Interview with Choke Up vocalist/guitarist Sam Johnson | By Renaldo Matadeen
Boston quartet Choke Up have a unique brand of heart-on-their-sleeve punk rock combined with fast-paced post-hardcore. Their chaos is meshed with anthemic jams and singalong medleys à la Captain, We’re Sinking. After three EPs and one split, they delivered a banger in their first full-length, Black Coffee, Bad Habits, under the Black Numbers label in 2015. Since then, they released an acoustic EP—Hart, in 2016—whetting fans’ appetites for even more emotive punk via their new album, Stormy Blue, out Sept. 15 on Say-10 Records.
This new 10-track album, while just as melodic and forceful, is tempered from their debut effort, yet it’s packed with delicate riffs and passionate acoustics that continue to speak about growing older while holding onto the past.
Vocalist and guitarist Sam Johnson sits down to dive into Stormy Blue and how Choke Up are handling their angst now that they’re older and wiser.
Black Coffee, Bad Habits was a whirlwind of angry punk meets post-hardcore. What would you say distinguishes this new record from that album?
I think the biggest difference is that Stormy Blue was written over the course of three months, whereas Black Coffee, Bad Habits was written over the course of three years. We wanted our new record to be a cohesive project rather than a collection of songs, so all the tracks on Stormy Blue were written in order, one after the other. This really allowed us to zero in on a sound and ferret out particular themes. We also dialed back the bluster on this album in favor of a more stripped-down tone. I think this approach gives more weight to those moments when a song really kicks into overdrive.
Now, this new approach, what was it like as you wrote?
The writing process was a totally new experience for us. We wanted something thematic, something more than just a collection of songs, so we were pretty methodical in cultivating a tone and making sure the album told a story. It was challenging, but not in a bad way. We had a specific vision for the album, and we worked hard to maintain a consistent spirit. It was fun to work within a set of parameters for each song; it was like piecing together a puzzle.
Appropriate, as based on your friendship on and offstage, you all fit together like puzzle pieces of a family too!
[Laughs] That’s why the lineup is the same. I can’t imagine playing these songs with anyone else!
Well, you aren’t kids anymore. Would you say the songs here are more mature, or are you still revolving around the fire of youth? A lot of your lyrics on Stormy Blue still have an Americana vibe to them, a.k.a. “kids seeking the American dream.”
The songs are definitely more mature. I guess it’s a natural progression, having written the bulk of Black Coffee, Bad Habits in my mid-20s—the song “Crosses” [from that album] was actually written when I was 19—and Stormy Blue with 30 in sight. A lot of our old tunes were written as a form of catharsis—taking mountains of anger, frustration, sadness, whatever, and setting it to music. They’re personal and intimate. We wanted Stormy Blue to examine a spectrum of emotion—joy, heartache, despondency, hope, etc.—from a more relatable perspective. There’s a linear narrative in Stormy Blue, but it covers universal experiences.
We wanted the music to reflect that arc. It kind of required us to kill our darlings and roll back some of the Choke Up hallmarks to benefit the album as a whole. That said, several themes were inspired by friends and peers. We’re getting older, our priorities are shifting, and we’re coming to terms with certain realities.
From those statements, what would you say best sums up this record?
A major sentiment of this album is about shedding your naiveté and realizing that there’s a whole world out there, filled with a lot of light and a lot of dark. It’s all about appreciating the former and pushing back against the latter. The name Stormy Blue represents that experience.
Needling in to the tracks, off the opener “Saturday Night,” there are lyrics about Cadillacs and leather jackets, which were also prevalent on Black Coffee, Bad Habits. Are there many callbacks like that? Just how connected is this album to the past?
This record is a love letter to some of my favorite artists. Tom Waits’ The Heart of Saturday Night and Sam Cooke’s Live at the Harlem Square Club were on heavy rotation during the creation of Stormy Blue. Incidentally, the line about “our fathers’ leather jackets / A bit too big on our shoulders” [from “Saturday Night”] is both literal and thematic. My dad passed down his leather jacket to me. [Drummer] Harley [Cox]’s dad did the same. The jackets look much better on them. The whole album is about the past in relation to the present, so it seemed fitting to imbue the songs with a nostalgic vibe.
You had a couple acoustic folk-country Midwestern burners on the last album, like “Polka Dots” and “Dry Out.” Here, you have “Arcade on the Pier” and “Level Me,” which have the same vibe. How do you come up with these songs and fit them in, given they don’t match up your more aggressive takes on life?
I think acoustic tracks carry a lot of weight, especially on albums monopolized by an aggressive sound. It’s a chance to slow things down and really drive a sentiment home. “Arcade on the Pier” ends side-A of the record, where you really start seeing the clash between expectation and reality. “Level Me” is the tipping point; it’s where the fog lifts. These being two of the most significant moments of the record, we figured it would be more effective to strip down the tone rather than pile on the bluster. For all its nuance, Stormy Blue is still a punk record. In that context, I think the acoustic songs hit harder than the electric ones.
With that in mind, what are your favorite songs on Stormy Blue?
“Roadside Graves” is a favorite among all of us. I think it’s a good balance between the old and the new. “Fireworks” and “Level Me” are also highlights for me.
“Level Me” is definitely something special. It feels like a love song that opens you up to everyone and everything.
“Level Me” is about growing up, appreciating the good in your life, taking responsibility for the damage you’ve done, and letting people know you love ‘em.
And on that note—just who is “Jenny”? She’s mentioned on three songs!
[Laughs] Jenny is that person you’ve been through everything with—your home.
