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Student
balances class, band, minor league baseball He walked into the Pond Street Grill smiling, carrying a brown notebook full of papers and covered with stickers from bands and clubs. He sat down eager to talk and he understandably had a lot to say. Chad Durham, a senior speech communication major, said he is a busy guy as he juggles the many roles he plays in the classroom, on the field and on stage.
Durham, 23, balances the positions of a TCU student, pitcher for the Houston Astros minor league team and lead singer for the band Mysteree. Soon, his position as student will be over, as he graduates in May leaving more time for his other passions. Durham came to TCU from Austin on a baseball scholarship. He graduated from Westlake High School and chose to come to Fort Worth amongst other offers from Baylor, Southwest Texas and Tulane. “At the time, I really loved Fort Worth,” said Durham. “TCU offered me the best scholarship so I was eager to play.” He played four years of Horned Frog baseball and was drafted by the Houston Astros in 2001. Durham said that he was excited to play for a professional team because it felt more like a real job. “We are treated more like professionals in the minor leagues,” said Durham. “You are treated as equals with everyone else.” The experience will also gear him towards future opportunities in the sport of baseball. Durham comes into the games as a closing pitcher, in the eighth or ninth innings. This position allows him to relieve the starter pitcher but requires skill to maintain the success of a game. Durham said he is ready to play for as many years as he is able to and is hopeful that he will get play in the major leagues. “I want to take baseball as far as I can go.” said Durham. But baseball is not his only focus. It isn’t even his main one. Durham’s real passion is his music and his band Mysteree. He said he gets the same excited feeling when he steps onto the mound at a game as onto the stage at a performance. But if asked to choose between the two, he said he would easily pick music. “I get more satisfaction from pouring my heart out at a performance, than just using my body in a game.” said Durham. “Music is more intimate and emotional.” Music is something Durham has been involved with for years. He taught himself to play the piano when he was 10 years old and started playing the guitar at the end of high school when he found his dad’s old guitar in the garage. He has released three independent albums. He has also been writing his own songs and keeps them in the brown notebook he carries. “I write poems and then turn them into song lyrics” said Durham. “Writing is a way for me to vent.” Durham became interested in joining a band as a sophomore at TCU. He made fliers and posted them around the university and clubs such as the Ridglea Theater expressing his interest. His first attempt at a band consisted of a group of random guys which didn’t work out due to lifestyle differences. He gave up on the music business for a while until he was contacted by Andrew Hamer. Hamer informed him that his band “5 Minutes More” was in need of a lead singer. Durham auditioned for the mainstream alternative rock band, bringing a couple of his CD’s along. Band members decided to make him a member. “Chad was really great for the band,” said lead guitarist Scott Boldt, a senior speech communication major. “When he came in and auditioned, we were really impressed by his talent.” Hamer left the band less than a year after the addition of Durham to pursue other opportunities, leaving only three members, saxophonist Brandon Tinsley, lead guitarist Scott Boldt and lead singer Durham. The three remaining members of “5 Minutes More” proceeded to do acoustic unplugged shows at local venues such as The Flying Saucer and 8’0s under the new name “Chad Durham”. “It was a rough time for the band,” said Durham. “We needed to get things together.” They began getting things together by adding drummer Shaun Hayes and bass player Brandon Pitt under the advice of Boldt. “Our first practice was perfect,” said Durham. “It sounded as if we had been playing forever.” The other members had the same feelings about the performance. “The first time we played was exciting,” said Hayes a freshman premajor. “Everyone sounded great together.” Tired of being referred to as the “Chad Durham Band”, the musicians struggled to find a new name. As it turns out, someone else picked one for them. Durham said that as they were doing their first gig at the Aardvark, KTCU “The Choice” was broadcasting live. The disc jockeys kept referring to them as the band with no name, the mystery band. With this suggestion, the band decided to call themselves Mysteree and changed the spelling of the word for originality. The band has only been around since Dec. 2001 and are not wasting anytime. They have played at venues such as The Galaxy Club, The Aardvark and The Flying Saucer. Their music is a mixture of their past influences combined and is hard to describe in one word. “The music is an upbeat, jam oriented type of rock,” said Durham. “Our goal for our music is to make people dance.” They are doing just that. They competed in the event Battle of the Bands April 7 and were well received. Spectators were dancing and clapping along to the songs. “The band has an excellent sound that doesn’t compare to anyone else,” said Emily Gipson, a sophomore, radio-TV-film major and concerts chair for Programming Council. “If they want to, they can really go places.” They did not win the contest, but they were satisfied with the opportunity to get their name out and their music heard. “We were excited to play in the battle of the bands,” said Durham. “For us, winning isn’t important. What is important is the music, the people and the exposure.” Durham writes all the lyrics and music for the band but collaborates with his fellow members for the melody and the back bones of the songs. “I believe in the songs and in the music,” said Durham. “I am the emotional side and the other guys are more of the technical side.” Despite his determination, he said balancing school, music and professional baseball is not an easy task and requires sacrifices. Durham plays in Mysteree for six months, while the other six months of the year is spent playing with the Astros. “It is tough to balance music and baseball, but I think one helps out the other,” Durham said. With this schedule, the band must sacrifice playing during the summer while Durham is playing for the Astros. “It is a challenge to balance the music with Chad’s schedule,” said Boldt. “He leaves in May and we are kind of left hanging until he comes back.” Durham said it took a couple of years for his parents to realize that he was serious about his music. They were fearful that he would live the life of a struggling musician. “With baseball, my parents were always behind me 100 percent,” said Durham. “But music was a different story.” Durham said that it wasn’t until they saw a live performance of him that they took him seriously. Now they support him in every way but financially. Mysteree is under the management of Cory Wells of Planet One Productions. Each member said they are dedicated to taking the band as far as it will go. “I plan to continue with the band and develop it as a career,” said Hayes. “I know that will take time and a lot of work.” Durham said he hopes that his future involvement with baseball will further the band’s success by getting exposure and contacts. He leaves May 15 for Houston Astros training camp in Florida. When he gets back, he will return to playing music. Durham said, when his baseball career is complete, he wants to have a family and make a living through music. He said that he is not afraid to take risks and to not do what is expected of him by society. “I try to keep things in perspective,” Durham said. “All the talent that I have is not my own, it was given to me. I just want to give as much back to music as it has given me.” Antoinette
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