Chill all the time

Sports ambles through unexpected success

Cale Chronister thought it was a prank. 

The lead singer of Sports was vacationing in Florida when he noticed a surge in the band’s Spotify streams. Someone at Spotify who to this day remains a mystery placed the band’s song, “You Are the Right One,” on a suggested playlist. Though the band (rounded out by Jacob Theriot and Christian Theriot) is young in both the recently-formed and one-of-them-is-19 sense, the song climbed to over half-a-million plays. 

On the heels of its single going viral, the band was quickly snatched up by an L.A.-based agent, but other than that, not much has changed. Sports’s ambling motto seems to be “whatever happens, happens.”

Face to face, Chronister is shy, but in digital communication he’s candid and witty. “Jacob and I have matching tattoos of a cactus,” he told me through text message. “It was spontaneous...Kind of an ‘I’ll get it if you get it’ scenario.” That kind of spontaneity is the jet-bubbling id of Sports’s chillwave ethos. Call it jacuzzi rock.

They settled on the name Sports because “it was funny.” They also named their album “Naked All the Time,” because that was funny, too. Though it’s achieved a level of exposure that most bands chase through rigorous touring, Sports has never left Oklahoma. “I did buy a van!” Chronister told me. Apart from the purchase and a gig at SXSW, however, no major road trips have been planned.

In addition to their outrageous fortune with publicity, Sports find themselves in coveted company. Their album features guest performances by Sufjan Stevens’ drummer, James McAlister, and members of Broncho (whose “Class Historian” has over ten million Spotify streams). Sports aren’t exactly leveraging their luck, but they appreciate it. “Naked All The Time” shows why they deserve it.

Based in both Tulsa and Norman, Sports composed the album through emailed loops and demos. The result was eight tracks of immaculately produced, lush, catchy, dream pop. Though the band’s blissed-out narcotic pop style is hard to pin to any particular genre, their touchstones offer insight into the roots of the music. According to Chronister, the band loves Fleetwood Mac’s “Tango in the Night,” and the influence is obvious. Though channeling that album’s dad-rock exotica, Sports wrap their songs in a certain melted modernity that gives the whole thing a puckish air of mischief. 

The album has a feedback loop aura; where memories warp through archaic technology. “You are the Right One” subconsciously shares it’s lead melody with Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” It’s music video is a burnt out roller­blade sesh on betamax. “Dalton’s Wish,” a song about an inflatable alien that wants to be brought to life, rings eerily nostalgic. Like an alternate take of Lauper’s “Time After Time,” it’s the last dance at a bummer prom Sports was too young to attend.

Chad Copelin, the Norman-based Blackwatch Studios producer, was instrumental in the album’s faded but clear-as-Crystal-Pepsi production. A good chunk of the initial demos ended up on the album, but Chronister asserts “Chad was the man.” Copelin helped the band decide what parts of the demos they didn’t need, didn’t need to change, or could “beat.” Those hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify may attest to his direction and Sports’ self-editing. 

On a practical level, those streams have provided money to record their next album with the same scrutiny.

I asked Chronister if any fans had reached out to the band. “Well, one of the problems with naming your band Sports, is that you’re impossible to find.” Sure enough, Googling “Tulsa Sports,” yields more hits for Golden Hurricanes than tropical pop singles. There are also several other bands that share the name, a few of which consider themselves the “real” Sports. True to their beach bum approach, the Okie Sports couldn’t care less. 

“We just focus on what we do,” Chronister said.

For now, what they’re doing is preparing for a trio of Oklahoma showcases: they headline the opening night of the Tulsa Overground Film & Music Festival (March 24-27), which they’ll follow with performances at The Tulsa Voice’s BOT Bash (April 2), and Norman Music Festival (April 21-23).

The long­term goal is to start touring, but primarily for the pleasure of travel, according to Chronister. I asked what the dream scenario for Sports would be, the high-water mark of success. “We will open for Katy Perry,” he quickly replied. 

For more from Mitch, read his review of Penta, the debut EP by We Make Shapes.