"Inspiration is overrated. Passion is what gets you there, but work is what makes you great," said Chris Neville, lead singer and musical arranger of the cover band, Tributosaurus, on the most recent Fear No ART presents Dinner Party. He would know. No one works harder than Chris. To bring full authenticity to each musical group or album that Tributosaurus becomes each month, Neville pulls in musicians from all over, not just Chicago. If a 20 piece wind section is needed to become the group "Chicago", he puts it together, plus the rehearsals. All this usually just to play the group once or twice on stage before becoming another band the next month.
In addition to Tributosaurus, Neville also writes and produces his own music. However, his biggest project to date is one that he just started. Neville, along with two other partners, has opened Wire, a venue in Berwyn that they are hoping will reinvent how musicians collaborate and create music. Wire houses a stage with top line equipment (Tributosaurus will play there March 15th when they become Van Morrisson), recording studios, a rock university and a collaborative space. Wire is where musicians can create, work and play together in a world where people are more often than not creating music alone in their basement on a computer. "We put something together that is community based and is more than just a place where you can go to see a band, but a place where you can learn something, or your kid can learn something, or a place where a local band might go to record a record or distribute an existing record... When you have creative people under one roof, good things happen."
To hear more of my conversation with Chris Neville, including his advice for young musicians and what he draws from in order to write music, click here. In the interim, enjoy the original tune that he wrote and performed on Fear No ART presents The Dinner Party in the video below.