Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 10/14/08 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: Photo Courtesy of Gary Ventura Kelsey and the Chaos are inspired by 80s rock staples Pat Benatar and Joan Jett as well as modern rock artists No Doubt and Reel Big Fish. They describe their music as "simple and easy" pop/rock.

Being in a band while having two members in Manhattan and the other two in central Jersey is no easy feat. But Kelsey and the Chaos can do it, and they do it well.
The first two members of the band were the singer Kelsey Merritt, 19, and the drummer, Nick Rotunno, 18. They met at Berklee College of Music and knew they wanted to start something.

"We knew we wanted to base the band out of the New York/Tri-State Area, so we posted topics and forums on every website we could saying we needed two guitarists. And luckily enough, Brian was looking through the forums on Myspace a little after we posted, and [he] messaged us," said Nick and Kelsey.

"The experience [of] searching for members was very hectic because we knew we were being solicited for Warped Tour and had plenty of other shows in the works. We were lucky enough to find Brian and Justin, bring them into practice, and we all just clicked from that point on," they said.
The two guitarists that they found were Justin Stabler, 20, and Brian Pascoe, 20. Creating the band's current lineup began in late November of 2007 and took until late January of 2008.

Justin and Brian were previously in a band called Even the Odds, Kelsey was a solo artist and Nick was in a band called Take the Fall.

How long have they been together? "Less than a year," said the two of them. "We formed in January [of] 2008, and played our first show in March [of] 2008."

In order for these guys to practice, at least two of the four must make a commute to get where they need to be.

"We are only separated by about an hour and a half by car or train. We just really have to commit to what we are doing because traveling an hour and a half three times a week for band practice is very tiring.
We have two practice facilities so we can split up who has to travel so it isn't always [the same] two people traveling while the others don't have to," Nick and Kelsey told me.

Continued...

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