As CHKLZ gears up for an exciting 2024, the duo is inviting everyone to join the ‘Pawesomeness’ of their journey. They’re creating a vibrant community of ‘Doggies,’ where fans feel a deep sense of unity and belonging. It’s something that has to be experienced live to fully get the feeling of what this is all about.
The duo is set to release a tech house remix of “”White Wine Spritzer,”” originally a hit by Okilly Dokilly. This remix brings a fresh, dynamic twist to the track, merging their heavy metal roots with their current house vibe. It’s a splash of nostalgia infused with modernity and the combinaition simply works.
The genesis of CHKLZ is rooted in an extraordinary story. They were inspired by a dog named Charlie, found under a truck in Phoenix on a super hot Fourth of July. Nicknamed “Chuckles,” this rescue dog became the symbol of their mission to create an aura around a DJ group where everyone feels welcome.
Their festival appearances include Friendzy Fest, Gold Rush, Decadence, Gem and Jam, June Jam, Phoenix Lights, and Vibes Music Festival. Additionally, they’ve opened for prominent artists like Tommie Sunshine, Justin Jay, Black V Neck, Golf Clap, Wenzday, and Wuki.
They are curently on the first leg of extensive tour, catch them live and be apart of something truly special.
They took the time out to do an interview, which you can find directly below!
CHKLZ Interview
What inspired you to remix “White Wine Spritzer,” and how did you approach reimagining it in a house music style?
Part of the inspiration is that I have always loved the song. And being a former Ned from Okilly Dokilly, it only made sense to pay our musical respects to a band that changed my life.
The other part of the inspiration comes from wanting to conduct a social experiment musically. Seeing what it would be like to combine all of these genres and see if people will actually listen to it.
When we decided to take the very best of Heavy Nedal and Groove Fiesta and mash it up into a new world, I always pictured this song to have a catchy, upbeat house vibe with a nasty heavy metal style breakdown. And I think we achieved this on this remix. Something that’s fun for everyone.
Can you describe the process of transforming a Nedal band’s song into a groovy house track?
This remix actually started as kind of a joke idea with some friends of ours on an August morning last summer at Friendzy Fest in Alberta, Canada. We started joking about how the vocals would sound on a house track and started pretending to do the deep growls like Head Ned. We all started laughing, but I actually thought it was a great idea, so we followed through with it. And here we are today.
How did your experience with Okilly Dokilly influence your approach to this remix?
More than anything, I wanted to make sure we were doing the original justice. That if we were going to be making this house, it was house that Ned Flanders himself would get down to. I even shaved my beard and am back to just the Flanders mustache for this Pawsitive Vibrations North American Tour in the spirit of the song and my time in Okilly Dokilly.
What elements of the original song did you feel were essential to keep in the remix?
We just took the lead guitar and vocal stems from the original track and used them in our favorite ways. This riff was like the band’s calling card while we toured.
What challenges did you face while working on this remix, and how did you overcome them?
We actually had one huge challenge. The day the masters were supposed to be going to the label for distribution, I got a message from our friend who was working on the track with us.
I thought the message was going to say, “here’s the track” (as it was this person’s responsibility in the group to get the song mixed/mastered).
Instead, it said how this person was no longer going to be able to be a collaborator on this track and they didn’t have the mix or master for us as they promised. You can imagine the panic with our announced release date looming.
I ended up figuring out a quick solution within our network and the track turned out great!
Did I love what my friend did? No! However, I also understood where they were coming from. And rather than dwell on something I couldn’t change, I chose to move forward and make it all work for the sake of the release. I didn’t have time to focus on anything else. And I am thankful for being blessed with that mindset in a very sticky situation.
How do you feel about the reception of the remix so far, and have you gotten any feedback from Okilly Dokilly fans?
The fan response seems to be really great. I’ve been getting a lot of “you sure look like the Drummer from Okilly Dokilly” in the comments about our song on our socials. Then I hit them with “I was definitely Dread Ned!” And it always seems to be a great and fun connection for the fans. Who would have thought that Heavy Nedal, Simpsons, Ned Flanders, and the Groove Fiesta go together? I don’t think anyone. And that’s my favorite part about it.
What does the phrase “essence of this Remixerino” mean to you in the context of this track?
While channeling my inner Ned, I’d have to say, “Ah hell! Give me a White Wine Spritzer Remixerino!”