Chapter 14 Want to Put ‘Many Other Types of Music … Into Every Song’

Chapter 14 are the product of numerous bands, As I Lay Dying, Austrian Death Machine and Destroy the Runner among them. That's why the band was able to book two domestic tours on their own via Myspace. The band boasts Chad Ackerman on vocals and Tanner Sparks on everything else -- bass, drums and guitars. They had five members at one point, but Ackerman and Sparks -- who did time together previously in Destroy the Runner -- decided to forgo all that extra help and work as a pair.

Their debut is 'Like Trees in November,' which has a literary basis of influence. Chapter 14 also work without all the music industry window dressing -- they fund, promote and manage themselves in addition to releasing their own material.

"I love metal, but I also love so many other types of music, and I wanted to put that into every song," Ackerman told Noisecreep about the genesis of Chapter 14. "I started asking around, posting on Craigslist, posting on Myspace and calling ads in local magazines. Everyone joined one by one, and we finally had enough material to play shows and tour. Tanner joined in 2006." At this point, since it's just Sparks and Ackerman, the live band also boasts members of Confide, In Fear and Faith and Chiodos.

"I had heard about Chapter 14 from recording in the same studio as them with my old band," Sparks recalled. "I had always loved the style of creativity of Chapter 14, so as soon as I parted ways with my old band, I got in contact with Chad. In the first couple of band practices, everyone just seemed to click, and I could tell we we're all on the same page from a creativity standpoint."

The name Chapter 14 is a reference to a pivotal section of the novel 'Watership Down,' an allegorical tome. "I read the book in private school," Ackerman recalled. "It stuck with me. The two main characters are trying to run from death and tell others the truth. In the book, the 14th chapter is called 'Like Trees in November.'

"In that chapter, the main characters, which are bunnies, go to a farm where other bunnies are living. The bunnies that live there are fed well and are happy with their lives, but the two main characters try to tell them to leave. They have no idea that at that farm, the farmer is getting ready to slaughter them in November. The fat happy bunnies will not take the truth and decide to stay.

"It stuck with me as a child that even though these bunnies were being told truth and that they were about to die, they did not accept it. The thought of something true being ignored is frightening to me, and it was as a child. To Tanner and me, Chapter 14 is our true representation of who we are as people and musicians. It is our way to express this truth to everyone. We thought about naming the band Like Trees in November in the past, but decided that Chapter 14 was a better fit."

Sparks weighed in, saying, "I always found the whole story of that book very interesting, especially how it plays out as a metaphor to real life situations through something so innocent as bunnies. And secondly, who doesn't like a book about bunnies?"

Ackerman also feels that his and Sparks' previous membership in bands helped foster what Chapter 14 are today. "Chapter 14 could not have been here without those bands. We have had so much support from bands, friends, fans, and family," Ackerman said. "We are so thankful for everyone that has helped us over the years to get to this point. This is who we are."