Ax and the Hatchetmen

indie pop · pop

Ax and the Hatchetmen is a Chicago indie rock band formed in 2018, after guitarist Salvatore Defilippis posted fingerstyle playing online and singer-guitarist Axel Ellis reached out to him on Instagram. Several members came out of the Midwest Young Artists jazz program north of the city, and the horn parts are written into the band rather than added: the lineup is Ellis on lead vocals and guitar, Defilippis on guitar, Hunter Olshefke on bass, Phil Pistone on trumpet, Quinn Dolan on saxophone and, since 2026, Chaandmon Croft on drums, with Nick Deputy having played drums until that year. Ellis's father named the band and gave him the Gretsch White Falcon he plays. The group won an Evanston battle of the bands in 2019, taking free studio time as the prize, released the EP Bear on the Roof the same year, and built an early following on TikTok before recording a session for Audiotree in 2023. It signed to Arista Records in 2023 and issued the EPs Love Songs in 2024 and Constant Change in 2025, the latter including 7 x 9, built from a Rivers Cuomo demo, and Blurry Lights, featuring Albert Hammond Jr. of The Strokes. The twelve-track debut album So Much to Tell You arrived in October 2025, with a deluxe edition the following year. The band has played Lollapalooza, Shaky Knees and Summerfest, opened for Fitz and the Tantrums on a run of North American dates in 2025, and is booked to open for The Revivalists at Red Rocks. Ellis also appears as a guitarist and singer in the Amazon Prime series The Runarounds and fronts the band of the same name.

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