iSound

Dominique Durand
Andy Chase
Michael Hampton
Gary Maurer

“Michael and Gary were working in the studio and I walked by and was really struck by what I heard,” recalls Andy Chase, one of the masterminds behind the New York band Paco, which will release its debut album, This Is Where We Live (Unfiltered Records), May 18th.

“It created a very distinct mood, sort of sultry and melancholy but with unmistakable attitude. I said, ‘This stuff is cool – if you write some melodies and find a singer, it could be something great.’ They kind of laughed, like, ‘Yeah, right.’ But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

Chase, who happens to co-own the studio (Stratosphere Sound), had wandered into a session house engineer Gary Maurer was overseeing for composer Michael Hampton, a former punk guitarist who’d lately been working on scores and soundtracks. As it turned out, Chase’s timing couldn’t have been better.

The outfit he’s most closely ass...