As vocalist first for Insight and then for Iceburn, Salt Lake's most promising hard-core punk-rock acts, Jeremy Chatelain said his life was simply going nowhere.
"It just didn't look like I was going to make it (in the music industry) living in Salt Lake - at least not the way I wanted things to be, with a band that worked and toured all the time, not just when our work and school schedules allowed us to do it," he said from a cellular phone while en route to Vancouver, British Columbia."What did I have to look forward to besides inconsistent tours with small shows, a mall job and an uncertain college career?" Chatelain asked. "I was just driving myself - and consequently my band-mates and friends - into the ground."
Despite playing larger and larger shows with Iceburn, which built loyal followings in New York and Europe, Chatelain quit that band five years ago to decide what to do with the rest of his life. (Iceburn continues to record and tour today without Chatelain as the more progressive Iceburn Collective.)
Still living in Salt Lake City, Chatelain worked as a road manager for Into Another, a New York-based, hard-core-influenced band whose members convinced him that his future wasn't in the Beehive State but in the Big Apple. And it appears they were right.
He moved to New York in late 1994 and quickly made several important connections. Foremost among them was former Murphy's Law and Cro-Mags drummer Pete Hines, who introduced Chatelain to the other members of what would become Handsome - former Helmet guitarist Peter Mengede and bass guitarist Eddie Nappi.
"They were having problems with their singer - evidently he was an ex-glam rock singer who wasn't really their cup of tea - and they kind of hinted that they were interested in me," Chatelain said. "I wasn't too sure of myself, but I gave them a demo tape and the next day Peter and Pete showed up on my doorstep."
The nascent Handsome, which would eventually include former Quicksand guitarist Tom Capone as well, played its first show at New York's fabled CBGB's just a few weeks later. A major-label record deal following shortly thereafter.
"(This) all came as kind of a shock to me. I waited for so long for something to happen, and then it fell into place overnight," Chatelain said. "Things didn't happen quite the way I expected them to - and they happened kind of when I least expected them."
As for expectations, Handsome has managed to shatter quite a few, since its full-length debut CD (self-titled) sounds like all and none of its separate parts.
"When people hear the CD, they think it's going to sound like Helmet or like Quicksand, or a cross between the two," Chatelain said. "But while it's got some of those elements, it's got quite a few different ones as well. We're not one of those `separate parts,' side project-type bands - you know, the ones that sound like a good idea but aren't."
In spite of, or perhaps because of, its unpredictability, the CD has Handsome much in demand these days. On top of its soldout shows along the East Coast, the group is currently touring with Australian phenoms Silverchair and Local H.
That tour will bring Handsome to Chatelain's former stomping grounds next week (the bands will perform Wednesday, April 13, at Saltair Pavilion), which has conjured up a whole variety of emotions for him.
"This is so weird. It's actually making me homesick for Salt Lake," he said. "My parents and a lot of my friends are going to come to the show, so there's a little bit of pressure."
And Chatelain said he is glad to be playing a much larger show than those he saw as a member of Iceburn.
"This is an actual rock show, so I'm kind of numb," he said. "It's very exciting for me and my family."
Of course, that's not to say that Chatelain wouldn't rule out a smaller Salt Lake club show somewhere down the line.
"Oh no, I definitely wouldn't mind playing for a smaller crowd that was there to see us," he said. "I've got great memories about Utah shows, when I was performing or when I was there just to see another band."
However, he did say that Salt Lake's "straight-edge" scene is gaining a bad reputation, even nationally, because of some concert violence incidents (such as the recent Sick of it All show), which has made some touring acts wary of the state.
"There's always always one jerk in a crowd," Chatelain said. "It's unfortunate that these kids are going to ruin things for everybody else."
Showtime for the concert is 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $15.50, are still available from all Smith'sTix outlets.