Chamberlain (band)

Chamberlain
Origin	Bloomington, Indiana, USA
Genres	Emo Indie rock Alt-Country
Years active	1996–2000 2008-
Labels	Doghouse Records
Associated acts	Split Lip, New End Original, Dear Lions, Institute_(band), Oslo_(band), Model/Actress, Samiam
Website	http://www.splitlipchamberlain.com/
Members
David Moore Adam Rubenstein Curtis Mead Clay Snyder Charlie Walker
Past members
Seth Greathouse Wade Parrish

Chamberlain is an indie rock band from Indianapolis & Bloomington, Indiana, previously having been known as Split Lip, they changed their name and their general sound away from post-hardcore punk in 1996.

History

In 1995, Split Lip again returned to Detroit to record "Fate's Got A Driver." It was this record that set the gold-standard for emo-core. The intricate guitar work and soulful emotive lyrics laid the foundation for bands to come, such as The Get Up Kids. The summer of 1995 saw the band hit the road again, this time with Ohio's Colossus of the Fall, and DC's Samuel. It was during this month-long outing that the decision came to change the name and the direction of the band. Moore and Rubenstein returned to the studio in late 1995 and re-recorded the vocals and re-mixed the album, and Chamberlain was born.

The band re-released the updated Fate's Got A Driver as Chamberlain in 1996, toured the US and Europe and took time out to record a new demo with acclaimed independent music producer Paul Mahern, much of which would go on to become The Moon My Saddle. After much courting by numerous major labels, the band were due to sign for Revolution Records, an imprint of Warner Music Group, but a signing freeze just before putting pen to paper thwarted them.

The second Chamberlain studio album, "The Moon My Saddle," was recorded in the summer of 1998 at Echo Park Studios in Bloomington with producer Ray Martin and released later that year by Doghouse. The group continued performing for another two years, but without Snyder (who was not replaced, Mead (replaced by Showermast/Red Devil, Blue Devil's Seth Greathouse) and Walker (replaced by Uvula's Wade Parish). During this time, a collection of demos recorded during rehearsals was compiled as their third album, Exit 263, and was released independently in 2000 through the band's management company, after being rejected from Doghouse.

The double LP retrospective, Five-Year Diary (which is also the name of a song from Fate's Got A Driver) was released independently in 2002. The album features live tracks and old demo recordings as well as tracks from compilations and hard to find releases.

The members are currently involved with many different musical projects in New York City, Los Angeles and Indianapolis. Curtis Mead and Charlie Walker play, together with former Brainiac bass player and video director Juan Monostereo and ex Bullet LaVolta drummer Philips, in Model/Actress, which released an EP in 2008.

Reunion

On the heels of a mini-Chamberlain reunion at the 2008 South by Southwest festival that featured Moore, Rubenstein, Walker and Mead, The band reformed with Snyder in May 2009 for a series of shows culminating in the Burning Fight book release show in Chicago. The show celebrated the release of the '90s hardcore book of the same name released by Revelation Records. Aside from the Chicago date, two other shows were played in Louisville and Indianapolis in May, followed by a December performance at New York's Bowery Ballroom. Prior to these gigs, Snyder hadn't played with the band since 1998.

Chamberlain toured with The Gaslight Anthem and Tim Barry in summer 2010, and performed at Krazy Fest in Louisville, Kentucky in May, 2011. No further touring is planned; however, an interview with Rubenstein in the July '11 Alternative Press hinted at continued collaborations^[1]

Other members

Seth Greathouse - bass (1998–2000)
Wade Parish - drums (1999–2000)

Post-Split Lip/Chamberlain Projects

• Charlie Walker is a touring and session drummer in New York. His most notable work has been as a member of Institute alongside former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale,and the band OSLO. He is currently in Samiam.
• Curtis Mead lives in Los Angeles, California and played bass for Little Wolverines and currently Model/Actress.
• Adam Rubenstein released a solo album under the name "Adam Dove", and also plays in the band Dear Lions.
• David Moore's solo LP, "My Lover, My Stranger" was released by Doghouse Records in 2009.
• Adam Rubenstein and David Moore contributed a track to Doghouse Records' Bob Dylan tribute album

Discography

Full length albums

• Fate's Got A Driver (1995 · Doghouse Records) (Released on Miles Hunt's record label For All The Right Reasons in the UK)
• The Moon My Saddle (1998 · Doghouse Records)
• Exit 263 (2000 · South Bittersweet Lane Music)
• Five-Year Diary (2002 · Engineer Records)

EPs

• Five Year Diary (1995, Doghouse Records/For All The Right Reasons)*can be purchased at bentmusic.ca
• Her Side Of Sundown (1995, Doghouse Records/For All The Right Reasons)
• Chamberlain/Old Pike Split (1996, Doghouse Records)
• Go Down Believing (1998, Doghouse Records)
• Doghouse Fan Series (2001, Doghouse Records)
• Raise it High (2010, The Blackcloud Label)

References

1. ^ Alternative Press. July 2011. 

External links

• Chamberlain discography at Discogs