CHAMIE is the fresh new indie duo of Jes Marie and Joe Sobalo, Jr.  The husband and wife team are passionate about their love of song and feel now more than ever is the time to share their positive, uplifting songs. CHAMIE is versatile in their sound, confidently shifting the vibe from indie-pop to tropical reggae with ease like the chameleon from which they get inspiration. The foundation of their music is comprised of electronic beats, fuzz bass, and rhythmic guitars. Combine that with the unique, eclectic synths and you get the ‘ear candy’ CHAMIE is quickly becoming known for.

Jes was born and raised in Frederick, Maryland, and has written songs for years.  She is a songwriter and performer who has had placements on the Hallmark Channel Original Movies, The Young and the Restless, Disney, ABC, and more. She has also worked with legendary artists including the Isley Brothers, J. Geils, and Three Dog Night.  A former DJ with a passion for music, Joe hails from Boston originally and is a successful actor and stuntman in the moving industry. He has starred opposite Colin Farrell and John Malkovich in the movie ‘AVA’ (Netflix) and made appearances in Lucifer (Netflix), Stumptown (ABC), and more.

The couple shares a love for electronic, dance, and pop music and when Joe approached his then-fiancé Jes about writing music with her, CHAMIE was born. Since then, they got married in 2020 during the pandemic and have been writing and recording in their home studio. Like the duo’s namesake, the colorful, vibrant chameleon, they want everyone to know that it’s okay to be unique and different and feel good about themselves. In addition, Jes hopes to help young girls gain confidence in themselves and show them that they have a lot to offer the world.

CHAMIE is constantly creating new music and released their latest single, ‘Automatic’ on March 26th. The fresh electro-pop dance sound pairs Jes’s “sultry vocals with a throbbing bass-line, driving rhythms, and unique synths.”  Their previous release, ‘Attitude’ released in February this year, is a strong female empowerment dance anthem featuring funky synthesizers, Jes’s ultra-confident vocals, and driving beats.

I recently interviewed CHAMIE about their new single, Automatic, production process, songwriting process, advice on getting placements in tv/film, favorite studio equipment, working with legendary musicians, and so much more.

Congratulations on your new single, Automatic!

What is the story behind the song?

Writing this song started from the chorus, and we worked our way backward. I (Jes) kept hearing the melody and rhythm idea for the chorus in my head, and every time I heard the rhythm the word “automatic” kept coming to mind. I liked the way it sounded and mentioned the idea to Joe, thinking we would change the words to the chorus later, but I could show him the melody I had been hearing. Joe ended up loving the word “automatic” and mentioned how everybody has that feeling at some point in their lives. It’s when you want something, you need it and it’s an instant or ‘automatic’ feeling – that lust or love at first sight kind of thing. We wrote the song with that intention in mind and the feelings that come along with it.

The band’s name CHAMIE is short for chameleon. Why did you shorten it?  What is the story behind choosing the name?

We love chameleons because they are colorful, vibrant, and ever-changing. They can blend in with their environment to protect themselves against predators, or use their beautiful colors to stand out from the crowd. Our good friends gave us an adorable stuffed animal chameleon after they came back from traveling one year as a gift, and we dubbed him ‘Chamie’. We were thinking of names for our duo, and I happened to see the ‘Chamie’ animal they had given us and mentioned using that for our band name. We both loved it as a chameleon describes our music perfectly. It’s all got an electro/dance feel but can morph styles and incorporate elements from other genres as well – just like a chameleon can morph itself into other colors with ease.

Take me through your songwriting/production process.

We record on our iPhones any rhythm, melody, or lyric ideas we have that come to us when we are going about our daily lives. A lot of times, I’ll be driving in my car or about to go to bed, and suddenly inspiration hits.

We typically seem to write chorus ideas first and then work our way backward, although that isn’t always the case. We usually have the rhythm and melody fleshed out pretty well before we focus on lyrics, though some lyrics usually come to us while we are writing the melody. When we have the song written, I always lay down a rough vocal on my phone. Then we figure out what chords we want to use with the melody we have (I use a guitar to find the right chords), and then we start producing the track.

(Jes) You’ve had music placements on the television networks Hallmark Channel, Disney, ABC, and CBS. How did you get those opportunities?

As a singer, I love doing recording sessions, and I’ve done session singing work for other artists, TV shows, movies, etc (singing other people’s songs that I was paid to sing). On one of these sessions, I struck up a conversation with the producer and said I was a Berklee College of Music graduate and was a songwriter as well as a vocalist. He was interested in hearing some of my music, so when I went home after the session sent him some of my prior songwriting material. He liked what he heard and gave me the brief on a few songs he was looking to add to a film project. He wanted brand new Christmas music that had a classic feel but was all original music and lyrics, no covers of any traditional songs. I wrote 5 songs and sent them to him, and he ended up using all of them in the film. After that, I started working on other film and TV projects.

What advice do you have for indie artists wanting to get their music placed in television and/or in film?

I would say meet as many people as you can! It’s definitely a relationship-based business. Be friendly, courteous, and professional to everyone you meet. And of course, be efficient. A lot of these projects have extremely fast turnaround times.

(Jes) Explain how you got to work with legendary artists such as The Isley Brothers, 3 Dog Night, and J. Geils and what those experiences were like.

That was such a blast. All super talented groups with incredible musicians! I performed live with the Isley Brothers in Vegas and J. Geils in Boston, which was really fun. I wrote a few songs with Jimmy Greenspoon, the songwriter and keyboard player of 3 Dog Night. He was a really great guy. I grew up in Frederick, Maryland and he lived in Potomac! I happened to meet him and we worked together several times. Such a nice person and really talented.

