Chad Petree is the co-producer, guitarist, male lead vocalist, and songwriter of alternative indie rock band Shiny Toy Guns. He grew up in small town Shawnee, Oklahoma, where he and his best friend Jeremy Dawson developed a passion for music. They were involved in several bands after another, but none felt right, so by pattern they left those bands one by one and settled on making their own, entitled Shiny Toy Guns. Even after releasing albums We Are Pilots, Season of Poison, and remix disc Girls Le Disko, their sales never went up to more than 60,000 copies of each album sold.

Chad is a beautiful person, in all categories. His masculine build and slick black schoolboy hairdo make him physically attractive, where as the one part of his body that really attracts to me is his arm. Big black block letters that read ‘To The Machine’ have been tattooed to his right arm, but it is the meaning of it that appeals it to me the most. Chad says that the saying on his arm is a reference to Pink Floyd’s song ‘Welcome To The Machine’, a personal favorite to Chad, and he says that it has so much meaning that he wanted it to be a part of him. I’ve taken those words so deeply to me that at one point I began begging my mom to allow me to tattoo the lyrics to my favorite song to my right arm, too. Without surprise, the answer was no. Through my disappointment, I found another trend I could follow Chad in. I adored the idea of wearing band T-shirts like he does, so now what you’ll basically see in my closet are stacks of The Who, Nirvana, and Keane T-shirts. What I also adore about Chad is the recognition of what his fans want from him. As a kid, no major band ever came to his town, or at least no band to his interest. Now, as a music icon, he makes sure to satisfy his fans by touring in places such as Fredericton, NB, Canada instead of LA or Japan, as other stars do. I have also heard that he is irresistibly hilarious. The major reason I love Chad Petree is typically because of his music. He puts so much soul and truth in his music and lyrics that it never fails to make me cry, and I guess this leads me to why I want to be like him someday.

When I listen to the words that Chad had taken the time and effort to perfect, or the chords he synchronizes impressively on his guitar, it makes me feel close to my heart. He strums the music from its nature, and sings the words out of my mouth with such candid confidence that it makes me wish that I was the one who wrote those lyrics, or that I was the one who composed the piece. It’s just ultimate genius, and it has Chad Petree written all over it. I wish it had me written all over it. I do often sneak sayings and quotes from Shiny Toy Guns into my own words, I’ll admit, but it just never seem to click the way it must with Chad.

You may find this stupid or immature, but I’m actually really bothered by the fact that I didn’t start the trend to wear band T-shirts, but instead had to pick it up from Chad. I’ll find another clever way to start a trend like that… maybe a haircut, or a piercing, but deep down I know that those have nothing to do with the same meaning of Chad’s T-shirts or tattoo.

I’ve got a handful of friends who have met Chad Petree, and when they told me, I could do nothing but envy them for a while. But when I came to my senses and asked them to tell me about their journey, they let me in on a side of Chad that I didn’t know. He was a cool laidback kind of guy, he always has a good time, he’s really close to his brother, Stephen, and he’s not overcome by fame and fortune. Instead, he’s more of the regular guy type, and he is hilarious, as I mentioned. After hearing that, I put in my mind that he is similar to that one schoolteacher there is bound to be in every school, the one all the girls fancy and all the guys look up to. My hypothesis was confirmed when I saw a video of Chad walking on the street about an hour and a half before a gig Shiny Toy Guns was performing at a local bar, and he ran into someone who said their a huge fan of him. They sat down and talked for a while, so the man had the courage to invite him over for a drink and a game of foosball. Chad happily accepted and after having a good time, he walked to his show with his new friend 15 minutes before, introduced him to the band, and then went onstage to begin his performance. Who does that? What kind of rockstar goes to a fans house for foosball an hour before his concert, then walks with him to the gig? I couldn’t stop laughing throughout the whole video. My friends were right; he was funny.

What else can a say? Who wouldn’t want to end up like this hilarious attractive rockstar whose words inspired life out of me? Who wouldn’t have wanted to start a trend like he did, or write music like he did? To me, Chad Petree is a legend, and I can dream of being just like him someday.