Schocholautte

Brooklyn-based super band, Schocholautte, are the kind of guys who give rock ‘n’ roll the good name it should always have. Their electrically charged live shows betray nothing of the kind demeanor they have offstage. As a fairly recent addition to the NYC music scene, they’ve played in all the old favorite spots; The Knitting Factory, Goodbye Blue Monday, and they’ve already had their first live radio show on New Jersey’s WFMU. With their first EP, Oodles of Charm coming out soon, a residency at Niagara Bar as part of the new show Alphabet City Soup (sponsored by the Antagonist Art Movement), and touring on the horizon, the only place these guys are headed is up, up, up the music ladder. And when they do, they’ll still be nice enough to sit down and have a drink with their fans. To get the dirt on these gentlemen, founder/lead singer/man with the plan, Michael P! was gracious enough to answer some of my questions.

Not many bands choose names that are hard to spell, where did the name Schocholautte come from?

I started a boy band in high school with some guys in art class and I came up with the name Schocholautte. We all had names. I was White Chocolate, there was one kid who could dance and he was Hot Chocolate, and my friend Alejandro was the "DJ" called DJ Special Dark. Anyways, the music was awful, but I always loved how difficult the name was, and once the boy band broke up, I held onto the name and kept using it to label jokey demos of mine throughout college. Eventually, I started taking writing a little more seriously and ended up with this band.

How did you guys come together as a band?

I recorded a four song demo with my cousin Michael Patrick, which ended up turning into the first Schocholautte EP. The intent of the four songs was to define what I was trying to do and use it to find a band. I'm not very good at meeting people, so I sat on Craigslist every night looking for a band, which is where I met Artie. I met a drummer on craigslist and I also met this acoustic guitar player named Kris. The first day that Kris came in to play guitar, the drummer just didn't show up and Kris said that he was a better drummer than guitar player, so we found a pair of sticks at the rehearsal space and that was it.
So much of your music is like storytelling, what do you pull from when you are writing it?

3 things: Haley Jane, Catholic School, Disneyworld.
Whether it's intentional or not, every song ends up having something to do with my partner in crime Haley Jane Samuelson. She's a special kind of awesome. All of the good one-liners come from our random conversations. As far as subject matter, I can draw from my childhood forever. Almost every Sunday morning, my parents would take me to church and then to Disneyworld. I think that pretty much explains everything.

The Antagonist Art Movement are pretty rockin’ people, how did you get involved with Alphabet City Soup and the Antagonists in general?

The Antagonist Movement has been the most supportive group of people in New York City for the band and for me as a young artist trying to figure out what I'm doing. My first experience with them was going to the Thursday night art shows to see some of my friends work. Then I was showing artwork with them too. A few months later, I booked the first "Schocholautte" show in New York there. It consisted of me screaming into a microphone and rolling around on the floor while my friend Alejandro, aka DJ Special Dark, played songs on a portable cd player. While no one else would take me seriously, Un Lee saw something in that mess and kept in touch with me on a regular basis until I actually had a band. While most people in New York only really care about the final product, the Antagonists are totally fascinated with the concept of process and watching artists grow and giving them a venue to do so. So, somehow I've become pretty active with working with those folks and now I'm running this show with Julian Stockdale and you, to give performers a venue to showcase their process. The show is called Alphabet City Soup and we're setting out to make a variety show that pairs music and comedy and performance art, be it a monologue, or tap dancing, or magic tricks, we want to bring it all together in true variety show fashion in a way only the Antagonists can do it.

What are your hopes for the coming months?

Complete phase 1 of world domination. Begin phase 2.

Do you have a favorite live show memory so far?

There was this one show at Niagara where we started a march through the East Village with a crowd of people. We totally looked like a protest march.... It was awesome.... Then we played for 2 hours in the basement of Niagara. Ethan from the Antagonist Movement filmed most of the show. Some clips made it into the "Water on the Coast" video..... plug......

What would be your dream venue to play and with whom?

On a rainbow stage made of chocolate products built on a marsh mellow cloud headlined by Tony the Tiger and Barak Obama playing covers of Blues standards duet style on a brown baby grand piano.

Out of all the bands in NYC, what makes you guys stand out from the pack?

A focus on songwriting. Starting a band is easy, making noise is easy, wearing tight pants.... okay, that can be difficult.... getting drunk and prancing around on stage is easy, but writing a song that people care about long after they've heard a loud rock band play is a challenge that I don't think enough bands really consider..... The other thing is our visual aesthetic and art direction to cover up for the fact that none of us are male models. Except for Artie. He's so hot right now.

