Where the hell is Chon?

[Kwert]

I hadn't been thinking about this band for a while but spontaneously decided to revisit their Audiotree sessions and remembered how much I love Newborn Sun. I realized that they've basically been silent for almost a year with basically zero social media presence. I found a couple Reddit threads mentioning that their studio drummer gave an interview (since deleted) saying Sumerian somehow fucked them over bigtime in terms of money (resulting in Chon not seeing any money from merch sales/tour revenue) and is essentially holding the band hostage until the end of their contract. There was also something about Mario and Erick commenting on their discord that the band is on hiatus for now and that the thought of Chon makes them pretty miserable.

Is anyone able to actually verify any of this, or have any knowledge as to what might actually be going on with the band? It would be a damn shame if they just quietly disappeared.

 

[jaxadam]

Chon is one of the cleanest bands I’ve seen live. I hadn’t even heard of them when they opened for Conquering Dystopia and Animals as Leaders and they were the best act of the night hands down.

I don’t really keep up with a lot of stuff but I hope they’re out there still doing their thing.

 

[Opion]

It's a long complicated story and there's been a few rumors circulating, but the gist of it that I have gathered over the years is this: their session drummer, Brian Evans went on a podcast and was asked about their hiatus. He proceeded to tell a story about how they basically signed a 360 deal with Sumerian because they "wanted to be famous" and so they got it: but in return they made zero money. Even their merch sales went to the label, apparently. Their last post was around the middle the pandemic.

Later on, their guitarist Erick posted that the rumors about the Sumerian situation weren't true, but that they were taking a much needed hiatus. I've met the guys before and they seem like very chill, normal dudes. IMO I think they basically realized that they were a bit in over their heads and weren't prepared for the music industry. They were pumping out records every 2 years, but then as they started getting notoriety, realized how little money they were making, and wanted to reassess the situation.

It's such a shitty scenario because you'd think that as talented as those guys are, they would have no issues selling records, merchandise, and touring consistently, but I think they realized that lifestyle was too much for them at the time. Who knows - I hear they are still making music and working on a record, but no news has come out from them. The only one with an IG is Erick and he posts new riffs from time to time.

So yeah, I think they are still kicking it making music and enjoying life, and lord knows what they will end up doing, but I just hope they are happy whatever they decide to do. They are monster musicians and seem to really be genuine, normal people. I wish them the best but miss them greatly.

 

[brector]

Chon is one of the cleanest bands I’ve seen live. I hadn’t even heard of them when they opened for Conquering Dystopia and Animals as Leaders and they were the best act of the night hands down.

I don’t really keep up with a lot of stuff but I hope they’re out there still doing their thing.

I saw them on that same tour and was exited to see them. I could not believe how tight they were - and without a click track! They came out after their set and I talked to them, thanked them for coming to a smaller town and that I was blown away with their sound and how tight they were live. They all seemed VERY humble and thanked me for my kind words. Great guys for sure.

 

[aesthyrian]

Signing to Sumerian was such an odd choice for them at the time, they didn't need anything Sumerian offered it seemed.. they already had tours with Animals as Leaders and their self released albums were doing just fine. Since they've signed with Sumeerian I can't say that I've seen any noticeable growth for the band. Hopefully that deal ends soon and they can find their passion and enjoyment again and make more killer tunes. Also, Fuck Sumerian and Ash.

 

[Shawn]

It's a long complicated story and there's been a few rumors circulating, but the gist of it that I have gathered over the years is this: their session drummer, Brian Evans went on a podcast and was asked about their hiatus. He proceeded to tell a story about how they basically signed a 360 deal with Sumerian because they "wanted to be famous" and so they got it: but in return they made zero money. Even their merch sales went to the label, apparently. Their last post was around the middle the pandemic.

