High school band selected for national competition

Bartlett High School students from the band Chasing the Skyline have been practicing weekly since they officially got together in September 2008.

Carpets hung from ropes in an attempt to soundproof keyboardist Mark Mengar’s basement, as the five band members practiced Nov. 17 in front of a backdrop made of a white bedsheet spray-painted with a band logo and design.

Stuck to the wall with green masking tape is a contract that each of the members signed while eating Pasta Mia pizza a few months back. It says no band member can fire or kick out another “unless circumstances are of the utmost extreme.”

“We had gone through some drama,” lead singer and guitarist Trace Hamilton said. “So we had to write something down.”

And it seems to have paid off. Last month, the International Music Products Association, known as NAMM, chose the Bartlett band as a semifinalist in its SchoolJam USA teen battle of the bands competition.

Chasing the Skyline is included in the online voting portion of the competition, which began Nov. 1. The top two bands in five of the designated regions will be announced Dec. 19 and invited to the live SchoolJam USA battle of the bands finals held at the NAMM Show Jan. 16 in Anaheim, Calif.

Chasing the Skyline is made up of Hamilton and Mengar, as well as fellow Bartlett High School students Chuckie Franco, Brett Kososki and Matt McCue.

Hamilton writes the guitar beats and vocal patterns, McCue writes the drum beats and Franco assists with the lyrics, but each song is a collaborative effort, members said.

“We bounce lyrics back and forth,” Franco said.

“Till we find something that clicks,” finished Hamilton.

Chasing the Skyline describes its music as “pop punk,” and derives inspiration from bands like Boys Like Girls and All Time Low. The band has gone through different members and instruments before finally finding the right mix.

“The sound wasn’t working,” Franco said. “We weren’t getting what we wanted out of it.”

An original member who is no longer in the band created the name, but current members say Chasing the Skyline is a metaphor for chasing the dream.

“I would never work a day in my life if this was my job,” Hamilton said, suggesting that since he enjoys music, the career wouldn’t seem like work.

Members agree that touring the country as a musician would be an ideal career.

“I will always be in the music industry,” said McCue, who also participates in Bartlett High School’s band. “But being in a band that’s big is my dream.”

See them play
Chasing the Skyline will play a benefit at St. Peter Damian Church, 109 S. Crest Ave. in Bartlett, at 7:45 p.m. Nov. 20. The show will raise money for a church youth group mission trip to Tennessee.

Cast your vote
Support the band by voting for them at www.schooljamusa.com.