After the short stint with The Eventuals, Doug went on to form what would be his last band, after 12 years of being part of the Tempe music scene. Or at least the last band with documented Hopkins material.

He approached friend Lawrence Zubia, of Nudes Live, with the proposition to start a band. At this stage, despite being outed from the Gin Blossoms, Doug Hopkins was the biggest thing in Tempe, and Lawrence knew right away that he wanted to work with Hopkins. Lawrence left Live Nudes to work with Hopkins, leaving his brother Mark without a band. Before long the pair convinced Mark to join the them, also adding drummer Mark Riggs and bassist Scott Andrews (both of blues rock band Chuck Hall and the Brick Wall) forming the Chimeras in August 1992.

The Chimeras were a musical contrast to Doug's former band, the Gin Blossoms. Musically more blues-ish, no doubt in part due to the history of the new members and Lawrence's throaty vocals. The large contrast in vocal style between Zubia and Wilson challenged Doug to write songs for catering to Zubia's voice, which soon came together and spawned yet another style of music explored by Hopkins. The Chimeras also showcased a more soulful sounding Hopkins on the lead guitar. Despite the quite obvious blues sound of the band, compared to the alternative pop sound of the Gin Blossoms, Doug's pop influence and signature guitar style of octaves and high end arpeggios was not lost, producing tracks that were a growth from his previous musical styles, yet still undeniably Doug Hopkins sounding. His lyrics also began to take a third person approach, compared to his usual writings of events around him.

A solid lineup combined with Doug being a local celebrity in light of the Gin Blossoms, the Chimeras were virtually an instant success, filling Edsels Attic for their first gig in August 1992. With a strong local following, and no problem booking gigs, the band traveled to Austin Texas to perform at South By Southwest in March 1993, and recorded an independent cassette, Songs Of Innocence, featuring Hopkins on guitar. It was the prediction of many that the Chimeras would be next band signed out of Tempe.

However, in April 1993, after fumbling a solo at a local music festival, Doug declared that he was quitting the band. The next day, the Chimeras all got together to discuss the future of the band, where Doug asked to rejoin. The band, hesitant about Doug's behavior and inner turmoil, now fueled by the Gin Blossom's growing success, declined to allow him to rejoin the band.

Like the Gin Blossoms and unlike all of the other Hopkins projects, the Chimeras continued after Doug. However, there was no bitterness between the two parties. Doug remained friends with the band, particularly Lawrence, and both of the parties were happy for the Chimeras to continue playing the songs that Hopkins had written in the band. Shortly after Doug quit the band, Mark Riggs also quit. Rather than calling it a day, the Chimeras continued playing with significantly smaller line up, finally settling on Pete Milner as to replace Hopkins and current Pistoleros drummer Gary Smith on drums.

Throughout the latter part of 1993, the Chimeras continued being local staple, up to which point, continued to play songs Doug had written in the band along with songs they'd written in Live Nudes. After Doug's death, the Zubia brothers began to replace old Hopkins tunes with new songs they'd written, both to establish the band in it's current form, and due of the memories that playing a set full of Hopkins tracks would raise, though still held onto a few of the previous Hopkins songs.

During 1994, the band recorded their locally released album Mistaken For Granted (now out of print and is a collectors item). The album has a notably more blues, and less pop feel than the previous tracks with Hopkins.

Fast forwarding a few years, the Chimeras were signed to Hollywood Records in 1997. A few changes for the band took place. Pete Milner, Doug's replacement, left the group and was replaced with Thomas Laufenberg, their current day guitarist. Being signed to a major label, the band also changed their name, due to avoid any issue with an Irish band called the Chimeras. The band settled on the name The Pistoleros and recorded their first, and to date only major label record for Hollywood Records, Hang On To Nothing. In addition to a slew of new songs, and a few old songs from the Zubia brother's Live Nudes days, Hang On To Nothing included My Guardian Angel which was written by Doug in the days of the Chimeras.

In addition to My Guardian Angel, the Pistoleros also held onto two other Chimeras songs that Doug wrote, Long Last Lonely Mile and Southbound Train, both of which were expected to be dusted off for the Pistoleros set at the Scotti Stock charity concert in 2001. Both songs had resurfaced on a lot of Pistoleros set lists from 2002 through until the band's hiatus around 2006.

In May 2002, the band celebrated the 10 year anniversary of the formation of The Chimeras with a pair of gigs in Tempe. Southbound Train was also present on the setlists of these gigs, which was released as a live CD on December 14 2002. The live CD contains the live performance of the Hopkins penned Southbound Train, Long Last Lonely Mile and My Guardian Angel from the gigs.

"The song we're going to play is called Ponyboy And Johnny. It's a song Doug wrote, and I think it has a lot of significance...to Doug and his personality and the Doug we knew and Doug we loved very very much."

-- Lawrence Zubia

"Ponyboy And Johnny is a song that Doug wrote, both lyrically and musically and bears a lot of significance....in relation now, in hindsight to what has gone on. And I think that you will be able to relate to lyrically. It was a song that was very dear and special to Doug."

