A LOT changed in the 12 months Novocastrian hard-rock outfit CHINCHEN spent away from the stage.
As well as building from three members to four, Chinchen has taken slabs of hip hop and funk-inspired beats and added it to its ever- changing style.
``It was hard enough to describe our sound before, but I guess you could call it heavy groove now,'' frontman BEN ``DUTCHY'' CHEN said.
Chen even tries his hand at some tongue- twisting raps on a few of the new tracks.
``I've been rapping for years. I was into hip hop before I formed the band, so I'm just bringing a bit of that back in,'' he said.
Chen has moved from bass duties onto keyboard, samples and guitar with longtime guitarist GRANT ``PIL'' PILON and new recruits SEAN ``FINGERS'' McGINTY on bass and ADAM ``LARRY'' WAUGH on drums.
McGinty and Waugh joined the band from STRENGTH TO STRENGTH last year and Chinchen emerged from a 12-month stint away from the live scene.
Chen said the pair's experience has gone hand in hand to establish a new sound.
``They play really well together because they've been together for years.
``We sort of lost the hard edge punk feel; we've just cut it back a bit and added a bit more groove.'' Chinchen made its new-look debut during a show at the BAR ON THE HILL alongside SUNK LOTO last month and will make a long-awaited return to the NORTHERN STAR HOTEL on Saturday night. The band plans to record demos of new material with a view to recording a new EP and album.
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