Oct. 13, 2004 - Issue #469: Don McKellar
Has this Choke gone on too long?
Not in the least, says bassist Clay Shea, on eve of band's 10th anniversary
Break out the baby books and put on your finest party pants, because this
week Edmonton’s most beloved punk rockers, Choke, are celebrating their
10th birthday—and someone is sure to spike the punch. Over the past
decade we’ve watched Choke grow up: their infancy was a blur of
aggressive rock anthems; their teens a collage of arts-weekly covers and
college station chart-toppers; their young adulthood a frenzy of high-profile
tours and critically-acclaimed albums. Now it seems the band has done their
parents on the local scene proud, but just don’t expect them to get a
haircut or a real job anytime soon.
"Being a musician has absolutely changed me," explains Choke bassist Clay
Shea. "It’s gravy now because I’ve realized that I’ve spent
a third of my life doing this, which is absolutely insane. It’s hard to
remember what I was like before the band, but I know I’ve learned a lot
from traveling and meeting people."
Shea says some of his fondest memories involve touring with Choke, whose
lineup has stayed remarkably unchanged since the band’s inception in
1994. Along the back roads of Canada and in the midst of dimly lit clubs,
Shea made lifelong friendships with label-mates like Moneen and mingled with
like-minded musical fanatics. "The first time we played Quebec City is one of
my fondest memories," Shea recalls, "because it was one of the first times we
had toured out that way and we didn’t know if anyone had ever heard of
us. All these kids who couldn’t even talk to us knew every word to
every one of our songs. They didn’t even speak the same language, but
they were so into it—it was just mental.
"The traveling is a huge part of why I still do this," he continues. "Coming
home and realizing you got paid to do what you love, even if it wasn’t
a lot, is really nice. It’s amazing to wake up in the morning and
knowing you’re going to do what you love that day, and that things are
going to be looked after."
And it’s a good thing the boys of Choke have always been fueled more by
passion than paycheques. Even with a strong urban following and numerous
tours—Choke has opened for the likes of AFI, Bad Religion and Good
Riddance—the elusive rock-star lifestyle they dreamed of as boys
didn’t turn out to exist, at least not in this country. "When we
started out," Shea laughs, "I would have thought that a band doing this at
the status we have for some time, with a solid, underground cult status in
Canada, would actually make a bit of money. I had no clue that it would be
like this because I though after this much time and effort you could sustain
some kind of lifestyle."
But even with his seven-year stint as a pizza delivery boy and countless
other day-job disasters, Shea considers himself a success when it comes to
the band. "In a lot of ways," he says, "I think we’ve already reached
my idea of success just because we went passed our expectations. When we
started out, all we ever wanted to be is what we are now, except I had the
misconception that we might make a bit of money. As far as being able to tour
and have people to come out coast to coast, that’s what we all kind of
had as a goal."
With their sights now set on the next level of success and a few outstanding
goals (such as touring abroad in Europe and Japan) still to be conquered,
Choke is looking forward to their next round of adventures. Their sixth
full-length album, which just wrapped up in Vancouver with producers Paul
Forgues (Slayer, Nine Inch Nails) and Blair Calibaba (Gob, Brand New Unit,
Heart), will be released this January. Shea describes the release as being
"far more produced and much slicker," and he’s confident fans will make
sense of the band’s next phase in their natural evolution.
"I would just like to keep touring and playing music," he concludes. "As we
get older, it gets harder, but it’s been nice up to this point because
we’ve always been growing and doing bigger things, which has kept it
interesting and fun. If it ever hits that stagnant point where we’re
just rehashing things for the sake of it, then I think we’ll call
’er a day, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon."
V
Choke
With Downeastday and A Last Goodbye • New City • Fri, Oct 15
(10pm)
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