To say that Essex Chanel is prolific is doing the one-man band an injustice.
Essex Chanel’s latest, “Dancing at Weddings,” is Travis Lee Wiggins’ seventh album in less than three years.
“I think with each album, I go in a different direction. I challenge myself,” says Wiggins, the mastermind behind the band. “Before this album, I went to a couple different weddings, and I just love the music and how everyone gets up and dances to it. I thought it would be great to have an album you could put on and just play non-stop.”
After a summer wedding last year, Wiggins went into his Edgewater studio, which he built two years ago, and started writing songs.
“I didn’t have a bunch of songs together before going into the studio,” Wiggins remembers. “I reworked the album over and over again [in the studio] because I didn’t want anything on it that I wasn’t happy with.”
Wiggins, a graphic designer by day, finds time to create so many albums in such a short period of time by heading to the studio for three or four hours a day after work. The 27-year-old is seeing his commitment paying off.
“For me, the good songs come, and you never know when they’re gonna come,” he says. “The more you can put yourself in a position to write a song, the better chances are that you’ll come up with a good song. Some days you pick up a guitar, you write something and it’s perfect. On other days, nothing happens.”
Listen to Essex Chanel’s “Get Up and Dance” from “Dancing at Weddings” at redeyechicago.com/chitunes.
Essex Chanel
When: 9 p.m. April 3
Where: Schubas Tavern, 3159 N.Southport Ave.
