Stephen Gardner started Chessie in 1993, while he was still a member of Lorelei , the Washington, D.C. post-rock forerunners. Gardner's then side-project pushed past the boundaries of "indie", combining guitars and post-rock sensibilities with the timbres, sonic palette, and production techniques of experimental electro-acoustic music. Chessie's four full-length releases, including one by their side project Camping on the Drop Beat and Plug Research imprints, have been genre-defining works. Marked by off-kilter rhythms, dense textures, and a haunting harmonic core, Chessie's music has been the blueprint for the work of countless other artists.
In 2000, Ben Bailes joined Chessie, and from that time he and Gardner have worked as a duo. The two producers share composition and production duties at their System Studios in Washington, DC. In 2005, Berlin's Lok Musik put out Chessie's Dual Mode EP, representing Chessie's first new release since 2001's acclaimed Overnight LP/CD, dubbed "one the 10 best obscure albums of 2001" by The New York Times. Chessie's 4th full length (5th counting Suburban Shore by Camping ), Manifest, was released on February 4, 2008 on Plug Research. In the spring of '08 they will begin to perform live for the first time in several years.
You can order a copy of Manifest by clicking the button below (overseas shipping costs extra):
buy songs from Manifest on iTunes
buy songs from Overnight on iTunes
buy songs from Dual Mode on iTunes
buy songs from Chessie side project Camping on iTunes
