There is likely no harder-working musician in Ocean Beach than Chuck Schiele. A tireless music supporter, he wears multiple hats, including those of producer, promoter, songwriter and graphics designer. However, his first love is his work as a producer, and it’s here where he truly shines.
While he’s played in numerous combos and variations over the years, it’s with Americana-based trio The Grams that he’s made the biggest splash. This month, the group releases its second album, “Love Factory,” with an update on their twin guitars and violin sound. The group will be promoting the CD with a series of shows, including an appearance at ArtWalk on Saturday, April 26.
Though the group has been tagged as Americana, Schiele doesn’t feel restrained by genre labels.
“Americana’s cool. We proudly contain elements of Americana, acoustic rock and world music, but I just do it and let be what it is,” he said. “I never let someone else’s tag define what I’m doing, let alone restrain it. If anything, we’re satisfied that people are taking notice, trying to figure out what exactly we are.”
The Grams took home trophies from the San Diego Music Awards in 2006 and 2007 for Best Americana Group, but Schiele doesn’t feel any pressure for the new album.
“Although we are delighted with the accolades, we’re just playing music,” he said. “The point is the music, not the prize.”
“Love Factory” also has eye-catching stylized graphics, all part of a theme devised by Schiele.
“The whole thing is in regard to the concept of ‘Love.’ Big word for four letters,” Schiele said. “There are a lot of kinds of love, and we address this in the CD. [Love] is simple, it is complicated. It is safe and it can be dangerous. It can be intoxicating, it can be sobering. It can be both a commodity as well as a currency. We just did everything according to the inspiration of our concept.”
Unlike their debut CD, “Love Factory” was recorded at Schiele’s own StudiOB facilities.
“We had the luxury of doing whatever we wanted with no outside influence or distractions,” Schiele said. “Our only rule was to record only at the moment of having fun and being really into it. We didn’t have to hurry so much because of appointments and budget concerns.”
Schiele also cites the band’s natural progression as a big difference in the sound between their two discs.
“Our first CD was pretty much a documentation of what we knew at the time, pulling songs together so we could start a band and get going. Like a fancy demo,” Schiele said. “Now that we are comfortable with our bit, we wanted to write toward an artistic mission, as opposed to simply documenting what we had so far.”
Schiele acknowledges that having a violin as a lead instrument presents challenges when it comes to the public’s perception of the group.
But he said he also likes going against the grain when it comes to musical expectations.
“We like the challenge of doing something irreverent because we’re not really interested in going with the musical flow,” Schiele said. “I’ve been arranging and mixing violins into my music for about 14 years now on a regular basis, so I’m very comfortable there. Stylistically, there is sometimes the challenge of making it sound more like violin than a fiddle, but we’ve got that trick down pretty good now, too.”
Though “Love Factory” has barely hit the airwaves, plans are already well under way for its follow up.
“This next one is designed to have a little fun breaking our very own paradigm. We’re known for ‘this’ but very confident about trying a little bit of ‘that,'” he said.
The Grams perform at ArtWalk in Downtown’s Little Italy, Date Street and India Street, on Saturday, April 26 at 4 p.m. The show is open to all ages. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/chuckschiele.