Features

Nestling up in the sweet spot between Link Wray’s surf guitar and the pop-romance of the 1950s Chicano rock movement, Seattle garage rockers CHICO DETOUR deliver on their debut EP, ‘Too Easy.’ Think The Sonics meets Ritchie Valens with a whole lot of germanium FUZZ. Today, we are premiering the video for the band’s new single ‘spitinmymouth’ and caught up with guitarist/vocalist Sebastian Felipé.

Chico Detour formed in Seattle in 2024 when Felipé (of Peyote Ugly, Forest Ray, Beret, VLLY) was encouraged by friends to front a band after a decade in the scene as a bass player. His love of doo-wop, garage rock, punk, psych, and pop music were the main ingredients that intially inspired him to push forward. By necessity he learned to sing and play guitar just enough to make it sound like he wanted; staying true to the Garage Rock ethos of simplicity + energy as much as possible. He wrote Too Easy in 2023 after some life-altering events that occurred in succession- forcing him to turn inwards and confront himself; yet again!

With a line-up consisting of Christopher Garland (of Acapulco Lips) on lead guitar, Brennan Moring (of Sealife, Peyote Ugly) on bass, Michelle Brayson (of Deft Lips, Charmed, I’m Sure and co-founder of Alchemy School of Music) on keys, and a rhythmic trifecta of drummers including Miles Freeborn (of Emi Pop, Sick Secrets), Dave Segedy (of Sleeping Bag), and now officially Jacob Whinihan (of Mega Cat, Special Explosion, Seacats, Scarves, ex-La Fonda) on drums- the roster of talent that is backing this ball of nerves of a front-man, is notable.

PRT: After a decade of playing bass, what finally pushed you to the front of the stage and into the spotlight with CHICO DETOUR?

Sebastian: I needed to express what was going on inside of me. Close friends had pulled me aside and said that I should take a step forward because, as a bass player, I was taking up “so much of the stage” hahaha. I really wanted to sing and play guitar. I give a lot of respect to the bands I’ve played in, what I’ve learned along the way with song writing from my peers. Bass is a great way to understand music, chords, melody, and what fits. I wanted to be like Ritchie Valens and Lux Interior at the same time. I wanted to rep the historic 60’s PNW Garage Rock scene and homage to The Sonics, The Wailers, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Kingsmen (there are so many…), I wanted to write simple accessible fast rock and roll and put as much of myself into it as possible and I wanted people to dance. 

PRT: What is a Chico Detour?

Sebastian: It’s more like, “What is ‘doing’ a Chico Detour…” Doing a Chico Detour is (now) a figure of speech that describes the ambling restless mind. It’s like describing the leaves, the branches, the sounds, the animals, the wood, the trunk, the grass and not just calling it A TREE. 

PRT: How did the full lineup come together, and what made each member feel like the right piece for the puzzle?

Sebastian: There wasn’t a whole lot of guess work to be honest. It was more waiting for the right wave. I knew I wanted to work with Christopher Garland (guitarist) because so much of ‘the sound’ was already in his guitar work with Aculpulco Lips. I really wanted to work with him because he is the most Garage Rock dude I know in Seattle. Brennan Moring, who plays bass, is one of the best musicians I know, and I had worked with him on a number of projects. He encouraged my writing and told me he always wanted to play bass in a band. Michelle Brayson is my singing teacher. She taught me how to sing and was there for day 1- when the opportunity arose to ask her if she wanted to ‘fill-in’ for a show it naturally turned into a full-time position- and we are all so lucky to have her. Then lastly, we really lucked out with Jacob Whinihan the drummer. My close friend Miles Freeborn played on the record and he was already tied up in a number of bands. We kicked it with Dave Segedy for a minute, which was sick, Then, Jacob caught our very first show and nudged Brennan that he would like to jam. Jacob brings a dynamic touch to the project that I didn’t even know I needed. He can play the 250 bpm Spitinmymouth type songs and also play drumming styles like Bossa Nova, Samba, Cumbia, which is a massive plus to bringing world music into Garage Rock when it calls for it! So sick. 

 

Huge shout out to the team for saying yes. big wow

PRT: How has being based in Seattle shaped the way you write, play, or even think about music?

