Biography
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Born
29 February 1980 (age 44)
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Born In
Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States
Chris Conley (born on February 29, 1980) is an American musician and songwriter, a member of the punk band Saves the Day. He was born and raised in Princeton, New Jersey, and began playing the guitar when he was thirteen years old. He says that listening to Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith as a child made him interested in writing and playing music. He also said that the first song he ever learned on guitar was Stairway to Heaven.
Immediately after learning how to play the guitar, he formed a band with classmates titled Sefler. As the band began recording, it changed its name to Saves the Day. They had already signed a record contract and had released their first full-length recording by the time he was a senior in high school.
He is known for his poetic and sometimes morbid lyrics on CDs such as Can't Slow Down, Through Being Cool, Stay What You Are, and Sound the Alarm. Earlier albums were fast and dark. In 2001, Saves the Day released Stay What You Are, which showed a change in Conley. Most of the songs were slower but more full sounding, which is the result of incorporating different chord voicings instead of power chords. This is admittedly due in large part to the influence of The Beatles.
This continued into their next album, In Reverie which was released in 2003. It was full of jazz chords and hypnotizing dream-like chord progressions. In Reverie was initially under appreciated by fans, citing its dramatic change from emo and pop punk sound to a soft, mellow powerpop. His lyrics also matured, and he began to paint rich pictures with his lyrics, full of detail and emotion.
Sound the Alarm (2006) found Chris returning to darker lyrics of his past, but with a newfound maturity. No longer was the imagery focusing on anger and violence, but on death and paranoia. This change was made with another change- Chris' hair color. Sporting a bright pink hairdo, Chris joined Saves the Day with two nationwide tours to promote the new album.
It was on the first tour that Bug Sessions Vol1 was sold. This album was made "for the fans" and featured mostly acoustic recordings of nothing more than Chris and his guitar. Soon after the end of the second tour a small EP was leaked called Lisa's Birthday Tape. This featured Chris singing along with a guitar and several unfamiliar instruments for Saves the Day such as the xylophone. The tone of Chris' voice makes it apparent that the EP was recorded near the release of Stay What You Are.
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