Tell me about your new EP, Oodles of Charm. How did it come to life?

I wrote a bunch of songs, gave them to the band, and then we met this producer named Dean Baltulonis and he hated all but four. We tricked him into recording two more. We all went broke for about 9 months. During this time, we worked overtime at our menial day jobs until we raised enough money to release it. Then we called it Oodles of Charm.

What first made you want to be a musician? What keeps you in it?

The first night my parents brought me home from the hospital after I was born, my father sat me on his lap while he played piano. He did that every night until I was too big to sit on his lap. Without music, I would be profoundly bored.

Expect more from these guys in the coming months, and don’t be surprised if that rainbow stage, Tony/Barack duet becomes reality. World domination indeed! - www.shortandsweetnyc.com

Melodramatic indie/rock/alt-super band, Schocholautte (pronounced Shock-O-Lot) has come out with their first, real, official EP, all bar coded and ready to sell in stores. At the risk of sounding completely cliché, Schocholautte is, without a doubt, the greatest new band you’ve probably never heard of. The three piece combo, consisting of Jersey man, Captain K, Orlando native, Michael P!, and Artie, rocking straight from Thailand, all came together by way of craigslist and bonded in the little borough of Brooklyn.

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SCHOCHOLAUTTE: OODLES OF CHARM EP

by marissa bea

Melodramatic indie/rock/alt-super band, Schocholautte (pronounced Shock-O-Lot) has come out with their first, real, official EP, all bar coded and ready to sell in stores. At the risk of sounding completely cliché, Schocholautte is, without a doubt, the greatest new band you’ve probably never heard of. The three piece combo, consisting of Jersey man, Captain K, Orlando native, Michael P!, and Artie, rocking straight from Thailand, all came together by way of craigslist and bonded in the little borough of Brooklyn.

What does the music sound like? Well, it has been likened to the Pixies, the Violent Femmes, cereal eating, loud gay sex, and tons of other outrageous things. But it’s not so much the other bands that come to mind when you hear Schocholautte, but the feelings you get. Michael P! writes the music and lyrics and much of his inspiration comes from his life, growing up going to Catholic school and Disneyland, often in the same day. The band’s photographer (and MP!’s Bonnie to his Clyde), Haley Jane Samuelson, creates all the imagery for the entire band persona. The music informs the art, which informs late night conversations, which informs more art, more music, more and more, and becomes this wondrous, complicated circle. Ducks, bunnies, skulls, dinosaurs, and chocolate all figure prominently, along with an overarching feeling of this odd, bubbly melancholy.

The music is insanely catchy, and you find yourself happily dancing along to songs about suicide or depression, which is quite the brilliant mind-fuck, and well played by a band who looks a whole lot more clean-cut than the music sounds. And in some ways they are; no drinking before shows, no drugs or smoking (ever). These guys are serious musicians, and to top it off, they’re unpretentious, a rare thing to come out of Brooklyn sometimes.

They don’t need to play-act cool, because the caliber of the music speaks for itself. They all once did the starving artist move, came to NYC to pursue a dream and seek their fortune. Lucky for us, they are still on the up and up, with only visions of success on the horizon. I have YET to hear a song I dislike, and for a group with an enormous repertoire, that’s quite a feat.

It’s impossible to pick one song from Oodles of Charm to single out, because each of the six songs is intricate and mind-blowing in its own way. From the sweet sentiments of “Water on the Coast,” to the guitar-heroism of “Mercedes Benz,” they are masterful, one and all. Not only is the EP available on iTunes (among other places all over the interweb), but they play every Monday night at Niagara Bar as part of Alphabet City Soup, a music/variety show sponsored by the Antagonist Art Movement.

In all seriousness, don’t just listen to the music on myspace; live shows are where Schocholautte truly excels. Be it because of MP!’s charmingly awkward stage presence, Captain K’s frequent video game factoids, or Artie, who just rocks like there’s no turning back, they know how to amaze, even in the smallest of spaces. Live shows are the best way to get the EP too. Keep one eye on these gentlemen at all times. They are an experience you need in person. Need. - www.quietcolor.com

