chevelle’s loeffler brothers fight like cats and dogs and shun the spotlight whenever
possible. oddly, that—and an ability to write hooks the size of a chi-town hoagie—may be
the secret to their success.
If Disturbed’s Dave Draiman or Korn’s Jonathan Davis walked into New York City’s Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, they’d have to field so many requests for autographs and photos they’d be lucky
to get two bites in before their food got cold. In that respect, Chevelle’s Loeffler brothers are pretty fortunate.
Guitarist and singer Pete, bassist Joe, and drummer Sam are seated in plain view in the middle of the restaurant, and yet, as they nibble at their salads and chicken fingers, they have more privacy than the nameless woman in the low-cut sweater seated two tables away. Chevelle are established enough that the Hard Rock’s parent company has asked them for guitars to hang on the walls of their various outlets. But unless the band members were sitting directly under their instruments and wearing name tags, they’d go unrecognized.
“We can go to our own shows and not get noticed,” Sam admits with a grin. “We have
pictures of Joe standing in line, going up to kids and saying, ‘What’s up? You like this band?’ And nobody has any idea who he is. Once, I walked off our bus in Seattle, and a guy came
up to me and asked, ‘Hey, do you think any of the band guys are gonna come out?’ ”
For most artists, being faceless is a kiss of death, but somehow anonymity has worked for Chevelle. Their 2002 album, Wonder What’s Next, went Platinum, producing two major radio hits, “The Red” and “Send the Pain Below.” The band then maintained a rigorous road schedule of well-attended shows; those kinetic performances were captured last year on the DVD Live From the Norva and the concert CD Live From the Road. Now, as Chevelle prepare for the release of their third full-length, This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In (Epic), the band members remain confident that their strong songwriting will continue to draw fans.
“We want what we’re doing to be about the songs, not about us,” Sam says. “Two years ago, we were playing a show in Michigan, and I walked into the club and there were posters up all over with our faces on them. So I went through the whole place and ripped every one of them down. The girl from [our label] was like, ‘You know, you need to allow us to market you guys.’ And I was like, ‘Fuck, man, market the music.’ ”