She's 23, she rocks out while playing lead guitar, and she's finally starting to sing again. She's Chauntelle DuPree, the oldest member of Eisley. Her favored guitars include a vintage Gretsch, a modified Lotus, and a Larrive acoustic.

Chauntelle used to sing with the band, and in fact she recorded vocals for the song "Pretender," which she also wrote. However, as time went on, she "lost her confidence," according to her old Eisley.com bio. But in 2004, Chauntelle recorded vocals on a song called "Soap" by the Vanished, and rumor has it she also had a harmony part on "Just Like We Do." She also sang lead on "One More Day With You," a song written and recorded at the Fools' Banquet songwriting workshop hosted by the Hanson brothers. Time will tell if Chauntelle's beautiful voice makes it onto any other tracks.

Hi, I'm Chauntelle. I'm the oldest in the band, I'm 20. I play guitar, write, and sing... (away from the mic) for Eisley. Ok! The reason I don't sing in the mic is because I lost my confidence (plus I figured out that I don't even breathe the proper way for it), so I'm practicing until I'm confident enough.

I am the oldest of 5 other siblings in my family. There are 6 of us in all, so, there's a lot of people in our house.

I love art and music. I think I picked up the guitar when I was 16 and have been playing for almost six years now. Along the way I've discovered that it's not always fun and easy. I mean... I love to play, but it takes a great deal of hard work. Also, I find it extremely hard to be taken seriously (especially by guys); they tend to think that they're the only ones who know stuff about gear, and that girls should just sit back and watch, like dummies.

Ok, this is what I think about guitar solos: I am not a "lead" guitar player. I don't know that many scales (yet) on the fretboard and I don't know any theory (yet)... so I pretty much write by emotion; I use my ear. Guitar "solos" can be dominating in a song and destroy its simplicity. I like to find a melody that will complement the song. It might just be three or four melodic notes that relates to the song.

Music has this amazing ability to make me think and feel so many different emotions. It inspires me, it can make me laugh, cry, it can make me dream about the future or it can remind me of the past. Some of our friends have told us lately that our music stirs their emotions... even to tears. That's cool.

Anyway, well, I think I've talked way too much. These are some of my musical influences: Radiohead, Coldplay, Midlake, Muse, Kent, Jimmy Eat World, Travis, Sunny Day Real Estate, Clinic, Bjork, Portishead, Remy Zero, Grandaddy, The Elms, Weezer, Bleach, Sixpence, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, 100 Portraits, WaterDeep, etc.

Chauntelle Links

"One More Day With You" MP3