Honoring Sound &
Media History

Name: Asbury Wax Cylinder Recordings & Saturn Return Publishing
Address: D8 2801 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Jersey City, NJ
Telephone: (917) 374-5779

Asbury Wax Cylinder Recordings and Saturn Return Publishing

Celebrating decades of music & performance from Carl Chesna

See the "Dark Night of the Soul" Video here!

About Asbury Wax...

Asbury Wax Cylinder Recordings began as the now defunct, "Regular Records" --an East Village indie. In a few short years, the fledgling label grew to host an impressive multi-genre roster. Carl's debut EP, "The Psychology of Waiting" was the premier EP and its song, "St. Anthony," received airplay worldwide. Asbury Wax came to fruition after Carl relocated to Asbury Park, where he was nominated for an Asbury Music Award. He also wrote the Mercury Retrograde Society column for The Aquarian Weekly. His first Vinyl LP and full length CD, "Prayer to the Black Madonna" was released in 2017.

From an interview pertaining to the record:

"...I actually came up with the concept for "Prayer to the Black Madonna," when I still lived in NY --just before 9/11. It's not a religious record, but like everything else we're all informed by experience. I mean, we grow up in the places we're from with the families we're born into. I wear this medal of the Black Madonna around my neck on a chain I bought in Salem, Mass. Maybe it's because I was born in Sleepy Hollow, but I find myself drawn to places rich in folklore and local history. My band in high school was called "Alfred and the Hitchcocks". Anyway, I was going through a lot of spiritual soul searching at the time and NYC is a veritable goldmine for anyone seeking wisdom. By chance, I once ran into Henry Rollins at the then new Starbucks on St. Marks and boldly handed him a test pressing of "The Psychology of Waiting". Now, you have to understand that Black Flag's first album "Damaged" was one of the first albums I ever bought, and Henry's 1st solo release "The End of Silence" was a huge inspiration to me. So yeah. If I was to say I'm at all religious it would be in the church of punk! Also around that time I read a book called, "The Black Madonna," and it really affected me, so I got this idea to write about women in religious history. I came up with the hook for "Whore of Babylon" during a waiter shift at Acme on Bond St. I still have the original lyrics scribbled on a dingy scrap of paper! A song I'd written years prior as a teenager while working at Rye Playland ended up fitting the bill for the record too. It was about the Greek Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. This was way before the internet, so I had to call my friend from a payphone and ask her to drive out to a bar we passed on the school bus every morning. I knew it was named after her, but I couldn't remember --it was Demeter's Tavern and the song is "Wintertime Greys." It was strongly influenced by the new Suzanne Vega cassette that I'd bought off another kid at Playland, which is where I also learned what a "case quarter" was and made friends with a woman who lit herself on fire and high-dived into a small pool each night. She was older but flirted with me --I told her I was in a band, and she told me that she'd co-written "Round and Round" by RATT and was paid in cocaine. I think she said she was mad because they gave her drugs and no credit for the song. I can't believe I even remember that. I did a lot of gigs with my new-wave band, "900R00MZ" back then, which later transformed into a funk-metal-esque type outfit called "East of Reason". Years later I moved from NYC to Asbury Park because it reminded me of one of my frequent subway ventures out to Coney Island. But it was a very different Asbury than what you see today --downtown was all boarded up and other than The Pony and The Saint, there weren't many music venues —except Cross Roads, which was a great blues bar, but is long gone now. I played at The Saint often and some art galleries and cafes: Be Gallery, The Wonder Bar and the legendary Fast Lane..."

Purchase "Prayer to the Black Madonna" Here!

Add Chesna's name to the
growing list of songwriters
snagging attention... with
"You're Gonna Shine" - a nicely structured tune - seek it out on the fine album, "The Psychology of Waiting."
Larry Flick - Billboard

Cremcaffe. Second Avenue near Third Street, East Village. Acoustic music lovers are under table umbrellas applauding
Carl Chesna. Suddenly some dude falls from the sky, crashing through an umbrella. Seems he'd been chilling out on a rusty fire escape overhead and
it gave way.
Only in New York kids,
Only in New York.

Cindy Adams - New York Post

The Asbury Music Awards
annually bring together the Jersey shore’s music community for a night of congratulations and camaraderie... This year, as
always, the show presented an eclectic array of local talent, showcasing the sensuous
orchestral folk of Carl Chesna.

Asbury Park Press

Performance Arts

Carl Chesna studied at the NJ School of Dramatic Arts, Westchester Conservatory of Music, The New School, Pace University, and privately with Amy Coleman and Michele DeMaree. On screen experience includes independent short film “You Are Seen” by Wesley Wang (2023), "The Power of Positive Murder by Troma Films (2024), reality television's "Fix it or Flip it" (DIYNetwork), vertical series & music videos in both lead and supporting roles, as well as an online commercial ad for the national brand, “Original Soup Man.”

Link to Backstage Profile