Episode 410: Chad Fischer - Musician, Composer, Frontman of Lazlo Bane

2023-03-15

Chad Fischer's early work was being a drummer for the band School of Fish ("Three Strange Days"), founded by his college friend Josh Clayton-Felt. Fischer replaced the original their original drummer in 1991; however, he did not play on the band's second album due to a fallout with a producer and was replaced by Josh Freese. Mr. Freese pops up repeatedly in this episode. Nevertheless, Fischer still stayed with the band to perform live. The only official commercial School of Fish release that included his drumming was the single "Take Me...

Chad Fischer's early work was being a drummer for the band School of Fish ("Three Strange Days"), founded by his college friend Josh Clayton-Felt.

Fischer replaced the original their original drummer in 1991; however, he did not play on the band's second album due to a fallout with a producer and was replaced by Josh Freese. Mr. Freese pops up repeatedly in this episode.

Nevertheless, Fischer still stayed with the band to perform live. The only official commercial School of Fish release that included his drumming was the single "Take Me Anywhere," which you can hear in this episode.

After School of Fish disbanded in 1994, Chad Fischer built his own recording studio and started writing new material. He signed to Almo Sounds label and formed the band Lazlo Bane, whose debut album, 11 Transistor, was released in January 1997.

During the early years, Chad Fischer met Colin Hay, with whom he became a close friend. Fisher played drums on Hay's 1994 album Topanga, while Hay contributed guitar and vocals to Lazlo Bane's cover of "Overkill" from their debut album.

Since then, Chad Fischer took part in the recording of Hay's subsequent studio albums up to Next Year People in 2015. Chad wore many hats, from session musician and songwriter to mixing engineer and co-producer.

Chad Fischer's early work on TV scores includes shows My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star and The Class.

In 2007 Chad Fischer and Lazlo Bane guitarist Tim Bright started scoring the American medical drama series Private Practice. During its run Fischer and Bright won BMI TV Music Award four times: in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. The show concluded after six seasons in 2013.

After Private Practice, Chad Fischer started providing music for another ABC show, Scandal. For his work, he won the BMI TV Music Award six times from 2013 to 2018.

Oh, yea, and Chad wrote "I'm No Superman" - the theme song to the show Scrubs.

The highly acclaimed Garden State soundtrack, released in 2004, subsequently winning a Grammy Award in 2005 and receiving platinum certification, featured two songs produced by Chad Fischer: "Blue Eyes" performed by Cary Brothers and "Winding Road" performed by actress Bonnie Somerville.

Other musicians and bands Fischer produced include Everlast, Lisa Loeb, Colin Hay, and The Good Luck Joes.

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LINKS

Chad Fischer

Lazlo Bane (new song out now)

Colin Hay

Josh Freese on IG

Mike Ward on IG

The Wallflowers

Pat Mastelato

Ben Harper

Crowded House