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Why I love Chase Atlantic and am so addicted to them. To start off here is a basic understanding of them; Chase Atlantic is an alternative, Australian band formed in 2014 which consists of two brothers, Mitchel and Clinton Cave, and their long-time best friend, Christian Anthony. They have captured the ears of many and have grown very big in the last couple of years. Their music has a very distinct sound to it and is often described as dark, alternative R&B, with pop and indie rock influences. A lot of their songs focus on more taboo topics such as drugs, sex, anxiety, and depression. 

Once I heard Chase Atlantic, I easily became addicted to their songs; they just have this certain quality to them that itches a part of my brain that makes me so enamored with them and their music. As someone who deals with depression and anxiety on a daily basis, I love hearing about it in music and it helps me realize I’m not alone in this struggle. In my opinion, Chase Atlantic does a good job highlighting these struggles and words the lyrics in a way that is very beautiful.  

Music is such a big part of my day-to-day life and is something I often use as a coping mechanism for my anxiety. Because music is something I deeply connect with I tend to try and incorporate it with my love for art.  

Last year I began an art piece centered around two of my favorite Chase Atlantic songs ‘Consume’ and ‘Empty’. Both songs talk about addiction and drug abuse and differ in many ways. ‘Consume’ talks a lot more about anxiety/violence and feeling frustrated and powerless in the face of these struggles. Whereas ‘Empty’ focuses a lot on the feeling of being empty and its causes and how emptiness is a pervasive feeling without a clear solution. 

 I took a lot of inspiration from both songs and their overall meanings to specific lyrics. In my artwork you can see a girl passed out on her bed surrounded by pills, prescription bottles, and needles. These aspects of the piece were inspired by the beginning of the song ‘Empty’ where Mitchel sings about all the pills he takes and how they don’t work anymore; “Red pill, help me get my words out/ Blue pill, won’t you help me calm down?/The green pill doesn’t really do shit/It barely gets me higher than this music/New pills colour of my Off-White . . . I don’t feel euphoria now.” Some other aspects of the piece include the window and how you can see a drug deal going down, as well as on the wall you can see a picture of a heart with a knife in it. The picture is inspired by lyrics from the song ‘Consume’ where Mitchel sings that there is a blade where your heart is.  

The main reason I was inspired to do this piece though was from specific lyrics at the end of ‘Consume’ which say, “Please understand that I’m trying my hardest/My head’s a mess, but I’m trying regardless/Anxiety is one hell of a problem.” I really connected with these lyrics and believe they encapsulate anxiety and depression in a simple yet alluring way and that is why I build the idea of this artwork around them. 

 Once finished with this piece I gave it the title of ‘Not Dead . . . Just Empty,’ which seemed very fitting and had the opportunity to showcase it in a local gallery in my town. It’s one of my favorite pieces I have done, maybe not the best, but it has a lot of meaning to it which is why I love to share the piece with others and introduce them to Chase Atlantic!!!