Later on, their guitarist Erick posted that the rumors about the Sumerian situation weren't true, but that they were taking a much needed hiatus. I've met the guys before and they seem like very chill, normal dudes. IMO I think they basically realized that they were a bit in over their heads and weren't prepared for the music industry. They were pumping out records every 2 years, but then as they started getting notoriety, realized how little money they were making, and wanted to reassess the situation.

It's such a shitty scenario because you'd think that as talented as those guys are, they would have no issues selling records, merchandise, and touring consistently, but I think they realized that lifestyle was too much for them at the time. Who knows - I hear they are still making music and working on a record, but no news has come out from them. The only one with an IG is Erick and he posts new riffs from time to time.

So yeah, I think they are still kicking it making music and enjoying life, and lord knows what they will end up doing, but I just hope they are happy whatever they decide to do. They are monster musicians and seem to really be genuine, normal people. I wish them the best but miss them greatly.

I was going to say sad news but hiatus makes sense. I often wondered about them myself.

 

[Kwert]

It's a long complicated story and there's been a few rumors circulating, but the gist of it that I have gathered over the years is this: their session drummer, Brian Evans went on a podcast and was asked about their hiatus. He proceeded to tell a story about how they basically signed a 360 deal with Sumerian because they "wanted to be famous" and so they got it: but in return they made zero money. Even their merch sales went to the label, apparently. Their last post was around the middle the pandemic.

Later on, their guitarist Erick posted that the rumors about the Sumerian situation weren't true, but that they were taking a much needed hiatus. I've met the guys before and they seem like very chill, normal dudes. IMO I think they basically realized that they were a bit in over their heads and weren't prepared for the music industry. They were pumping out records every 2 years, but then as they started getting notoriety, realized how little money they were making, and wanted to reassess the situation.

It's such a shitty scenario because you'd think that as talented as those guys are, they would have no issues selling records, merchandise, and touring consistently, but I think they realized that lifestyle was too much for them at the time. Who knows - I hear they are still making music and working on a record, but no news has come out from them. The only one with an IG is Erick and he posts new riffs from time to time.

So yeah, I think they are still kicking it making music and enjoying life, and lord knows what they will end up doing, but I just hope they are happy whatever they decide to do. They are monster musicians and seem to really be genuine, normal people. I wish them the best but miss them greatly.

Yeah, this is basically all the info I was able to gather as well. I'm still really curious as to whether or not the Sumerian rumours are true, and if Erick was doing damage control with the "not true" statement. I'd hope a label like that wouldn't try to take advantage of some young kids wanting to make it in the music industry but... maybe that's asking too much.

I hope they get the rest and space they need and are able to come back to Chon, but if not, at least we got some great music when they were around.

 

[Lorcan Ward]

I've seen a few threads on facebook about Chon the last year and nobody had any more information.

Signing to Sumerian was such an odd choice for them at the time, they didn't need anything Sumerian offered it seemed.. they already had tours with Animals as Leaders and their self released albums were doing just fine. Since they've signed with Sumeerian I can't say that I've seen any noticeable growth for the band. Hopefully that deal ends soon and they can find their passion and enjoyment again and make more killer tunes. Also, Fuck Sumerian and Ash.

I've seen a number of bands and artists I follow jump on recording deals that end their career or at least stunt their growth completely. All these bands were doing fine unsigned.

 

[bostjan]

I've seen a number of bands and artists I follow jump on recording deals that end their career or at least stunt their growth completely.

Totally. I've known a lot of them personally. Seems like the dream that used to be to get a record deal in order to find success turned into a dream to find success without needing a record deal, sometime in the mid 2000's.

A lot of bands get a record deal, and it'll have an expense allowance that they don't really understand. So, they'll go on tour, and buy new gear for the tour, rent a tour bus, hire a road crew, etc., then maybe half pack small venues for low ticket prices and only sell a couple hundred records that they were contracted to sell tens of thousands of, and end up coming home not just broke but with crippling debt over all of the touring expenses that they thought were covered, but were really just advances in pay that they never made, so now they owe.