Las cruces is a bustling hub of creatives and untapped vision. Many people start their career here, as the music scene is welcoming to almost all forms and genres and provides a solid step hold for those unexperinced with the industry.
For those experienced in the industry, however, it is an amazing market full of opportunities for those who love making music. One Cruces resident that has probably seen it all as he has fronted for bands ranging from the funkadelic stylings of Stoney Blue Fish, to the hardcore power cords of Füsebox.
Zane Chaffee is as experienced in the scene as one could hope to be, as his talents span far past his own music. When he is not working one of his many jobs, he can be found coordinating efforts at the local station KTAL 101.5FM, or helping the Proud Pete rock band get ready for a show. He is a priceless asset in the music community, with a rich experience that any artist is sure to learn from.
I had the opportunity to sit down with my old friend and former band mate, to pick his mind and get a view into his journey.
- How has your experience differed, comparatively between the music scene in Las Cruces and the scene in El Paso?
“There’s more and there’s less variety in El Paso, and I’ll explain what I mean by that.” Zane goes on to say how the population attributes to the overall amount of groups in El Paso, but there’s very little deviation in style. There are dozens of groups in the area, but many of these groups tend to play similar songs and use similar sound techniques. Rock seems to be the poison of choice in the borderlands, and while these bands play wonderfully, it leaves some individuality to be desired.
“Las Cruces is inherently smaller, so what happens with that is you have less groups and less people to work with……because of this you get a lot more country acts, singer-songwriters in addition to classic rock groups and cover groups.”
He says in El Paso you are likely to see more original music, not to say that musicians in Cruces are not creating original music, but for what the musicians here lack in new songs, they make up for in variety of sound and players.
“I’ve also seen a lot of younger groups out of Las Cruces like Cosmic Unknown, The Men From Mars, Dead Format just to name a few and they are all wildly different from each other, whereas I can name five bands from El Paso that sound similar to each other.”
“In reality, to compare Las Cruces to El Paso is to compare an apple to an orange.”
Füsebox, being an El Paso group, generally has to fight harder to secure venues. In the end these venues see more traffic making the extra effort worth while. Stoney Blue Fish, on the other hand, is graced with the advantage of open venues available to local artist. This comes with the downside that very few venues in Las Cruces permit underage patrons.
One thing he makes sure to include that both areas share is their many art galleries open to local artist. “A lot of the times, for their sake, you start to host the live music and it becomes a venue for it, but they are able to get more patrons statistically because they have these people rolling in to see these shows.”
Zane recommends art gallery shows to everyone, as it is an awesome opportunity to see something new you might have never seen before.
- As a member of so many groups in the area, have you reached that level of local notoriety?
To Zane the notoriety and fame isn’t nearly as important as the expression of the art. There is nothing wrong with this in Zane’s mind and he believes every artist is entitled to the rewards from the work they have put into it, he personally strives to create good music over tons of cash.
“I only want to be famous if I feel like I’m good at what I do.”
He feels like he has a long way to go before he has reached that level, but the important thing for him is the connections you create with your music, whether it’s between you and your band mates, or between you and the people that listen to your songs. To him there is no better fame than knowing the music you made has resonated with someone on a spiritual level.
“As long as you can pay for your gas, a couple of drinks, some food, and still have a couple bucks left over, that’s great! Fifteen bucks left over on the upswing, that means you’re moving up in the world. Putting something together and writing something, having it come to life is a beautiful experience. That in of itself is so much more life affirming than notoriety.”
Zane is grateful for his experiences playing with and opening for many amazing bands, but he notes that many other groups have the same opportunity. People are taking notice of the music, and those that dedicate themselves to doing what they love.
My interview with Zane lasted much longer, and I could have easily filled several pages with content, but I would rather leave things for future articles, as there are many new adventures ahead of Zane, the universe has just yet to reveal the path!
Stoney Blue Fish is always looking for new opportunities to make new music and expand the content available to enjoy. As of now, the groups main objective is to spread their influence and take the music on tour past the bounds of the Land of Enchantment. As these boys reach new heights, we can only watch as a proud community. To us, they have always been stars!