-- Lawrence Zubia

"...that song is filled with, like you said, a lot of quintessential Doug, the lead, the lyrics, everything about it, the melody, is really everything the guy's all about."

-- Robin Wilson
Source: Doug Hopkins Tribute - 98 Local Rock.

"...what's this song we're going to play now Lawrence? Are we going to play Cathedral City? Yeah, this is a song...he wrote this originally when we was in the Gin Blossoms, but it's the only song of his that we ever never really liked playing very much for some reason. It was the one song that...the Gin Blossoms have a pretty rigorous process when a song gets introduced and Jesse and I have always had...we have to go through this big screening thing. But hardly ever did we hear a Doug song that we didn't want to play almost right away and this is the only one that didn't seem to work for us. But the Chimera's started do this song, and how did it work with you guys?"

-- Robin Wilson

"It worked good...but...Doug insisted that we did it y'know? And so it grew and it grew and it [Doug used to do a lot of insisting. -- Robin]...and it grew into something that we...one of our favorite songs as the Chimeras."

-- Lawrence Zubia

"That guitar solo is everything he bases himself on, y'know? He's always had the strength of not knowing exactly a whole bunch of riffs, but he milks what he knows, he always did. He took the little he knew about the guitar and made it work...which is fine for pop music."

"Well, he was such a popster, everything he did. He digested everything the Beatles ever did. UHe ate pop music and top 40 radio whole. And there were parts of that song that really reminded me of...what's it? Just Like Heaven, by the Cure. That was a song that Doug, he just used to love that because it's one of those 3 chord pop songs."

-- Robin Wilson
Source: Doug Hopkins Tribute - 98 Local Rock.

All we know is that this was written by Doug when he was part of the Chimeras. They may or may not have recorded it for Songs Of Innocence.

All we know is that this was written by Doug when he was part of the Chimeras. They may or may not have recorded it for Songs Of Innocence.

Long Last Lonely Mile was one of three songs written by Doug Hopkins while in the Chimeras, which the band held onto after his passing, and is well known by people attending their shows (often referring to it as 'Drinkin' & Stinkin'). The Pistoleros were expected to dust off this old classic for the 'Scotti-Stock' benefit concert of 1998. This live performance appears on the Scotti-Stock CD, released in 2004.

The song has also recently been released on the Pistoleros live album Bars & Guitars.

It's possible that the song was recorded with Hopkins for Songs Of Innocence.

"There's a particular song called 'Southbound Train,' which was one of the last songs he wrote and had a lot of himself in it. It's classic Doug, it's like he was writing one of his last songs and knowing it."

-- Lawrence Zubia

Source: "Friends Prefer To Remember Doug Hopkins Life Rather Than His Death", Get Out Magazine, Dec 7, 2003

Southbound Train is the second song written by Doug which the Chimeras held onto. Like Long Last Lonely Mile, it was expected to be in the 'Scottistock' set, and has been played live in recent years, such as during the Pistoleros opening set of Stephen Ashbrook's American B-Sides CD release party. Similarly, this also appears on the Pistoleros live album Bars & Guitars.

Once again, it's possible that the song was recorded with Hopkins for Songs Of Innocence.

Angel De Mi Veda was written by Doug in the Chimeras, and is most likely the original title of My Guardian Angel. It's the third Hopkins / Chimeras song that the Chimeras held on to. (More about the song can be found under My Guardian Angel). It may have been recorded with Doug for Songs Of Innocence.

Scared To Death is a song Doug wrote in the last year of his life. The lyrics are an autobiographical look, through the eyes of his girlfriend. It's unknown if Hopkin's wrote this while in one of his last bands, or if the song was ever performed or recorded.

The following are a portion of the lyrics that we have:

Sometimes you act as if you're the only one who's suffered
And I know you know better than that
And sometimes the things you do to yourself
You worry me clear to the point where I can't
Be with you when you need me
I know I should walk away and yet
It's yourself you're killing
But it's me you're scaring to death

At the time, My Guardian Angel was the only song, written by Doug which had been recorded and released post his passing. The Pistoleros (formally the Chimeras) recorded this Hopkins penned song for their first major label release, Hang On To Nothing. In addition to this, this My Guardian Angel was released as a single in 1998, it also still being the only single released that been written by Doug since the Gin Blossoms released Found Out About You in 1993.

From the inner sleeve of the My Guardian Angel promotional CD single:
The translation of the chorus to "My Guardian Angel" sung in Spanish is: "My guardian angel / My sweetest companion / Don't ever leave me / In the nighttime or the daylight". "My Guardian Angel" was written by Douglas Hopkins, a former band mate of the Pistoleros and ex-member of the Gin Blossoms, who also wrote "Hey Jealousy" and "Found Out About You".

The above CD single contains Radio Version, Album Version (both English verses, Spanish choruses), Spanish Version (Spanish verses, English choruses) and Angel de Mi Guardia (all Spanish).

Just as a note, although the sleeves of Hang Onto Nothing and the My Guardian Angel single list song writing to credit to Doug Hopkins, Bars and Guitars lists Doug Hopkins / Mark Zubia, which corresponds with interviews about writing the song. (See articles.)

See the Pistoleros' press page more on the writing of My Guardian Angel.