Chris Cheney

Chris Cheney

Christopher John Cheney (born January 2, 1975) is the guitarist, main songwriter and lead vocalist in the Australian rock band, The Living End. A highly talented and innovative guitarist and songwriter, his trademark Guitar is a Gretsch White Falcon and he uses mainly distortion and modulation effects. Chris currently has his own signature series Gretsch guitars.

Biography

Personal life

Cheney attended Jells Park Primary School from 1981 to 1987 in (Wheelers Hill, Melbourne) and Wheelers Hill Secondary College. He later studied Jazz at Box Hill Institute of TAFE from 1994 to 1995. He started playing guitar at the age of 6. His major infliuence was Brian Setzer, a famous guitarist, singer and songwriter.

On September 22, 2001, he was involved in a serious car crash when he was hit in his 1977 Holden Kingswood by a car speeding in the wrong lane at 100 km/h. The impact of the collision ripped off the side of his vehicle, forced it off the road on a sharp turn along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria and down an embankment. His right leg was crushed and required a rod and three pins to hold it together. He was confined to bed and later a walking stick for the next six months. He was unable to play the guitar until he was rehabilitated. His partner, Emma, was also inside the vehicle with him, but fortunately escaped with minor injuries.

Cheney married Emma in 2005. They have a daughter, Charlie, born in 2005 & they live in the Victorian city of Melbourne.

Music career

Cheney began his career with double bassist Scott Owen in the early 1990s, in a Melbourne cover band, The Runaway Boys, who took their name from a Stray Cats song of the same name (a group that Cheney regularly cites as one of his favourites). Cheney taught himself how to play the guitar, after listening to AC/DC cassette tapes over and over again and practicing what he heard. Chris also played in Melbourne band 'Goodbye Sideburns Forever', though Chris didn't actually record with them, he only gigged with them. This was before The Living End's breakthrough success.

The Living End

Main article: The Living End

The Living End started out in 1992 as The Runaway Boys, as a tribute to the Stray Cats, whose Runaway Boys album is Cheney's favourite of all time . It was formed by Cheney and childhood friend Scott Owen. They mostly covered songs by the Stray Cats and other '50s tracks. In 1994, the pair started to write their own material. The band went through a number of drummers before settling on Joey Piripitzi. At that point they became known as The Living End. They released two successive EPs, Hellbound and It's For Your Own Good, which contained their first radio single, "From Here On In". In 1996, while Green Day were touring Australia, The Living End sent their EP to the band, and gained the support spot on their tour, which then led to Triple J playing their first single. In 1998, they released their self-titled album, with success sparked by the youth anthem "Prisoner of Society", as well as other hits "Second Solution", "Monday", "All Torn Down" and "Save The Day". They have since received recognition abroad, playing tours and festivals such as the Warped Tour in the U.S. and Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK. The Band Released their fifth studio album, "White Noise", on july 19th 2008.

Other music projects

Cheney joined Green Day on stage at the Telstra Dome on December 17 2005 to play "I Fought the Law". Cheney was also not the Green Day bunny as was rumoured, it was Tré Cool, drummer for Green Day. Cheney has also performed alongside Australian rock veterans You Am I, appearing at the 2003 Big Day Out in Melbourne. They performed a track by The Clash as a tribute to Joe Strummer.

Cheney appears in the supergroup The Wrights who put out a re-recorded version of Stevie Wright's epic "Evie". Also appearing in the supergroup were members of Grinspoon, Jet, Spiderbait and You Am I. He also played in another supergroup called The Wrongs, who featured at the 2006 Jack Awards in Sydney. They performed a Rose Tattoo classic "Bad Boy For Love" as a tribute to Peter Wells, the guitarist of Rose Tattoo .

In 2005, Sarah McLeod from The Superjesus launched her solo career, releasing her first single "Let's Get Together" followed by the single "Private School Kid" in which she performs a duet with Cheney.

Equipment

For an in depth look into the guitars, amps and pedals which Chris uses, visit www.chrischeneygear.com

Guitars

• 2 x Gretsch White Falcon Guitars
• 1961 Gretsch Double Anniversary (Plus other vintage anniversary model)
• Gretsch Tennessean (Used on the recording of Hellbound)
• Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Signature Series
• 1 x Black Duo Jet Guitar (sold on Ebay)
• 1 x Gibson Firebird (refinished in white)
• 1 x '59 Gibson Les Paul Junior Guitar
• Fender Guitars are currently producing a Chris Cheney Signature Series Gretsch Guitar (6126CC). Cheney has been working closely with Fender to refine the guitar. In the video for the song "Rising Sun" Chris uses a prototype of the 6126CC. Changes are currently being made before Cheney gives the go-ahead on the project, most notably the removal of the zero-fret. The prototype was not used in the recording of the song despite featuring in the video clip.

Amplification

• Bogner Vintage 30's Speaker Cabinets
• 2 x 100 Watt Wizard Modern Classic Amplifier Heads
• 1 x Fender Supersonic Amplifier
• 1 x Matchless ???
• 1 x Vox AC30

Chris Cheney also used Marshall Amplification before he tried Wizard heads while he was on tour with AC/DC.

Effects Pedals

• FullTone FullDrive 2
• Ibanez Tube Screamer
• Boss DD-20
• Boss OC-2
• Dave Ulbrick 12axe
• Lounge Guitars Curtis Overdrive
• Seymour Duncan Twin Tube

Strings

• 11-14-18-30-46-52 gauge Ernie Ball strings

Awards

Jack Awards

• Best Lead Guitarist - 2004, 2005 and 2007
• Best Male - 2006