Words by SamSun

Photography by Nakeya B.

We searched, clicked, listened and resurfaced with a smile. Chiddy Bang’s music had generated a buzz so thick that it’d spanned across states from its origin in Philadelphia all the way up to Maine and caught the attention and collaborations of industry heavyweights The Roots and Mr. Lif. But the most impressive part of their growing fanbase was their formation only a mere few months ago.
Sitting down, they physically resembled what their music translated to: diversity. Besides the obvious racial differences (two are Black, three are White), the five 18 to 19 year olds came from individual places in the musical spectrum and somehow met up in between to create Chiddy Bang.
ATE Traks sat across from a baby-faced body who was buried under a laptop with the pseudonym “Xaphoon Jones” pasted across the top. “Noah”, he greeted, then resumed tinkering around on the computer, which never left his lap the entire interview. The Philly native was dubbed Xaphoon Jones from his partners based on a joke sound on a synthesizer, its conception now a running game of aliases within the band that highlights their boyish nature and overall attitude.
Although electronica and Philly DJs like Mad Decent and Diplo are roused from his sound, Noah Beresin, 19, grew up on jazz as a result of his parents, deviated to punk because of his uncle and continued to other genres on his own accord, finally residing in the folds of them all. “I ended up being a producer, and when you are, you end up learning how to play every instrument because if someone doesn’t show up, you can lay it down.”
Beresin can speak four instruments fluently: piano, bass, drums and guitar. Stating Kanye’s production style as an ally, he builds with “a good sample, a good drum beat and a synthesizer” to cultivate a sound that he hopes ultimately resembles “J Dilla meets Justice.”
Lead guitarist and and vocalist Pat ‘Fresh Kid P’ Braciszewski, 19, grew up with Beresin in Philly with initial intentions of theater, having attended a performing arts high school before Drexel. His major, although officially declared as English, is subject to debate within the band, who insist it’s meant to be Music Industry.
Drawing from the discussion, there’s not much that’s really concrete about the guy. The only thing that’s certain about Braciszewski is his liquid character, whose eccentricities made a path as a thespian seem just as likely as one in music. The both seem interwoven, Beresin complimenting, “This guy is incredible on stage. He’s really key in hyping us up.” His entrance into Chiddy Bang came about when they needed vocals for the track “Ice Cream Man”. Since then, he’s been a solid part of the team.
They all express an uneasiness in picking just one way of describing their collective sound. “Well, we have a live sound and we have a recording sound”, explains Beresin. “We obviously reinterpret what we have for the stage, but what happens is it ends up as just energy–it goes from just beats to this crazy, live being. Our live sound is like if you took hip hop and electro and made it really rock-intensive and very loud.”
The rest of the group nodded in agreement. “We’re a hip hop band but we have a rock bang aesthetic, I guess you could say,” adds Braciszewski. “We have two different sounds, but it’s not on purpose. We do what we can to produce what we have on record and it usually just ends up kicking ass.”
“The reason it comes out the way it does is because we’re coming from such different places,” says Sewall, “and we have separate ways of performing it live.”
Beresin continues, “And sometimes we sacrifice how it sounds for the energy.”
“And it’s never not worth it.” finishes Sewall.
Their touring unfortunately ended May 27th, but it had them performing since the end of January at colleges who put special requests in for their shows, which resemble what Beresin aptly calls, “Punch to the face, beer on the head.”
The one who brings it all together can seemingly be accredited to none other than Chiddy Bang’s manager and drummer, Zachary ‘Fresh Kid Z’ Sewall. He’s tied to his Blackberry, taking pauses to recite good news from the many contacts he’s managed to attain from his band’s existence. Sewall’s incredibly soft-spoken, tip-toeing around carefully selected words, yet it’s probably because he’s well-aware of the intricacies that lie before his band’s success. Sewall is no stranger to its hype.
His father was guitarist for the band The Service, a little known gem signed to EMI Records. “I grew up basically watching him play guitar. He got me into a number of different things– blues concerts to really, everything.” He played in a couple of different rock bands in high school (which he also managed), none of which resembled the hip-hop genre or diverse makeup of Chiddy Bang.
The band depends upon Sewall for the creative development essential to branding its name. “I handle everything in terms of the media needs of the band. I delve into a little bit of business, but my main job in the band is to influence creatively and basically make sure everything moves smoothly.”
Their most recent accomplishment is attaining Kanye West’s lawyer, David Rappaport, as their own. It serves as a mark of how far they’ve come, considering they’ve wined and dined with some of the industry’s influential people, all of which have taken a keen look inside the potential of the budding band. “I think we have the best meal plan,” muses Beresin about their upscale dining endeavors. Their growing popularity has been strategic from the beginning.
“Technology has contributed to our success exponentially,” explains Sewall. “I reached out to a specific few [networking] blogs and our songs circulated. Eventually it got to the point where I had a string of sites where I would go and give tracks to and it would really take off from there. In an industry that’s going through a massive transformation, we built a fan-base that was waiting for something.”

“It’s so great to have kids from random colleges message you and be like, ‘Yo we love your music, please come play for us,’” says Ted ‘Fresh Kid T’ Egbulefu.
Egbulefu, 18, is waiting for his chance too. He’s originally from Texas, stating kinship to the popular “chopped and screwed” phenomenon growing down south, and has “unreleased material” waiting for its debut in Chiddy Bang. In the meantime, however, he’s found right next to Chidera, backing him in the lyrics that carry crowds.
Frontman Chidera ‘Proto’ Anamege is responsible for the rhymes, drawing influence from what he and Egbulefu call “the golden era”, or at least this generation’s version of it. “I’ve always been a big Jay-Z fan. Always listened to music that translated into a lot of success.” Anamege’s lyrics are laden with witty puns, effortless images and slight pop-culture references, and has a flow that finds residence on the whipped samples of Beresin’s production. Both reflect nothing about his young age of 18.
In sixth grade, Anamege found his niche in rapping, an activity that’s common around Newark, New Jersey, his hometown. “And since then, it’s been non-stop, everyday. I got around 950 verses locked up”, he boasts, “and when I got to Drexel, I met up with Zack and now it’s been taken to the next level. It’s always been evolving.”
It’s apparently been good enough to catch the ears of legends The Roots, and quite by chance, having met Black Thought outside 30th Street Station after coming back from a show. Anamege followed up their discussion with a simple message that encapsulated their movement:

Pleasure to meet you today my man.

I’m the frontman of Chiddy Bang, you are very much an influence for me.

http://www.myspace.com/chiddybangphilly

See why we got the college campuses going crazy around the country.

What happened next was a dream come true for the group, who received a phone call from Tariq Trotter himself, eventually leading to a jam session at his studio.
From there, they scored a spot as the opening act for one of their jams in the Highline Ballroom. “I didn’t realize how many people were there,” Anamege reminisced. “We walked on stage when it was dark, and when the lights turned on….”
“We opened, so people had been in for thirty minutes and it was PACKED,” continued Egbulefu. “Nobody could move around, even.”
“You knew you did a good job when people came up to you afterwards and were like, “Good job, really good job… no really though, good job.”
The Friday before the Roots Picnic (which took place on June 6th), Chiddy Bang also got to perform at the pre-picnic bash with them as well. They look forward to and are hoping for similar gigs.
Through R5 productions, they landed a show with Mr. Lif, who they also hope to collaborate with in the future.
But as far as modifying their sound for any guest appearances, the band is certain it’s not an option. “I mean, we could work with some random dude, but why?” says Anamege. “We’re doing something. I don’t think anyone else is in our element.”
“I think what we have is good. We could do a track with MGMT, sure, but we could do a track with just us and it’d be just as good.” says Sewall. “I think if we bring anyone in, it wouldn’t be them trying to shape us– we wouldn’t form to them. But we can play with anyone and we can be comfortable, and I think that’s definitely a plus.”
Although their music can be categorized into the new wave of scenesters that are more commonly known nowadays as “hipsters”, Chiddy Bang doesn’t buy into it.
“That’s almost a marketing strategy,” says Beresin. “I try not to get too caught up in “who’s going to interpret this as this, who’s gonna interpret it like that.” I think if you do that, then you’re just lost and you can’t get lost in what people think of you. If you think something’s dope and want to sample it, sample it, and if ramifications come after it?” He shrugs.
“It’s a psych phase of what’s going on right now,” adds Braciszewski, “I mean, we’re in this city, ‘Hipsterville’, I guess, and it’s just what’s going on right now. Eight years ago and we’d be just a bunch of ‘wangstas’.” He looks around at his bandmates. “Can I say that?” Anamege and Egbulefu nod.
“In terms of the word hipster, it’s just a way of classifying people who don’t consider themselves a part of that,” reasons Sewall. “The fact is that the word isn’t even a concrete term– it’s striving for the impossible. We just made music, and hope people like it and we try not to judge it. The ones that dub us hipsters have obviously jumped to conclusions.”
“I see the hipster community as a group of people in pursuit of ‘the hip’, explains Beresin. “I want to be making ‘the hip’. I’m not a part of it, but kind of like donating to that crowd, like…”
“Hmm, like a homeless shelter.” Anamege finishes.
And all five of them, despite the nuances that set them apart, agreed.

For more information on Chiddy Bang, please visit:

www.chiddybangphilly.com

Chiddy Bang