Q&A: Chalk Rock San Francisco’s Kilowatt with Unforgiving Inertia
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KYLEE WIENS ☆
Photo Credit: Brendan Seamus
ON THE KNIFE’S EDGE BETWEEN GUITAR AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC—punk and goth, and dreams and reality lives a Belfast-based band called Chalk. They embody a dark, mysterious and foreboding sound that consistently swells and pulses with power. Chalk capture the essence of late ‘70s musical nostalgia without wallowing in it, and at once display a finger on the pulse of pop culture and future-facing sound.
On the cusp of releasing a new album, Chalk recently made their US tour debut. The Luna Collective caught the band at their electric performance at Kilowatt San Francisco, where they put on the kind of show that leaves you a lifelong fan. Dark, moody lighting and a swirling fog machine were the canvas to Benedict Goddard, Ross Cullen and touring drummer Fiontain McAleavey’s master work of art. Goddard navigated the guitar and synthesizer like a master puppeteer, orchestrating a dance between the two instruments that felt as dramatic as it was enticing. Cullen’s belting, billowing vocals laid atop syncopated, air-tight drumming to engender a digital kind of flow state, further reinforcing the band’s hauntologist approach. The band tore through 16 tracks—spanning their 2023 EP Conditions and other singles —with command and resolve.
Luna caught up with the band after the show to discuss all things touring, writing, producing and their musical tastes. Read below to find out more.
LUNA: What is your favorite and least favorite part about touring?
CHALK: My favorite part about touring is the people. Yeah, that's both my favorite part of the time, seeing the world is good, like it is. Yeah, unashamedly, it is actually really nice. Like in San Francisco, we were just looking at the Golden Gate Bridge. Unreal.
Least favorite is the 10-hour flight. That's not great.
LUNA: Any favorite cities so far on this tour or in general?
CHALK: San Francisco was great. Seattle was great. We actually got to hang out with Easy Street Records. Those guys were really nice, and we had a few breakfasts. It was a similar vibe to Belfast in a way, similar weather.
LUNA: How do you think your live sound differs from your recorded sound?
CHALK: They’re actually pretty similar. We use tracks. It’s a very easy way to get the recordings across, adding in vocal effects and recording elements. So it’s not necessarily a copy-paste. There is still room for improvisation, yet we are still connecting to the track. We try to make the track sound as live as possible. We want them to sound alive and bombastic in the recording. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes tricky to translate. We’ll write stuff in the studio and wonder how we will play it live. Then we figure it out later. That can take a while. But really, it’s about bringing that energy across.
LUNA: Do you have a favorite or least favorite part of the recording process?
CHALK: It’s different. Sometimes a song comes together quickly, sometimes slowly. I enjoy when you play an idea or a 10 or 20-second sketch, and you get excited about fleshing it out. There have been times where Ross has played something out of nowhere, and you get a eureka moment. That’s what it’s all about.
LUNA: What is your songwriting process like?
CHALK: It always starts on the laptop. Just sketching out electronic drums and samples, maybe an eight-bar loop, then changing things. Sometimes I’ll close it after 30 minutes and come back next week, adding another eight or sixteen bars, changing the key or tempo. I'm sharing ideas and getting a vibe if it is worth exploring. We figure most out in the studio. We don’t really do live workshopping. It’s possible over the laptop.
LUNA: Do you think any current political or social trends influence the resurgence of post-punk or dark wave?
CHALK: Punk music is rebellion in essence, and the world is shit, so inherently there is a wanting to speak out. You can’t get away from that in music, whether literal or subconscious or masked in metaphor. There is plenty to be sad about. I do think the world is a big influence.
LUNA: What are your musical diets like?
CHALK: Yeah, Julie! They’re awesome. I really loved one of their songs they put out years ago. I forgot about them, then heard it again when they blew up. The guitarist is unbelievable. Great power trio.Wednesday is good too. Yeah, I’m jumping on the [MJ] Lendermann train.
LUNA: How do you balance your sonic influences with your own tastes?
CHALK: Personal taste has slowly crept into our sound more recently. We’ve been looking at autotune, different production techniques, and not locking ourselves in a box. Every band says they don’t want to be boxed in, but we’ve always felt with guitar and electronic music you can do anything you want. We can bring any sound live without worrying about new equipment.
Maybe a year or two ago the music we were writing felt less traditional post-punk sound. We’re lucky because we’re pre-debut album and haven’t had to separate our tastes. We throw them all in.
People are open to hearing different influences. Early on I switched from an amp and pedalboard to an amp modeler, and I thought people might joke. Never happened. So audiences are open.
LUNA: Is there a mood or atmosphere you hope to capture in your music?
CHALK: Atmosphere is essential. When we were recording the album we had a manifesto. We always wanted something that felt big and cinematic. Creating a space, whether scary or chill, was important. Atmosphere is important.
LUNA: Dream collaborators?
CHALK: John Cale. That would be awesome. That would be worlds colliding. A Charli XCX collab would be great on the next one. We can feature on that.
LUNA: Any particular message you want listeners to take from your music?
CHALK: Maybe just be yourself. Celebrate quirks and weirdness. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. We don’t really preach between songs. We let the music speak for itself and hope people take something away.
LUNA: How do you balance guitar and electronic elements?
CHALK: It’s song by song, based on what the song demands. The song makes the decision. Sometimes guitar fits, sometimes it doesn’t. If you force it, it never works. We’re lucky that guitar doesn’t have to be on every track. Some songs are all guitar, some none. It’s fluid.
LUNA: Finally, what should listeners or fans be on the lookout for?
CHALK: We’re finishing our album now. It’s on the way. Announcing it in the new year. Not too long now. We’ve got songs from it, and we’re signing off on stuff on the road. We’ve been working on it for the last six or seven months, so we’re excited to get it out and then come back to America. After this tour, we’re coming back to play SXSW in March, then some festivals in the summer. Hopefully, people can see us live.
LUNA: Anything else to share?
CHALK: The new Charli XCX John Cale music video is great.