Sebastian: Seattle loves music. The music scene(s) here are close-knit and very involved with the “Seattle Scene.” We’re up here in the armpit of the country so it’s pretty hard to tour. Therefore bands play in-town and feed each other's energy. If you become consumed by the energy up here it's a full-cycle experience. Additionally, over half of the year is quiet, rainy, and indoors; being creative is a way to pass the time, focus on the craft, and get invested in the project outcome. The climate serves deep introspection for those on that journey and the vehicle here is music for a lot of us. Also, shouts out to local labels like Den Tapes and radio stations like Rainy Dog, Hollow Earth, and KEXP, that foster and support local music. 

PRT: You like the raw live-sound and analog tape recording techniques of the 60’s… what is it about that sound that appeals to you so much?

Sebastian: Raw emotion.. I’ve learned and experienced that the less you can touch or manipulate the recording the more you leave behind. Tape is the best presentation of that. Limiting creative resources forces the player to put more of themselves into the take. Accidents are welcome! Simplicity is encouraged. The less mics the better! I could wax on about tape saturation, compression, pre-amp and consoles forever but it just comes down to not being so precious about things. You get what you get and you move on and you do it a lot. I like folks who are into this kind of stuff– I can expect that there will be a lot of music coming from them, it will be messy sometimes, and it will be honest. In a highly curated digital world it's fresh to come across the “reel deal” hehe. 

PRT: With such a tight and intentionally ‘imperfect’ sound, how do you decide when a song is finished—or ‘detoured’ just enough?

Sebastian: If you can’t say it in under 4 minutes– try again. Keep it to 2 and some change if it’s a garage song. Make it 3 if it's surfy and has some sweet leads. If it sounds bland, be more daring. If it’s boring, scrap it.

PRT: We are premiering the video for your new single ‘Spitinmymouth’. Can you tell me a bit more about where the song stems from? And the idea for the video?

Sebastian: I want to play fast songs. I want to play til my hands hurt and I can’t hold the pick anymore. I had just written Two Way Mirror and wanted to shake it up a bit. Huge shouts out to Criminal Code for a lot of the inspiration for this song (though you prolly can’t hear it). I love punk and this is a punk song. I wanted to keep the melody simple and catchy. I wanted to take a taboo idea and, dare I say, spit it in your face! I love the perverse lyrical content from The Cramps- their music always made me feel nasty and bad and sexy and all of that  taboo stuff. I wanted to carve out a channel for that part of the human experience coming out of the gate because I got that freak in me LOL.

The song is a metaphor about not knowing what to do with my anxiety. The song itself is supposed to feel unresolved and anxious- catchy but sort of slimy. The spit in my mouth being the anxiety– what do I do with it? Why am I even asking myself what to do with it? There’s a submissive aspect to the song, asking “is that ok?” I wanted to challenge my masculinity and tie anxiety with my privilege as an identifying man, while also expressing uncomfortability with it with lines like, stubborn boyish fate and conscious caustic neonate - is that ok? Obviously the answer NO it’s not ok to be internally unbalanced and have power, but also… hold that- drink it down- it’ll make you sick and that is ok.   

The idea for the video was to create something cheap and quick- just like the song lawlz. The Dark Matter Music Video was a narrative and took a lot of planning and I wanted to create a video in my basement with pure energy like we were in some bad dream. I thought a bit about how to tie in the spit in my mouth piece without being some freak-show smut mag type thing (no hate), and so I thought it would be cool to get messy with it and have black ooze coming out of our mouths like we were possessed or sick or something. Like the ‘ol devil had gotten ahold of us and was forcing us to play his music. After watching the video I realized I was probably inspired by the Luc Besson flick The Fifth Element and didn’t know it. 

PRT: I read that you are already working on your next EP, scheduled for release this Fall. What else is up next for Chico Detour?

Sebastian: We’re just getting started– I know that sounds totally lame but it’s true. The first batch of songs were an accident really. I didn’t say this before but I never intended to put these songs out. A lot of it was trial and error and hoping for the best. So now that we got the gang together and the sound is defined, for the most part, dude there’s so much writing that is gonna’ happen! There are so many ideas with doo-wop harmonies, variations on 60s garage type tips, psychedelic trips, more punk, and best of all more weirdo recording techniques. Why not?!

We have two songs we’re gonna put out as singles, prolly a 10.” Then we’re firming up 6 news songs on top of that that we’ll be recording shortly there-after; and if I had it my way we’d continue writing and recording. 

I wanna tour. We’ve had a fantastic year in Seattle playing with some garage rock legends, Mark Sultan, The Detroit Cobras, Okmoniks, The Snares (August), we’re playing Neumos next week. We’re having a great time!