Entranced by The Entrance Band

“When I was learning to speak I was learning to sing, when I was learning to walk I was learning to dance, when I was learning to run I was hoping to fly, [and] when I first made music I saw that flying is possible. Since then I have aspired to sing, dance, and make music above all else,” so says Guy Blakeslee, lead singer and founder of psychedelic rock group, The Entrance Band.

Who really knows what makes a rock star? It could be in that certain ineffable quality that one has to possess that screams “I don’t give a shit.” Or, it could be the lifestyle that would include late nights, random sex, questionable drugs, and of course, rock ’n’ roll.

Most likely, though, it’s simply passion, at least, if one were to ask this Chicago-based trio.

The Entrance Band is comprised of lead vocalist and guitarist Blakeslee, drummer Derek James, and seasoned bassist Paz Lenchantin. Together, the trio creates a kind of “psychedelic euphony” in their music, where iconoclastic messages ring loud and clear through thick, heavy sounds that makes a girl want to rebel.

Every band needs a catalytic visionary.

For The Entrance Band, that guy was Blakeslee. Originally known as Entrance, Blakeslee began solo and played regular gigs at The Hideout, a hole-in-the-wall venue with a lot of history in downtown Chicago.

Eventually, Entrance became The Entrance Band, with an expanded title that grew with their success. Four albums and labels, and countless tours later, The Entrance Band is still going strong, with no intentions of slowing down.

I know I’m in for it when I see them wander on to the stage, beer in hand and cigarette on lip, looking like a glorious band of hippies.

When performing, the three members lend their own particular charm in creating The Entrance Band’s je ne sais quoi.

Their sound, so distinct and vulnerable in its heady eccentricity, fills the room.

Each instrument is stripped bare; there is nothing but Blakeslee’s bluesy vocals, and the magnificent cacophony of Lenchantin and James to distract you from the kaleidoscopic energy that emanates from the speakers.

Waif-like and dainty, Lenchantin’s dreamy presence is enough to make anyone smile. When the beat drops and she starts ripping on her bass (appropriately ornamented with a single flower clipped to its headstock), watching her writhe and dance to the music becomes an experience in itself.

Then there is James, the mysterious, handsome guy who seems more comfortable playing than speaking, and who seems both humbled and surprised by any modicum of success that his talent has brought him.

Finally, there is Blakeslee. Eccentric and full of life, when speaking with him I could not help but think, where the hell did this guy come from?

At moments he seemed out of this world, destined to live in a place far more beautiful and feral than here on earth. His lanky build, eager eyes and trippy thoughts seem alien in a world that wants him to conform because it does not understand him.

Still, with the help of Lenchantin and James, Blakeslee is doing everything he can to live a life that is far from ordinary.

“My most intense obsession is with the ‘present-ness’ or [being a] ‘gypsy’. A way of [life] that is always open and ready for anything, with fewer and fewer divisions or separations between states of being. [It’s] a fully-realized psychedelic state that doesn’t require drugs or anything, but the intention of creative thought and the breath that we breathe, which is our most powerful gift and tool for exploring this reality we share,” says Blakeslee about his vagrant lifestyle and offbeat demeanor.

After stints with several ill-fated bands, the Baltimore native, who began as a solo act, released his first and only solo album, The Kingdom of Heaven Must Be Taken By Storm in 2003 with Tiger Style Records.

Soon thereafter, Blakeslee recruited Lenchantin and James to fill out the band.

Together, the trio produced three records after The Kingdom; and their self-titled album, released in 2009, was highly acclaimed.

When asked what aspect of their music they are most proud of, Blakeslee emphatically says, “[Our] independence!”

The band’s beatnik approach to life and living saturates every lyric, like “Pretty baby don’t you know my style? / You can’t control me / Cause I’m young and wild,” that is on their track “Pretty Baby.”

“We write all of our songs together, I am mostly responsible for the words but we discuss the feeling or idea we’re getting from the music... most of our songs these days are personal and universal at the same time,” says Blakeslee on their writing style. “[They] touch upon the theme of being present, aware, and powerful....All of our songs are some manifestation of the living of a dream, the dreams we share and our own individual visions that we help each other realize through music and travel.”

With over a decade of experience, Blakeslee also has sound advice for new artists trying to make a name for themselves in a cut-throat music industry.

“Do it yourself,” he replies concisely, a contrast to his more lengthy ruminations. There is no such thing as overnight success, as the band has learned in having to earn their stripes in the record industry.

“Do it yourself.”

And The Entrance Band has every intention of having a longstanding and successful career.

“[We want to] stay on tour until we can’t do it anymore,” says Blakeslee on their plans for the future.

The band has traveled all over the world spreading their bohemian anthem in every type of venue. From nondescript dives to festivals packed with thousands, the Entrance Band has seen it all.

Blakeslee also opened up about future projects. “We want to create an album called ‘Supersession’ where we get all of our friends and comrades from all over the world to join us in creating psychedelic symphonies,” he said.

Some of these “comrades” are the industry’s biggest heavy hitters. Their tour mates include heralded bands, such as The Kills, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Sonic Youth, and Cat Power, who regard the band in high esteem.

When asked what inspired their sound, Blakeslee paused before rattling off a lengthy list. “Love, friends, cities, trees, the Blues, Africa, America, the sky, rain and clouds, desert mirages, LSD, breathing, walking miles and miles forever, Harry Smith, airports, train stations, Allen Ginsberg, the view from a car window forever, the lines on the highway forever,” he said.

I got the message.

Blakeslee also mentioned how he got his name. “The name Entrance has a double meaning: to enter into a trance, and to pass through a doorway,” he said. “[This] door that we pass through leads [to] an out of [body] trance that touches the edge of complete insanity and chaos.”

If I closed my eyes and just listened, I could understand precisely what he meant.

From the MO print archive: this story first ran in The Premiere Issue of Meets Obsession Magazine. The lineup, records and plans are as they stood when we spoke with the band; we're running it as it first appeared.

• Words: Saron Olkaba