We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chase Shellee. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chase below.
Chase, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?
Every project I currently work on I find to be the most meaningful as it reflects either a current revelation, evolution of my writing, or character I’m discovering and falling in love with.
With the latest short proof of concept, I re-discovered mythological characters who guide the story.
With this current album, it’s forcing me to grow as a writer, collaborator, and musician.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I grew up overseas, in the Philippines. I started writing from a young age and my wonderful mother put me in piano and voice lessons. I sang in church and started modeling at 15. From modeling I got into commercial acting and theatre. I’ve always had a love for literature and storytelling so after high school I came to the US and got a degree in literature and then went to a conservatory in NYC.
While in NYC, however, I got very sick, West Nile virus, to be exact. That was a huge blow and because of that I had to move back to the Philippines. I was in and out of the hospital for the next two and half years and always in pain. As awful as that chapter in my life was, everything stripped away, that forced me to focus on music because it was the only thing I could do.
So I wrote, and played piano, and found musicians to work with and put my first band together which then led to recording the first album, “High On Maybe”.
Two years after recording that as my health was improving I decided to do a “take two” and try living in the US again. I never want to have that “big fish in a small pond” mentality.
So I moved to the US and had to start over, not knowing any musicians or having any connections. It was a lot of hard work, failures, disappointments and lessons, but here we are. I work with amazing musicians who are excited about what I do, I’ve connected with directors and discovered I have a love for filmmaking as well.
I’m a storyteller. Sometimes those stories demand to come out in song, other times a movie, a comic book, a poem. I’ve learned to pay attention.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Stories that need to be told and pain that must be healed. Redemption. Renewal. Immortality. The gift of fire we still don’t exactly know what to do with.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
That everything important has to be done in your 20’s. That goes back to when I got very sick. All in all I lost nearly ten years to sickness, trying to force recovery, learning to actually rest and recover, and making peace with where I am. Also, nothing is wasted. Write through the tears and clenched jaw.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.chaseshellee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chase_shellee/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@chaseshellee/videos
Image Credits
Lara Wanders Photography