Christopher Lane Conley
(born February 29, 1980) is an American musician and songwriter/composer, and the lead-singer/rhythm guitarist in Saves the Day. As he is the only remaining original member as well as major artistic contributor, Saves the Day has been referred to, in recent years, as "essentially the Chris Conley show". [1]
Chris and David Soloway (former Saves the Day bandmate) have recently joined forces with Max Bemis and Coby Linder from the band Say Anything to form the band Two Tongues. [2]
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CHRIS CONLEY TICKETS
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Background
Conley was born and raised in
Princeton,
New Jersey, and began playing the guitar when he was thirteen years old. He says that listening to
Led Zeppelin and
Aerosmith as a child made him interested in writing and playing music. The first song he ever learned on guitar was
Stairway to Heaven.
[3] Interestingly enough, in an interview at the Meadowlands concert in 2008, Chris Conley mentioned that much strife was caused by his practicing the famous Led Zeppelin song. Chris indicated that he practiced the song to such an extent that his father threatened to forcibly take his guitar from him.
[4]
Because of the strife with his father, Chris needed a new outlet. Consequently, he formed a band with a group of classmates at
Princeton Day School.
[5] The band was originally titled Indifference, but later renamed the band Sefler. Conley has cited some of his early influences as
the Beatles,
the Smiths,
Billy Joel,
Superchunk,
the Smashing Pumpkins,
Sunny Day Real Estate,
Archers of Loaf,
Screeching Weasel,
Jawbreaker,
Gorilla Biscuits and
Lifetime.
[6]
Sefler was originally composed of Chris Conley, Bryan Newman, Chris Zampella and Justin Gaylord. They recorded a 3-track
7" entitled "13 Hours of Everything" one afternoon in a friend's basement. They then recorded a nine-track demo at Trax East Studio in New Jersey. While recording, a friend of the band (and later bassist), Sean McGrath, suggested that they change their name to
Saves the Day, which they did.
Saves the Day
Saves the Day signed to
Equal Vision Records and recorded their first album
Can't Slow Down
, which was released in 1998 during their first US tour alongside bands
Bane and Countervail. Lyrically the album included idealistic dreams, feeling inadequate, honesty and unhappiness, which reflected Conley's life at the time. The style of music is often considered very similar to that of the band Lifetime.
[7]
In 1999 the band released their second album
Through Being Cool
. With this album, Conley's lyrics started becoming morbid and corporeal, and the style of music changed into a more
pop punk sound.
At age 19/20 he started listening to
the Beatles and has cited them as the main influence for
In Reverie
.
During the writing of Sound the Alarm, Conley was heavily influenced by Bad Brains, The Damned, The Misfits and The Stooges.
Conley, with Saves the Day have released 4 other albums, lyrically are all considered similar except for
In Reverie
, which is a more positive album. This is largely due to the fact that there was no turmoil in Conley's life at the time, therefore there wasn't much to vent about as he recalls.
[8] This lack of turmoil impacted upon Conley's songwriting ultimately resulting in them being released from their major label Dreamworks. In April 2006, Conley made comment in
Rolling Stone
magazine that Saves the Day's release
Sound the Alarm
, is "about the black clouds inside my mind, It was these intense fears and paranoia and diluted thoughts that were eating me alive. It was utter insanity." in regards to the failure of
In Reverie
and subsequent release from Dreamworks.
[9]
Solo Touring
While there are no plans for any solo recordings, Chris and David Soloway has recently toured throughout the USA, playing acoustic versions of Saves the Day songs.
[10] [11] Conley, and an army of committed fans recently have posted performances via the bands website, the band's official
YouTube account and elsewhere on the YouTube site. Conley also finished up a solo three week acoustic tour with Matt Pryor of
The Get Up Kids.
Two Tongues
Two Tongues
is a new collaborative project between Chris, David Soloway of Saves the Day and
Max Bemis and
Coby Linder of
Say Anything. Their
debut album hit shelves February 3, 2009. Three tracks on their album releasing in February of 2009 is available for listening on their
Myspace page.
Discography (Conley as primary composer)
- Can't Slow Down
(1998) on Equal Vision Records
- I'm Sorry I'm Leaving EP
(1998) on Immigrant Sun Records
- Lisa's Birthday Tape
(1998) self-released
- Through Being Cool
(1999) on Equal Vision Records
- Stay What You Are
(2001) on Vagrant Records
- In Reverie
(2003) on DreamWorks Records
- Ups and Downs: Early Recordings and B-Sides
(2004)
- Bug Sessions Volume One
(tour exclusive) (2006)
- Sound the Alarm
(2006) on Vagrant Records
- Under the Boards
(2007) on Vagrant Records
- Bug Sessions Volume Two and Three
(2008)
Compilations featuring Conley's compositions
- The Rebirth Of Hardcore:1999
on Supersoul Records, Good Life Recordings, Temperance Records (1999) (features "The Art of Misplacing Firearms")
- Punk Uprisings: Incompatible, Vol. 2
(1999) (features "Shoulder to the Wheel")
- City Rockers: A Tribute to the Clash
(1999) (features cover of Clash' "Clash City Rockers")
- Equal Visions Records Sampler
(2000) (features "Always Ten Feet Tall")
- Vagrant Records: Summer Sampler
(2000) (features "Holly Hox, Forget Me Nots")
- Another Year on the Streets
(2000) (features "Sell My Old Clothes, I'm Off to Heaven", "A Drag in D Flat")
- Another Year on the Streets Vol. 2
(2002) (features "Ups and Downs", "Nightingale")
- Welcome To Vagrant Records
(2003) (features "At Your Funeral")
- Living Tomorrow Today: A Benefit for Ty Cambra
(2003) (features "A Drag in D Flat")
- Another Year on the Streets Vol. 3
(2004) (features "When It Isn't Like It Should Be")
- A Compilation to Beat Cancer
(2004) (features "Don't Go Outside")
- Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
(2005) (features cover of Dead Boys' "Sonic Reducer")
- Warped Tour 2006 Compilation
(2006) (features "The End")
References
- Sound the Alarm album revue (Scenepointblank.com)(The Cavalier Daily)
- http://www.sayanythingmusic.com/news/two-tongues-release-date
- Saves The Day : In Reverie
- "INTERVIEW Saves the Day", Accessed 8 July, 2009
- "A perfect world Princeton's Chris Conley puts life's imperfections in perspective", ''Home News Tribune'', March 26, 2004. Accessed August 19, 2007. "Saves the Day — also Eben D'Amico, bass; David Soloway, guitar; and Pete Parada, drums — was formed in the halls of the Princeton Day School high school in the mid-1990s."
- "Band 'Saves' day with solid new effort" (The Cavalier Daily)
- Saves The Day : Equal Vision Records
- Change what you are(Aversion Magazine)
- "Article about Conley in Rolling Stone Magazine" (Rolling Stone)
- Chris Conley Tour Dates
- ReadJunk.com article announcing Chris Conley solo tour