Chasing Supernovas, a rock band from Lincoln, Nebraska, released a debut album, A Chance To Burn, earlier this year. The album is full of interesting songs that keep the listeners on their toes. One of those songs, “Razorblade Crosswalk”, has been re-mastered and upgraded to “Razorblade Crosswalk 2.0”. The band collaborated with producer Myles Clayborne of Vigilante Productions on this project, and it is absolutely amazing! There is also a cool music video to go along with the new version.
Members of Chasing Supernovas include: Kyle Sasse (lead guitar/backing vocals/songwriter); L.A. Skye (lead vocals/songwriter); Cody Heinke (drums/live sound); and Randall Miller (bass). The origins of Chasing Supernovas began with Dear Freida. Things were changing with the band, including the sound. Many of the songs on the A Chance To Burn album started out as Dear Freida songs. Due to some internal struggles with the band, however, Lindsay and Kyle took a chance to breathe new life into what they had been working on for so long. It was a re-birth of sorts. And lo and behold, Chasing Supernovas was born!
Regarding getting hooked up to work with Myles Clayborne, Kyle says he and Lindsay know his bandmate from the popular hard rock band Saul, Bill McIlravy, due to Bill being from Lincoln. Myles is the drummer of Saul. Lindsay and Kyle got to know Myles through various channels, including Facebook interaction. They say he is super personable and easy to talk to. They heard the work he had been doing as a producer with other bands such as SevVven and GEARS, and they knew they wanted to work with him because “he just makes magic”.
Why did they choose “Razorblade Crosswalk” for this project? Because, as Kyle says, it’s their most sought-after song and they knew Myles could help them sculpt it into something they could be proud of. He definitely delivered!
Kyle actually wrote the music and lyrics for “Razorblade Crosswalk” a long time ago – around 2006. He says, “Lindsay made it truly come alive, adding her amazing voice and ethereal layers”. They give credit to Cody Heinke for bringing their music alive on stage. They are grateful to Matt Savner and Dawn McIntyre from MASSIVE MEDIA MS for pushing them to keep going and not give up despite the nay-sayers who said they couldn’t do it.
When asked about the meaning behind “Razorblade Crosswalk”, Kyle tells a story about “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden. It was stated that Chris Cornell wrote the lyrics as a poem, matching the word phrases together, but that the song wasn’t written about anything in particular. Cornell wanted to allow the listeners the freedom to come up with their own personal meaning based on what they heard, not what he told them. Kyle says he used this same approach with “Razorblade Crosswalk”. When I listen to the song, I interpret it as being about battling through self-destructive behavior and fighting to not let it get the best of you. Kyle does share that it’s a song that was “birthed from negativity and living in a very dark time”.
So part of the purpose of writing this review is to compare the two versions of the song. I really liked the original “Razorblade Crosswalk”. It’s honestly probably my favorite song on the A Chance To Burn album. When I first heard “Razorblade Crosswalk 2.0”, my mouth literally dropped open. I couldn’t get over the transformation. It is clean, crisp, and polished. The vocals are layered perfectly. The electronic elements add an interesting twist. The way this track was put together makes it sound heavier than the original. The hard vocals give it a bit of a metalcore feel. The bridge of the song has that headbanging element, and Kyle’s guitar solo is stellar.
Lindsay was the mastermind behind the “Razorblade Crosswalk 2.0” music video. She spent countless hours filtering through different video segments, cutting and splicing, fitting people’s images into TVs, and creating the amazing effects. Kyle says, “She did it all and she nailed it!
Both Lindsay and Kyle filmed all of the video using only iPhones and one GoPro.
The concept behind the video . . . TVs are cool? But in all seriousness, Lindsay wanted to incorporate more than just the TVs. She wanted to toggle back and forth between retro and modern times, using TVs, theater screens, laptops, computer monitors, and even phones. Not to mention the clip of the band on the billboard! That was a play on social media as well as where they hope to be in the future with their band. The video is fun and interesting! It’s energetic and includes cameo appearances by many awesome people from the music industry who have been supportive of Chasing Supernovas. It’s awesome to see so many people come together for this project to support this great band.
Chasing Supernovas is starting to book shows all over the U.S. They have performances lined up in late July in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska. They are working on setting up a “weekend warrior tour” in the Chicago area, as well as hopefully a bigger tour of the Gulf Coast next year. After that . . . the world? There will also be more new music to come! The desire and determination along with the work ethic of this band will certainly lead to awesome things in the future for Chasing Supernovas!
You can find Chasing Supernovas on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
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