Rockin’ Thunder 2025: CHILIØ interview

Calgary pop-punk band, CHILIØ kicked off day two of Rockin’ Thunder 2025 on the YEG Rocks stage. After their set, the band found a nice spot behind their merch van to chat with The Gateway about the band’s beginnings, plans, and messaging.

The band’s debut album, (Un)orthodox was a soundtrack for a university film project called Small Town Strength, Chris Wirth, the band’s vocalist said. “When we were trying to record an album we were on Kijiji looking for gigs or anything to make extra cash, and somebody posted ‘I need a soundtrack for a documentary.’ I wasn’t thinking much about it, but you know, colleges have recording studios. So next thing I know, they sign up for a big grant and they have this huge sum of money and they’re like, ‘go have this professionally done,’” Wirth explained. 

The band ended up working with Quinn Cyrankiewicz of Edmonton’s Royal Tusk and got the soundtrack recorded. “If it wasn’t for that album, we wouldn’t be here right now,” Wirth added. The film was an MMA documentary. The band said that while there was a bit of a guided direction, it wasn’t a challenge to write for the soundtrack. 

“I like combat stuff, so I was already writing music that naturally fit into that sound,” Wirth said.

One of the band’s guitarists, John Jean said “[Wirth] is a huge wrestling fan,” and the band’s bassist, James Alexander, jokingly added “yeah, he’s a massive nerd,” making the whole band laugh. 

“Let’s make a cover out of it and see where it goes,” Wirth says 

On moving on after the debut record, the band said they were able to see what works and what didn’t. “We looked at how people reacted and what the audience,” Wirth said. He added that one of the songs off that record, in his opinion, didn’t fit the project, but they left it on anyway and it performed the best out of all the tracks.

Now, with their most recent record and single release, the band is focused on the struggles of being in your mid-twenties. Their most recent release, a single called “I’m an Adult,” is a catchy parody of Simple Plan’s 2002 hit, “I’m Just a Kid.” The band has opened for Simple Plan as well. Wirth said “It’s a song I grew up listening to and we’re always singing parodies around each other, and we figured, let’s make a cover out of it and see where it goes.” 

Ricardo D’Almeida, the band’s other guitarist, said that the crowd dynamics are fun when they play “I’m an Adult,” live. “Sometimes they’re screaming ‘I’m an adult’ and sometimes they’re screaming ‘I’m just a kid,’” D’Almeida said. 

For their most recent album, Quarter Life Crisis, Wirth said that it’s about “the way society is right now, the way we’re handling technology and dealing with all these new problems. We’ve all heard of the mid-life crisis, I think there’s a quarter-life crisis as well. And we should take note of that and look into the things we consume and connect with as younger people and ask ourselves if this is the best way things can be. A big one is social media comparisons.” 

Wirth mentioned likes on social media. “If you get ten likes on a photo, that doesn’t seem like a lot, but if ten people came out here to jump me right now, I’d be cooked,” Wirth said, getting a good laugh from everyone. “We need to really find the value in the numbers we see, even though they’re just numbers,” Wirth added. 

In applying this to themselves as musicians, and specifically in regards to stream counts, D’Almeida said that “we understand how important it is, but at the same time, it’s a number. You have to keep an eye on it, but don’t let it affect you.” Blaine Stillman, the band’s drummer added that “it’s not real life.” 

“There’s tons of bands that have massive numbers and draw tiny crowds. And there’s tons of bands that have tiny numbers but draw huge crowds,” Alexander says

Alexander said that “there’s tons of bands that have massive numbers and draw tiny crowds. And there’s tons of bands that have tiny numbers but draw huge crowds. It’s not the end all be all of anything.” 

On Edmonton, the band called it a second home. The whole band also outed Wirth as a proud Oilers fan, and tried to call Blaine one too but was met with protest. 

The band said Edmonton has a bigger live music scene and that Calgary is on its way to catch up. And with there being less live music in Calgary, the band has found a good niche in the space, they said. 

For their upcoming record, the band is looking to utilize each other’s strengths. “On this third album, we’re tapping into each other’s strengths. Jean can shred like a motherfucker, and Stillman beats like a motherfucker. Everyone’s so talented in their own specialized way and we haven’t really taken advantage of that yet,” Wirth said. 

The band has a “cool little YouTube project coming out soon,” Stillman said, and they’re in the process of a third record.