Today we’d like to introduce you to Zac Chase.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Zac. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Nobody in my family is musical. And I was a quiet kid. My interest in hip hop started in middle school when I got my older brother’s old mp3 player. Until then, I never had the means to explore my own taste in music. I have a distinct memory barreling through Lil Wayne’s discography during the long bus rides of a 7th grade school trip to Washington, D.C., with my head against the window. I still kept to myself most of the time. But I was soaking in whatever I could get my hands on. I was a sponge.
My teachers, parents, and I had all noticed that I was a skilled creative writer when it came to assignments and essays. Looking back, I think it was only a matter of time until I tried my hand at songwriting. Initially, I don’t think I really knew what to rap about, seeing as I was a complete introvert hooked on a genre chock-full of misogyny, drugs, and violence, which I unsurprisingly had absolutely no experience with in my lifestyle. And I certainly wasn’t interested in lying. Getting into Kendrick Lamar and Mac Miller more around 2012 taught me that everyone has a valid perspective to share, and I began to embrace my introverted personality. This sponge was about to squeeze something out.
My first music release came at the end of my junior year of high school. It was a mixtape called Chasing Italy that I released with a friend. Unmixed, unmastered, and produced with free YouTube beats, Chasing Italy was physically passed out to the student body at The Weber School. My friend never wrote another song again, but I had become addicted to the songwriting process and determined to explore this creative outlet.
There was no doubt I was getting better. My focus on music only grew as I attended the University of Georgia, recording songs in my freshman dorm room whenever my roommate was gone. I released my second mixtape Brain Freeze at the start of my sophomore year of college. I started investing more money into myself, and put my first song on streaming platforms in December 2017, titled “Gimme Gimme.” I feel like that was a big step for me.
I started performing in Athens toward the end of 2018, and have logged 12 live shows since then, including sets at The 40 Watt Club, Southern Brewing Company, and my fraternity’s spring party last year. To date, I’ve released 20 songs onto streaming platforms, including a 2018 EP and my first album People Get Things in March of this year. I just graduated from UGA with a degree in Finance and a certificate in Music Business. I’m currently working on a project about the end of my days at school and transition into the ‘real world.’
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
There’s a difference between being in a band and being a rapper. I’ve always been a disciplined independent worker, but working for years as a solo act has definitely frustrated me. I had a hard time getting out of my own head when I lacked confidence. I was a scared little introvert, not a networking aficionado. It wasn’t until late 2018 when I started performing that I actually started connecting with other musicians and truly found my lane.
We’d love to hear more about your music.
I’m Zac Chase. I’m a songwriter, rapper, and poet. I’ve labelled myself a sponge to reflect the process of absorbing my surroundings, and then squeezing out finished products. These products tend to be in lyric form. “Sponge” doubles as an acronym for “Some People Only Need Good Energy”.
I’m most proud of the attendance at the People Get Things album release party. I was personally responsible for 25 people packed into a cozy venue in Athens called The World Famous. The crazy part to me is the fact that my set started after midnight. And it was a Tuesday night. People were getting things. I had never before been able to visualize support of that magnitude.
What sets me apart from others is my ability to seamlessly transition between working independently and working with other people. I will spend hours grinding out a song in my room solo, immediately snap into collaboration mode for however long, then walk right back into my room and pick up where I left off. I think a born independent worker will have an easier time training himself to collaborate than a serial collaborator will have teaching himself discipline.
What were you like growing up?
Crafty, observant, but sometimes a timid follower. I snuck in a few hours of video games on weekend mornings before my parents woke up. I used to be into video games and sports a lot more, but music got the last laugh.
Contact Info:
- Website: zacchase.com
- Email: zacchasemusic@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zacchasehuh/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/zacchasehuh
Image Credit:
Pete Gottschalk, Rae Bumgardner, Luke D’Agostino
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