Chairman’s Alton Upbeat tells it like it is

Chairman is a self-described time-travelling new wave band from the year 2077. I sat down with frontman Alton Upbeat for an interview about their upcoming record and his philosophy on being a touring band.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

For the uninitiated, what can someone expect from a Chairman show?

Well, Chairman comes through with the highest feats of energy and spectacle. You know, lots of crazy guitar solos, maybe picking up band members, maybe removal of clothing. It’s like a sexual sci-fi fantasy world.

You recently had a member announce they’ll be leaving the band. Can you tell me about that?

So this was Katrina’s last tour with Chairman. We wish her the best. She’s returning to school and she has to make that a priority at this time, which we totally respect, but the Chairman is invincible and we will be pressing on.

You’re going down to Calgary for some songwriting sessions soon. What should listeners expect from Chairman, and when?

What it’s gonna sound like I can tell you that for sure. This is a little more akin to our ’77, kind of punk rock roots, but with the addition of a lot of synthesizers, a lot of futuristic themes and sounds. This is, I think, a maturing of our sound. It’s the best material that Chairman’s done so far. We have a full two-and-a-half days to just focus on these songs and get them to a place where we like it so that we can start moving forward on the album.

We’re hoping to record early 2025. I can’t say when it’s going to be released yet. You can check us out online, @ChairmanPunk on Instagram. We’ll keep you up to date. These things always take longer than you expect.

You mentioned a maturing of your sound. Does that come from touring and playing so many shows, or something else?

I think it’s coming a little bit from that. We’re more confident in the way that we sound, and we understand what works best. We have a better idea how to bring forward everybody’s strengths in a very interesting way. And we’ve got some of the best musicians that have ever been in Chairman working on these songs right now. I’m feeling really confident because of the people we have behind this record and the songwriting team that we’ve assembled – it’s just really stellar.

Chairman is a band that tours a lot. B.C. in the summer, Ontario after that, your prairies tour. Can you talk about your philosophy on being a touring band?

I think for us, what makes it really happen is that we all have so much fun together. The long drives and sleeping wherever and all that just becomes a really good experience. We haven’t had a lot of stress. Even when things kind of go wrong, there’s still sort of something funny to be found in it. I think that that’s why we’ve been able to successfully tour as much as we have and will continue to do even more so in the coming year.

And then, I think that a cynical way of looking at it is you won’t always get your best response in your hometown. Especially a band like Chairman, which is conceptual. So, when people see Chairman for the first time, they can be fully immersed in the lore of Chairman and just accept it for what it is.

We are a time-traveling band, and we have things to tell. Some people in Edmonton are skeptical of our claims. But I tell you, my friend, we are sincere.

I’ve always felt touring versus local bands are on different tiers of being legit.

I think bands should tour if they’ve got an exciting show that they think people will see. I think you should do it. If you’ve got a really boring show, maybe you should work on it a little bit more.

Great answer.

Telling it like it is.

I saw you shared Winterruption’s first wave lineup announcement. Are you playing this year or what?

I think that people should be paying attention to the next wave of Winterruption bands because I know for sure that there’s some really cool ones being announced.

So, I don’t know! It’s November 18th, this next wave, so just be looking out for that, folks.

Anything you want to say before we wrap it up?

We’ve got two songs that are going to be dropping sooner than later here. We’re just waiting on the finished mix of that. So, there’s going to be new music coming before the album, so people can check that out sooner than later.

And thanks everybody for the support!

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