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Multi-faceted Albuquerque musicians Jackie Chacon (vocals, drums) and Justin McLauchlin (bass, vocals, synths, trumpet) formed The Ordinary Things in 2018. As you can imagine, being well versed in vocals and several instruments gave them a repertoire of talents, styles and influences to draw from when writing music for the band. And adding guitarist Andrew Chacon into the mix just might have been the catalyst that helped trigger the explosive musical reaction you hear at an Ordinary Things concert today. So far, the band has successfully carried out four full-length sound experiments and an EP. But the band is at their best when they toss a few secret ingredients into their alternative heavy rock tincture without a particular outcome in mind – or a set list for that matter. Their semi-improvised live shows are tailored specifically to each audience, which might be one of the reasons they’re so prolific in the local scene and their sets are well-received at various venues around town. You’re gonna have to listen to a few albums all the way through to really pin down their sound, another reason why you should get a dose of The Ordinary Things potion directly from the source live. You’ll definitely taste hints of indie rock and lighter sounds at times. But let the elixir kick in and you’ll feel a heavy dose of doom or punk, followed by long-lasting aftershocks of prog. Sometimes, I taste bittersweet grunge and post-punk, but it depends on your palate, so it’s hard to describe the soundscape perfectly. Like the most enjoyable experiments in rock ’n’ roll, the final result is never quite the same every time anyway.
Will you describe your sound for us?
I would say that we’re very melodic with rich vocal harmonies overall. The songs can be very different from one to another. Alternative/indie rock would be the genre, but we have prog, metal and punk influences.
We have very melodic songs that people love, but we’ll also play heavier doom/black metal inspired songs (still with strong melodies), and audiences seem to enjoy them even more. It’s pretty cool.
What are your favorite venues to play and why?
We love playing with fellow local bands at The Launchpad and Sister, but we also enjoy playing three-hour shows at Tin Can Alley and El Vado to perform more of our material.
We’ll play “Descending” at Tin Can Alley, and there are families listening, but we always get a strong cheering reception after we perform it, no matter the crowd. For the longer shows, we just take turns calling the songs. (No set lists.) For a shorter gig like the Launchpad, we write a set that contains the mellow songs as well as the heavier ones. It’s really hard to choose because we really like all of our songs, and it’s very hard to write a short set because we have to leave out so many.
What are your lyrics about?
Lyrics can range from Life, Love, Loss, Death, Mental Illness, Sci-fi/Fantasy.
We’re 100% original and very collaborative on the writing process.
We just try to be completely honest with our writing; we don’t worry about fitting into a certain genre. We just love to write and hang with each other. It’s been a very magical journey so far. We have a thing called the Coconut Award – we have a coconut one of us keeps, and the person that had the most screw ups on a gig is awarded the coconut [laughs].
What bands or genres inspire your music?
Bands that we love and [that] inspire us: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, The Breeders, UFO, Big Thief, Ty Segall, Nirvana, The Scorpions, Dio, The Pixies, Duran Duran, Screaming Females. I also love getting inspiration from Bela Bartok, Stravinsky and many other 20th century composers. We love everything including Latin, jazz and folk music. Voivod is another important inspiration.
What is the best show you have ever played and why?
The best show we’ve played was The Heights Summerfest this summer. We had more people listening to us [than usual] and they seemed to enjoy our set.
Our next show is on Halloween in Belen for the Trunk or Treat event. We perform from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Listen Up:
The Ordinary Things are on all your major streaming services such as Spotify, and they’re planning on entering the studio very soon to record our 5th album. Check out their website full of music, videos, merch and upcoming shows at theordinarythings.com or visit their Facebook and Instagram pages. You can purchase their music or listen on Bandcamp as well.
You can check out the video for their 2024 track “Shadows Fall” here.
Here’s a longer full-length performance from The Ordinary Things at the 2021 Los Alamos Concert Series.
Here they are performing “Heaven” for an intimate 2011 Tiny Desk Concert.
Watch the video for “Bring me Down” here.
Open Mic Mondays: The Ordinary Things is a story from The Paper.. Publishing from New Mexico’s largest city, The Paper is your source for local, independent news, covering politics, arts, culture, and events.
