CHEVELLE Frontman Says He Is Pulling His Hair Out Working On Music For Band's Next Studio Album

CHEVELLE frontman Pete Loeffler has confirmed to Full Metal Jackie's "Whiplash" show on the Los Angeles radio station 95.5 KLOS that the band is hard at work composing material for its new album. "Sam [Loeffler, drums] and I are writing it now," he said. "[It's] not an easy process. I've gotta dig deep. I keep saying that, strangely enough. I've gotta pull from somewhere, so I'm gonna do that — I'm gonna dig deep."

According to Pete, the songwriting process never stops for him.

"[When] I come off the road, we hear [from people], oh, we're playing our last show, we're going home to take some time off. It's not exactly accurate for me, because I go home and I start the next record," he said. "So, for me, I've been writing for a year now already. And I'm pulling my hair out. That's what the fans don't know and they don't see, because I try to keep them away from that. But my ears are fried — literally — from speakers blaring in my face trying to get these demos ready to play for [producer] Joe Barresi and hopefully for my band guys to like, like the last record. It's a strange process. I don't know if anybody would believe it. I should probably film some of it. There's so much trial and error. It's difficult."

Pete went on to say that CHEVELLE is taking its time coming up with a strong follow-up to 2016's "The North Corridor".

"I don't feel like I have enough time as it is — still," he said. "I feel like I'm struggling. We have sort of a loose timeline — that is true — but it's definitely too short. I could probably use double the time. But sometimes if you don't have a deadline, you won't ever release anything. So me, as the creative part of the band, I don't know how well I'd do if I didn't have deadlines, if that makes sense."

Last October, Pete told Billboard magazine that he wanted "to stretch a little bit more" on CHEVELLE's next album. "That doesn't always go over well with everybody, but we have to do it," he said. "We're creative beings. I think I could play five of these demo tracks that I have and fans would be into it, and the other four or five, I'm not sure. It will be interesting to see what people think."

CHEVELLE's album of rarities from 2002-2016, "12 Bloody Spies: B-Sides And Rarities", was released last October via Epic. The project's full collection spans everything from an acoustic version of "Sleep Apnea", off 2009's "Sci-Fi Crimes", to an unearthed bonus track off the now-classic "Wonder What's Next", titled "Until You're Reformed", and "A Miracle", recorded as a bonus track for "The North Corridor" in 2016.

CHEVELLE's 2014 album, "La Gargola", gave the band its highest chart debut (No. 3) and produced a No. 1 single on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart in "Take Out The Gunman".

"The North Corridor" debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 album chart and produced another No. 1 Mainstream Rock single, "Joyride (Omen)". The disc featured songwriting by Pete, who was working with Barresi through the Internet.

Photo credit: Christian Lantry