Chris Cheney

Chris Cheney
Performing at Nibe Festival 2009, in Denmark.
Background information
Birth name	Christopher John Cheney
Born	2 January 1975 (1975-01-02) (age 36) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Rockabilly Punk rock Alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, Bass
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Dew Process (2007–present, Aus, UK) Deck Cheese (2007–2008, UK) Adeline /EastWest (2006–present, US) EMI (2003–2007, Aus) Modular (1998–2003) Rapido (1996–1998) Independent (1994–1996)
Associated acts	The Living End The Wrights The Wrongs Runaway Boys The Longnecks The Matchsticks
Notable instruments
Gretsch White Falcon Chris Cheney Signature Gretsch G6126TCC Gretsch 6118 Double Anniversary

Christopher John Cheney (born 2 January 1975) is the guitarist, main songwriter and lead vocalist in the Australian rock band, The Living End. His trademark guitar is a Gretsch White Falcon and he uses mainly distortion and modulation effects. Chris currently has his own signature series Gretsch guitars.^[1]

Biography

Personal life

Cheney attended Jells Park Primary School in Wheelers Hill between 1981–1987 and Wheelers Hill Secondary College. He later studied Jazz at Box Hill Institute of TAFE between 1994–1995. He started playing guitar at the age of 6. His major influence was Brian Setzer, a famous guitarist, singer and songwriter.

On 22 September 2001, he was involved in a serious car crash when he was hit in his 1977 Holden Kingswood by a car speeding in the wrong lane at 100 km/h. The impact of the collision ripped off the side of his vehicle, forced it off the road on a sharp turn along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and down an embankment. His right leg was crushed and required a rod and three pins to hold it together. He was confined to bed and later a walking stick for the next six months. He was unable to play the guitar until he was rehabilitated. His partner, Emma, was also inside the vehicle with him, but fortunately escaped with minor injuries.^[2]

Cheney married Emma in 2005. They have 2 daughters: Charlie Bella, born in 2006 and Scarlett Lyric, born in 2008.

Music career

Cheney began his career with double bassist Scott Owen in the early 1990s, in a Melbourne cover band, The Runaway Boys, who took their name from a Stray Cats song of the same name (a group that Cheney regularly cites as one of his favourites). Cheney taught himself how to play the guitar, after listening to AC/DC cassette tapes over and over again and practicing what he heard. Chris also played in Melbourne band 'Goodbye Sideburns Forever', though Chris did not actually record with them, he only gigged with them. This was before The Living End's breakthrough success.

The Living End

Main article: The Living End

The Living End started out in 1992 as The Runaway Boys, as a tribute to the Stray Cats, whose Runaway Boys album is Cheney's favourite of all time.^[3] It was formed by Cheney and childhood friend Scott Owen. They mostly covered songs by the Stray Cats and other '50s tracks. In 1994, the pair started to write their own material. The band went through a number of drummers before settling on Travis Dempsey. At that point they became known as The Living End. They released two successive EPs, Hellbound and It's For Your Own Good, which contained their first radio single, "From Here On In". In 1996, while Green Day were touring Australia, The Living End sent their EP to the band, and gained the support spot on their tour, which then led to Triple J playing their first single. In 1998, they released their self-titled album, with success sparked by the youth anthem "Prisoner of Society", as well as other hits "Second Solution", "Monday", "All Torn Down" and "Save The Day". They have since received recognition abroad, playing tours and festivals such as the Warped Tour in the U.S. and Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK. The Band Released their fifth studio album, "White Noise", on 19 July 2008.^[4]

Other music projects

Cheney joined Green Day on stage at the Telstra Dome on 17 December 2005 to play "I Fought the Law". Cheney was also not the Green Day bunny as was rumoured, it was Tré Cool, drummer for Green Day. Cheney has also performed alongside Australian rock veterans You Am I, appearing at the 2003 Big Day Out in Melbourne. They performed a track by The Clash as a tribute to Joe Strummer.

Cheney appears in the supergroup The Wrights who put out a re-recorded version of Stevie Wright's epic "Evie". Also appearing in the supergroup were members of Grinspoon, Jet, Spiderbait and You Am I. He also played in another supergroup called The Wrongs, who featured at the 2006 Jack Awards in Sydney. They performed a Rose Tattoo classic "Bad Boy For Love" as a tribute to Peter Wells, the guitarist of Rose Tattoo .

In 2005, Sarah McLeod from The Superjesus launched her solo career, releasing her first single "Let's Get Together" followed by the single "Private School Kid" in which she performs a duet with Cheney.

Chris made a guest appearance on stage with the Stray Cats on their 2009 Australian Farewell Tour. He performed four songs alongside his childhood heroes, Brian Setzer, Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom.

In August 2009, Cheney took part in a series of concerts around Australia along with Tim Rogers, Phil Jamieson and Josh Pyke to celebrate The Beatles's White Album, performing the album in its entirety.

In 2010, Chris and his wife Emma, along with his manager Rae Harvey & Woody Annison opened their own recording studio in Melbourne called RED DOOR SOUNDS. Cheney will be adding producer to his CV in the near future.

Equipment

Cheney is currently endorsed by Gretsch Guitars. He uses a number of Gretsch models, and recently starting using his new signature model guitar.^[1]

On tour, Cheney takes about 6 guitars. He uses 4 main guitars, and the rest are back-ups for the different tunings.

Guitars

• Chris Cheney Signature G6126TCC
• Gretsch White Falcon 6136
• Gretsch White Falcon 6136 ('90s model)
• Gretsch 6120SSLVO ('06 Model)
• Gretsch 6116TVP "Power Tenny" ('06 Model)
• Gretsch 6118 Double Anniversary
• Various other Gretsch & Gibson Models

Awards

Jack Awards

• Best Lead Guitarist - 2004, 2005 and 2007
• Best Male - 2006

APRA Award

• 2009 Song of the Year – "White Noise"^[5]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} bombshellzine. "Cheney Gretsch Available Now". http://www.bombshellzine.com/newspage/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3699. Retrieved 2008-12-12. 
2. ^ The Living End: Roll On
3. ^ Chris Cheney from The Living End
4. ^ The Living End in 2008 - News Article - AbsolutePunk.net
5. ^ "Winner 2009 Song of the Year". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/APRAAwards/APRASongoftheYear/Winner.aspx. Retrieved 23 April 2010. 

External links

• TLE Official Website
• TLE Official MySpace
• Band photo gallery
• The Living End's Chris Cheney talks about his eight favorite songs
• Chris Cheney at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Cheney, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 January 1975
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death