles of which are "The Clincher" peaking at number three on the Mainstream rock chart, and "Panic Prone" which peaked at number 26 on the same chart. Before the album's release, Chevelle received attention when "The Clincher" was featured in the game Madden NFL 2005.
After the release of the album, the youngest of the brothers, Joe Loeffler, was dismissed from Chevelle. Due to different stories from the band members, it is unclear whether he was fired or left the band of his own accord. Pete and Sam stated the following on the band's official website: "After three years of non-stop touring and recording, Joe is taking a break to be home with family. We'll miss having him on the road with us, but as his brothers and bandmates we respect his decision and are looking forward to getting out there and playing for the fans. See you on tour." However, according to Ultimate Guitar Archive, Joe said of his departure:
"This is exactly what I expected from them. Try and make it look like I didn't want to be in the band. I was fired plain and simple, in fact there wasn't even a discussion about it they just dropped it on me. I made no decision and am not taking a break. I will be working on getting a new job immediately. A break also means there's a chance to come back, and nothing could be farther from reality."
In late 2006, Pete discussed his brother's departure on MTV.com:
"People need to know that he quit many, many times before, and that [the last] time, he quit as well. He took a train home from Kansas City, Missouri, and the [rest of the] band flew home. And when we did get home, it was the same old thing — Joe quit again. When he was confronted on it, he denied it, and we said, 'Well, too bad, because now, it's really over."
The band supported This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) with a headlining tour that included opening acts such as Taproot and 30 Seconds to Mars, and continued playing small tours in 2005 with Geno Lenardo from the band Filter. In 2006 Chevelle supported Nickelback for an arena tour across the United States, with a new permanent bassist, the Loeffler brothers' brother in-law and long time friend, Dean Bernardini.
Vena Sera (2007–2008)
In 2006 Chevelle recorded its fourth studio album titled Vena Sera. The album was the first album Chevelle recorded with Bernardini. Vena Sera was released in April 2007, debuting at number 12 on the Billboard 200, and sold 62,000 copies during its first week of release. The title of the album translates to "vein liquid" in Latin, representing the blood Chevelle put into making the album, according to Pete. Corey Apar of Allmusic States that "Vena Sera probably won't disappoint fans, and it didn't, if for the sole fact that it basically sounds just like Chevelle's other albums" and that it has a "relatively lighter underbelly than the rest [of Chevelle's albums], which is a nice change of pace." "Well Enough Alone", the first single from the album, was written about the departure of Joe Loeffler, and reached number four on the Mainstream rock charts. A video was made for the song, and due to winning a "battle of the bands" contest, received rotation on MTV2. The single featured on the video game WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2008.] Chevelle toured with Evanescence, Finger Eleven, and Strata during March and April 2007, followed by a headlining tour with the latter two bands in May and June. The second single from the album, "I Get It", was released on June 12, 2007, and a video for the song debuted on MTV on November 27, 2007. In July of the same year Chevelle toured Australia as a supporting act for the band The Butterfly Effect. On the tour in Australia, Chevelle's band manager Rose died of cancer, much to the distress of the band.
On May 9, 2007, during a show in Fort Worth, Texas Chevelle's trailer containing all of the band's equipment was stolen from the hotel at which the members were staying. The band posted a notice saying, "Most items are labeled 'Chevelle' and if you notice anything suspicious on eBay or other online resellers selling 'authentic' Chevelle items... guitar, basses, drums, amplifiers, risers, backdrops, tee shirts... please call the police..." A month later in an interview, Sam Loeffler stated, "Of the 14 guitars, we got two of 'em, and then we got some amplifiers back and our monitor system. So it's really, I mean it's cool because it's kind of like Christmas, only really weird. People have been calling us and saying, 'Hey, I bought this or that', and you know, we're just doing our best to buy it back from them. And certainly the issue is not a money issue, it's about having the pieces of gear that you did all your records with."
Sci-Fi Crimes (2009–2011)
Chevelle released a DVD entitled Any Last Words? in January 2011. It was filmed at The Metro in Chicago on October 29 and 30 for a special ten-year anniversary of Chevelle's career. The audio was recorded and mixed by Jef Moll, who also worked on This Type of Thinking and Vena Sera.
Untitled Sixth Album (2011–present)
In an April 2010 interview, drummer Sam Loeffler mentioned Pete Loeffler is currently writing new material for a new album due for a possible fall 2011 release, while Pete later mentioned it could be a fully acoustic album.
Chevelle is currently on a 5-7 month break from touring and is preparing to enter the studio to begin recording another album sometime in mid-spring. Chevelle drummer Sam Loeffler mentioned the album could feature a duet with a female artist, and also mentioned that the album could either be fully acoustic or a return to the hard rock style Chevelle had on 2002's Wonder What's Next.
Christianity controversy
Chevelle has caused controversy among Christian groups, because at one point they were on a Christian rock label, and thus the band has mistakenly been labeled "Christian rock." Keith Miller of EvangelSociety.org has been critical of Chevelle due to the band touring on Ozzfest with bands such as Cradle of Filth, who he claims incorporate strong satanic and anti-Christian themes into their lyrics. Sam Loeffler said, "It’s something that’s probably going to follow us around forever and that’s fine. It’s pretty simple. We originally signed with a record company that was backed by Word (a Christian label housing John Tesh and Amy Grant), so the record [Point #1] was in Christian bookstores. It was really an accidental thing."
Chevelle has tried to distance themselves from being labeled as a Christian band. Sam jokingly stated in an interview, "We're recovering Catholics." Sam also told the Chicago Tribune, "Our faith is still extremely important to us, but it's also very personal. None of us feels being a rock band on stage should be a pedestal for preaching."
Pete Loeffler also said in a 2009 interview: "To us, it was and is, not that big of a deal. Our first label was owned by a distributorship that distributed to Christian bookstores and things like that. And it doesn’t bother us at all to be called a Christian band. Although we have made a specific point to keep our religion out of our band and out of our shows because we believe it is everybody’s choice to go and do whatever they want. And though we do have our individual faiths and all those things, it is not something that we’ll preach to the people out there. So there were never any misconceptions for us or for our label in that regards. It really was what everybody else was putting out there."
Influences and style
Chevelle's primary musical influences as stated by the band members are Helmet, Tool, and The Cure. Chevelle has frequently been compared to Tool throughout its career, specifically when the band released its music video for "Mia" featuring a claymation doll throughout the video, much like the Tool music video for "Sober" or "Prison Sex".Pete Loeffler's singing voice was stated to sound a "tiny bit" like that of Tool's Maynard James Keenan, and the band's music has been compared to Tool's "dark" tone of music.
Despite comparisons to Tool, many critics such as Andree Farias and Andy Argyrakis of Christianity Today and Robert Rich of The Daily Texan have stated Chevelle as having a unique sound to their music. The Daily Texan described their music as “a kind of controlled chaos, a beautiful darkness, a gentle rampage of aural velocity”, and drew away from the band's comparisons to Tool by stating “Tool have always embraced their experimental side and released scathing social commentaries and criticisms, while Chevelle write radio-friendly tunes with subtly deep meanings, but with overtones easily grasped by any listener.” Andree Farias of Christianity Today has reviewed Chevelle's first three albums, praising them as “commanding vocals over jolting guitars and chest-thumping bass beats.”
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