On February 13, 2004, bassist Chris Saathoff and his bandmates in Chin Up Chin Up went to the Empty Bottle to see the Ponys and We Ragazzi. They were in the mood to celebrate: they’d just finished mixing a batch of demos with engineer Jeremy Lemos at Semaphore Recording, and it looked like they were finally ready to record a full-length follow-up to the EP they’d put out a year before.
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“None of us knew,” says Bolen. “When I drove home that night I saw all the cops there, but it didn’t even cross my mind. I think I was the first one to get the call the next morning.”
The reality of the situation had sunk in by that evening, and the band fell into a state of shock. “After that,” says Bolen, “we all just drank a whole lot for about a month.”
Buoyed by the outpouring of support and directly encouraged by Saathoff’s parents, Chin Up decided to continue as a band even after the second benefit in April. “In the end we all kind of felt that’s what Chris would’ve wanted,” says Dye.
In the studio Chin Up had made do with Snydacker doubling on bass and guitar, but to continue playing live the band still needed to find a full-time bassist. Goodwillie was busy with work and his own band, so Chin Up recruited Marc Young of Appleseed Cast. Young had subbed for Saathoff before, when he’d left a west-coast tour in 2003 to attend his brother’s wedding. “Marc was the only person that made sense,” says Bolen. “Him and Chris got along really well. He’d played with us before, and we’re all good friends.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jim Newberry.