Some things just go well together. In the case of Schocholautte (pronounced Shock–O–Lot!), those things are chocolate, dinosaurs and rockin’ beats. This three-piece band from Brooklyn is aiming their sights on music world domination, and they are well on their way. Since forming in late 2007, these gentlemen have garnered a loyal following, playing in venues all over Brooklyn and Manhattan, and have played a live set on the radio show Beastin’ the Airwaves with Keili on WFMU. Michael P! (vox, guitar), Captain K (drums) and Artie (bass), as they are all endearingly known, come from quite different backgrounds, but somehow have managed to wrangle the very personal lyrics and melodies that explode from Michael P!’s brain and turn them into something timeless. Are they indie? Rock? Pop? It’s not really clear, and it doesn’t need to be. Their first EP, “Oodles of Charm” will be coming out soon, and with songs inspired by the likes of Jack Daniels, annoying rich girls, and suicide, they reach out to you with a ferocious honesty that you just can’t help but go back for more. - www.comfortcomes.com

Schocholautte is celebrating the release of their brand new EP "Oodles of Charm" at Cake Shop Saturday June 13th with Imaginary Icons, Corita, and Gerty Farish. "Oodles of Charm" is a collection of 6 artfully crafted pop songs that capture the band's electric onstage dynamic at the hands of producer Dean Baltulonis (The Holdsteady, Goes Cube, Ra Ra Riot). With songs inspired by the likes of dinosaurs, Jack Daniels, annoying rich girls, and suicide, they reach out with a ferocious honesty that you just can’t help but go back for more. - www.thedelimagazine.com

KEILI (Beastin' the Airwaves)
10: Le Rug: "Sex Reduction Flower" (OMAD Records)
9: Schocholautte: "Schocholautte" (Unsigned)
8: The Moi Non Plus: "The Moi Non Plus" (Subbacultcha)
7: Bonne Aparte: "Bonne Aparte" (Wham! Wham! Records)
6: Starscream: "Stars//Ghost" (Beautiful Records)
5: Kate Ferencz: "One of These Songs Is About You" (Magic Pictures Records)
4: Devin KKenny: No album, bunch of single mp3s on MySpace
3: Adept: "Adept" (Wham! Wham! Records)
2: Ponytail: "Ice Cream Spiritual" (We Are Free)
1: Knyfe Hyts: "Sword of The Lord" (Hyt Records) - WFMU 91.7

There’s a band in New York called Schocholautte. Said band produces some pretty great and out there pop songs, even though it may likely be the vision of one Mike Sincavage masquerading as an actual unit. Here’s a few fun facts about Schocholautte and Sincavage to prep you for a track off of their new self-titled EP:

1. Mike Sincavage was in a high school band called “The Uh”. In order to guarantee a packed house full of people at one particluar show, the various band members promised girls in private that they’d play a song especially for *them* if they came. And of course, before a love song… they announced that “the next song goes out to a very special girl. She knows who she is…”. Brilliant.

2. Schocholautte started out as a one-man indie rock boy band. Artwork for early releases including Sincavage dressed as all of the various and most popular boy band stereotypes of the day: the sweet one, the rough one, the ambiguously gay guy and… an action figure.

3. I swear that the last time I saw Sincavage perform, he played a seemingly twenty minute solo song called “Weapon Of Mass Destruction”, but I think everyone’s head exploded halfway through, so I can’t really say for sure. I was busy cleaning body parts off of my clothes, understandably.

4. Mike recently donned an Aquaman costume and sang “Moonage Daydream” with Of Montreal. Seriously. It’s on YouTube and everything.

5. Schocholautte’s new EP is absolutely stunning. I’m sure you can snag a copy by simply visiting their MySpace and asking nicely. Highlights for me are the state by state pop sundries of “Panther Tattoo” and the following mp3, “Gone”. I highly recommend that you check it out for yourself, and if Mr. Sincavage graces your town with an appearance, don’t miss out on the show. Homeslice likes a spectacle, and indie rock is all the better for it. - www.retrolofi.com

The Myspace friends requests and “dude, check out my band” e-mails have been flooding my inbox since our contest opened. I think that’s a good thing?

I got a friends request from a Brooklyn-based band called Schocholautte
“pronounced- Shock-O-Lot” this afternoon and felt the need to share. I think I’m more intrigued by the photographs on their Myspace than the music itself though. I’m not saying I dislike their songs, au contraire… there’s something about them as well. Give the two I’ve shared a listen…if you like them, visit the band’s Myspace and download a few more!

There’s also a video of Michael P. Sincavage performing with Of Montreal dressed as Aquaman on their ’space…well worth the price of admission alone.

Schocholautte

The band list their influences as: Drama, Rubber Ducks, Chocolate. Yeah, I can relate to that.

What do they sound like? ..If Walt Disney and Sylvia Plath conceived twins and hired David Bowie as a nanny. Indeed! - www.rocksellout.com