By Michael Botsford and Sami Yazdanyar
SAN ANTONIO- The So Cal pop-punk sound has landed in San Antonio in a special way! Given A Chance make their second appearance on The Garage with a new bassist and lead guitarist. Their first Garage gig was acoustic but there’s been a lot of changes with the band since. With a ton of new songs, frontman, "Johnboy" Salinas, talks about their evolution.
“I had a band over in California in the 2000’s and when I moved out here I wanted to keep doing that. I didn’t see too many bands doing it out here so I kept it going. I met these guys; they wanted to do it too. We all come from different backgrounds of music but that’s what we choose to play. We want to keep it going in San Antonio,” says Salinas.
With a variety of different styles of rock and punk out on the market, the guys of Given A Chance have continued to stay true to their sound and hope to continue the flavor with their upcoming album.
“It’s a cross between a lot of pop-punk. A lot of people think of punk-rock like Thrash, street punk. We bring a more poppy (Green Day, Blink 182, MXPX) sound. We switch it up a lot. Some ska aswell, some rock and roll, maybe a little metal in some of the newer songs with the new guys in the band," Salinas described.
Performing “Now or Never” in The Garage studio, the guys explain it’s about all about living in the moment.
“It is about leaving it all behind sometimes. Don’t look back. What you do now won’t change the past. It’s stuff I’ve been through. I keep moving on and keep rocking,” explained Salinas.
Their song “(Same)” also ties in the message about being positive and never giving up on yourself and goals.
“We all have been playing music for so long and we love what we do.” For the guys it’s all about keeping true to themselves. “We’ve been there, done that. People will see that and understand where we are coming from with it,” says Tim, the bands new bassist.
Hard at work recording new tracks for an upcoming EP, the guys continue to play shows and gain momentum.
“We want to do another EP before releasing an album as a new band. We are going to do about six all new songs. Kind of in the sound of what we played for you today in The Garage,” says Salinas.
Given A Chance will be performing on June 16th at Thirsty Camel with City Mouse and other Garage vets. They will be playing a South Texas tour in July hitting Corpus Christi, McAllen, and Brownsville.
Their first EP “Way Too Long” is available now. To win your copy along with an exclusive Given A Chance t-shirt, comment on this post to enter for your chance to win!
Check out Given A Chance on Facebook at:
http://www.facebook.com/givenachanceAre you in a band or know of somebody here in San Antonio that should spend some time in our garage? Please let us know! Email
MichaelBotsford@woaitv.com.