Why did you want to become versatile in your sound that included everything from indie-pop to reggae tropical? Why such a broad range?

We absolutely love experimenting with different sounds and meshing genres together. We both enjoy music from a wide range of genres – pop, dance, latin, r&b, rap, etc – we wanted a way that we could include influences from everything we loved, but still make a cohesive sound that is CHAMIE. So we are an electropop/dance duo, but we use influences from a variety of genres. One of my fave things we did was on a song we have coming up, we incorporated steel drums in the production. Ever since Joe went on a cruise to the Bahamas as a young kid and heard the steel drums on the ship he has loved them. It makes us feel like we are on a tropical island and like we should be dancing on a beach somewhere. We knew we had to incorporate them into that song in particular because it has a summertime feel.

You have said you want to help young girls gain confidence in themselves and show them they have a lot to offer the world. Can you expound on that?

As a young girl growing up, I was not the most confident. I was bullied in high school and it really shot my self-worth down. I felt very uncomfortable in my own skin back then and did not feel good about myself most of the time. Kids can be extremely cruel. After growing up more and learning about myself and the world, I realized that people who are cruel to others do not feel good about themselves, so they try to tear others down. It isn’t anything to do with you, it’s everything to do with them, and you can’t let it get to you. If I had been more confident back then and stuck up for myself, things would have been so much easier! I realize that a lot of young women (and everyone, really) have gone through and are going through the same things that I did when I was in school.

(Joe) Explain why as a successful actor and stuntman in the movie industry, you have embarked on a music career.

I have always loved music and used to be a professional DJ for years before focusing on the TV and film industry. When I listen to music it makes me feel something and I have always been drawn to it. I am that guy who is bobbing his head, dancing randomly, moving his feet, and closing his eyes, drifting off into another land while listening to music. There is no other way to say it than that music is a part of my soul! I’ve always wanted to write music and have always had a love for multiple genres. I have so much respect for all types of artists. I thought it would be fun to collaborate with my wife and make new music with her. We started songwriting together and it’s been really fun. I love making and recording music. It’s another passion of mine now that I do along with the performing arts. I love to create positive and inspiring music that lifts others up!

What does it mean to you personally, Jes, to be an indie music woman artist?

Being an indie music woman artist is my absolute passion. I love creating music, performing it, recording it, and sharing it with others. Being a female in the music business can be a tricky road to navigate and I’m grateful that there is such an awesome community of incredible female musicians and artists out there who are supportive of each other and so kind to one another.

What is the biggest challenge or obstacle you have overcome in your musical journey beside the pandemic?

I would say rejection is very hard for myself, and any other artist out there. It sucks to put yourself and your music out there to the world and then be rejected for an opportunity. But guess what? Everyone deals with rejection, in some form or another. And it’s ok. You have to just dust yourself off and move on. One of my favorite quotes is from Meryl Streep. Before she was hugely successful as a multi-Academy Award-winning actress, she was rejected for the movie “King Kong.” When she speaks of her thoughts on that time she says she had to pull herself up by the bootstraps and say “you’re just one opinion in a sea of thousands and I’m off to find a kinder tide.” I love that quote from her.

How do you think women artists can be better supported in the indie music industry?

I think communities like yours, Facebook groups, Linkedin groups, etc, are great ways for female indie musicians to come together and support one another. I am a member of several of these groups and really grateful for the advice and support that the women in these give each other. It’s so important to have communities of people you can reach out to for advice or just to talk to. Especially in the midst of this pandemic, when so many people are feeling isolated and separated from each other. It’s nice to know you have people you can talk to.

Tell us more about the arts and music-based charities you volunteer for and why you chose them.

I love volunteering for the Art of Elysium. It’s a wonderful Los Angeles-based charity that helps people of all ages through the arts. One of their programs is for children in long-term care. Some of these children have medical conditions that confine them to hospice care for life, some have cancer, some have mental handicaps. The Art of Elysium sends performers like myself, musicians, actors, etc, to these long-term care facilities and we perform for the children. Some of these shows are weekly or bi-weekly, and the kids’ faces light up when they see us coming! They are the sweetest, nicest little angels ever. It is such an honor to perform for them and bring a bright spot to their day.

Another charity we volunteer with is the T.J. Martell Foundation. They have chapters all over the U.S. They are a really awesome charity that raises funds to help find the cure for cancer. A lot of their events are music based and there is a big Nashville chapter for this charity that a lot of Tennessee musicians are involved in. It’s a really great group of people and they do incredible work.

What is your favorite microphone or instrument or piece of equipment to record or perform live with, and why?

I love my Motu M2. It’s a really simple interface that we use to record our music with. I am not the best with technology and equipment with tons of knobs and buttons, lol. The M2 makes it very simple to plug your microphone in and connect to your DAW. We got it earlier this year and it’s been super helpful and works perfectly. We also created a vocal booth in our home studio and that’s been really exciting to have.

What projects do you have planned for this year?

We will be releasing several new singles this year – we have a summertime song planned for release next month. We are working on writing and recording new music all the time and are working on a full-length album as well. Hopefully, as things open up in the world, there will be lots of live gigs and fun shows to come as well! I’m confident that things are turning a corner.

Thank you, CHAMIE for the opportunity to interview you!

Keep up with CHAMIE on their Spotify Artist Page | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

Listen to CHAMIE’s new single, Automatic, on Spotify: