Fri 10/28
Cleveland indie rock fans will remember local indie rock band Seafair, who made a powerful impact on the local music scene just a few years back in the mid 2010s. Back then, they were a highlight of many special events including Brite Winter, Roar along the Shore, and the ill-fated InCuya Festival in 2018 (not their fault!) The band debuted in 2011 and played sweeping, symphonic rock, fronted by keyboard player Chayla Hope, who had a powerful, raw voice and charismatic presence.
Seafair released a couple of EP and a 2015 full-length vinyl album, The Querencia, before petering out, despite many predictions that they were bound for greater success.
A couple of years ago, Hope decide to go out on her own as a solo act. She’s reinvented herself in a somewhat surprising way: she’s now a glamorous, if slightly edgy, platinum-blonde pop diva, with heavily styled looks.
Earlier this year, she shared her new musical direction, releasing several highly produced, beat-heavy singles: the bubbly “Love in Lo-Fi,” “Falling,” which draws heavily on 80s and 90s synth pop, and the vibrant, dance-ready “High” which comes with its own brand of rolling papers. Prior to that, Hope performed the opening theme “Caring Is the Key,” for the animated kids’ TV series Care Bears: Unlock the Magic, showing that she’s worked hard to make the right connections.
She claims that her evolution from epic alternative rock to airplay-aspiring pop is a natural one. “Pop is the music that raised me, the music my mom used to listen to while cleaning the house,” she says in her bio. “It’s always been there for me as an anchoring and joyful force. It is me.”
The single “Falling” was mixed by Josh Gudwin, who’s also done work for Justin Bieber, to give some idea of the league she’s hoping to play in. And she’s released a very strange video to accompany it that she says was influenced by her background as a drag performer in Cleveland.
Hope made her live debut in Cleveland in July, performing as part of Greyt Culture’s Golden Hour rooftop series. And this week finally here debut full-length album Damn, Feelings, will be available, and all her old fans can follow her on her new journey. It’s available now on streaming services and will be released on vinyl in the spring, pressed by Hope’s old employer, Cleveland’s Gotta Groove Records.
Learn more about Hope’s new incarnation here.