This week HC at Point Park got to sit down and chat with local musician, John O’Hallaron, better known as Chalk Dinosaur, to find out all about his new album, his nostalgic name and what to expect during his set at Thrival this weekend!
All photos courtesy of Adam Michaels Photography
HC: How would you describe your genre of music?
CD: The live sound is much different than the studio recordings, so for the live shows I’d say it’s like electro-funk-dance, and the studio albums are kind of ‘anything goes.’ A lot of it’s more psychedelic-rock, but it’s really just completely open-ended for the studio stuff.
HC: Where does the name “Chalk Dinosaur” come from?
CD: I came up with that name when i was a freshman in college. I was just looking for a name that wasn’t taken and I was also going through a pretty nostalgic phase, so I was kinda drawn to the childhood imagery.
All photos courtesy of Adam Michaels Photography
HC: What was your first defining performance?
CD: I played a bunch of shows as a band, Chalk Dinosaur the band, and then I didn’t play any until last September, almost exactly a year ago. That first show with the new music that I was working on was really encouraging and really successful.
HC: So you just released your new album, Flow State, this summer. What inspired you for this album and sound?
CD: That album is the collection of all the ideas that I made for shows. Those were all things that I kind of made and played at shows first and after I had a bunch of ideas, I recorded them into an album. A lot of the influences come from shows I’ve seen of bands like Papadosio and Dopapod, those are big influences. That’s just coupled in with all the other influences I have, all different kinds of stuff – definitely The Beatles and Pink Floyd, and the Allman Brothers. So it’s kind of like a big mash of different stuff, but mainly it was all written with the intent to play it at a show – to make a high energy, good feeling show.
All photos courtesy of Adam Michaels Photography
HC: Do you have a favorite song to perform off this album?
CD: That kind of shifts. The one song I’ve played at every show is the one called “Funk Fries.” That’s the most familiar to me right now. “The Sun Goes Down,” I really like that one.
HC: Point Park has a great program for music business and management, so we have a ton of musicians on campus. What is your advice for a musician trying to break into the local scene?
CD: Just to create and finish ideas and release them. Go out and play them – just do what feels right. Do what you enjoy doing the most and don’t worry about trying to please anyone’s ears but your own.
HC: What can we look forward to from Chalk Dinosaur at Thrival Festival this weekend?
CD: Well, I’m playing two sets actually. The first one is on Friday night, at the after party at The Rex. Then I’m playing the next day, that’s my actual Thrival set on saturday afternoon at 1. The Friday night set will be longer, I have more time, so I’ll be playing a bunch of different stuff – some new ideas. For the set on Saturday, I’m planning on playing everything from the album for, hopefully, new people.
All photos courtesy of Adam Michaels Photography
HC: If you could be reincarnated as anything, what do you think you would be?
CD: Maybe… A badass drummer.
Check out Chalk Dinosaur’s groovy tunes on his BandCamp (where they can be downloaded!) and Spotify.
Be sure to spot by his sets at Friday night’s after party at the Rex and Saturday at 1 on the Thrival stage!