Interview Avec le Band Chocolat

Killer Piano!


W/King Khan!!!



With a reputation as Montreal's sharpest-dressing band, Chocolat could easily have gotten by on looks alone at their recent show at Don Pedros in Bushwick.
Instead, their August 9 performance with guest-star King Khan shook up an otherwise ordinary evening with a sound that energetically combines equal doses of the Kinks, Jacques Dutronc, and the Demon's Claws (the other band bassist Ysael Pepin spends his time in). Although they sing in French, their exuberant live show and newest LP Piano Elegant (on Montreal's Grosse Boite) will make you dance, stomp, and attempt to sing along. I questioned them on a summertime night about favorite bands, Kraft macaroni dinners, and their unhealthy obsession with Johnny Depp.

Interview avec le band Chocolat
le 9 d'Aout, 2008

By Sara Harper with assistance from Andrew McNey

Sara: I'm recording
Ysael (Chocolat): You're recording?

S: Yeah. Would you like to say your names and what you play?
Y: Ysael I play bass.

Jimmy: Jimmy I sing and play guitar.

Martin: Martin Chouinard and I play piano.

Dale: Dale Rhodes. I play guitar.

S: I think we're missing somebody--we're missing your new drummer. Um...

Unknown Person: (high-pitched joke voice) I'm Danny and I play the drums.

S: Okay we have Danny. How long have you guys been a band?

Jimmy: 2 and a half.

S: Have you been in other bands before? I mean, I know you have.

Y: I've been in, I'm still in Demon's Claws.

S: Okay, I was gonna ask you about that 'cause I wasn't sure... if you guys are still making music...

Y: I'm back in Demon's Claws. We're recording an album right now.

S: Oh, cool. (to Martin) Are you in Demons Claws?

M: Me,no. S: No? Y: He's in Cockroaches.

S: What is Cockroaches like?

D: It's a band me and Danny have. It's...

J: Rock and Roll!

D: like.. throwback rock and roll trio
J: Old School!!

D: Old School?

S: A trio?

D: Yeh. Like Chuck Berry boring stuff like he says.

J: They're the best band in Montreal.

M:One of the best dancing bands.

S:Is it really fun in Montreal? Do a lot of people come out to shows there.

Aresh: Where's Danny at?

S: Should we include Aresh in this interview?

Drew: Do you guys cover Chuck Berry?

D: Yeah but when we only have to now, we used to a lot but not anymore.

A: We used to eat chocolate, now we eat only berries.

A:Uhh I do animation for PBS. I did Contact 3. I did uh..

S: 3-2-1-Contact? Holy shit I watched that when I was a kid.

A: (starts singing) Contact! Is the reason...

Drew: What is your favorite Chuck Berry song?

Y: Uh...

M & D: Havaana Mooo-oon!

J: yeah havana moon.

M: the song from uh...Back to the Future?

A: He likes the one from Pulp Fiction because he doesn't know any other ones.

D: Babydoll, probably.


Drew: Babydoll?

D: Oh, babydoll.

A: My Dingaling.

S: Did you guys name your band after that movie with Johnny Depp since you have a song about Johnny Depp? I haven't seen it, but I was wondering... I've heard.

J: we don't play it no more cause...

A: cause there's a court order that if they go 25 meters near Johnny Depp then they get arrested.

Y: we're like really obsessed with Johnny Depp cause like he kind of stopped us...like uh, he wanted us cause like we really want to sleep with him.

M: He phoned us and he said stop that guy I'm not gay I don't like you doing this and we were like yeah, but we do it cause you look good and uh whatever, and he was still pissed off.

S: so he's not a fan?

?: Oh he hates us.

?: He hates us.

?: I think his wife likes us.

S: Does he have a band?

J: we want to meet his wife... Vannessa?

S: well, that's understandable. She's kind of a fox.

Drew: Who is hotter: Johnny Depp or Vannessa Paradis?

Y: (Ed. Note: there was no hesitation for this answer) Johnny Depp.

J: Johnny Depp.

M: Vannessa Paradis.

D: Geraldo, probably.

Drew: Geraldo?

D: Hell, yeah.

S: Is Geraldo French? Or Canadian?

D: What?

S: Huh?

D: What?

S: What is your favorite chocolate product?

A: (whispers) Aresh!

A: King Khan!

J: There is this chocolate called Varhona, it is the best chocolate.

S: Where is it from?

J: Whaat?

S: What chocolate is this? Where is it from?

A: Bohemia.

J: It's this special chocolate coming from Brazil, I think. It's really expensive and we are pretty much high on it right now.

Drew: Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

S: Do they sponsor you guys?

Y: No, but we really need sponsors because we are going down financially.

A: My name is King Khan and I'm just a friend of theirs, but I have seen them snort Nestle Quik before shows.

A: And I'm talking about the syrup, I'm not talking about the powder.


J: And we're really serious and pretentious and we're not joking right now.

S: Are you guys all originally from Montreal?

Y: I'm from a little town called _______ but I live in Montreal since ten years.

J: I'm coming from_________and I'm living in Montreal for ... 7 years, I think.

M: I'm coming from__________but I don't know who I am.

D: I from--I was born in Nova Scotia, and I moved to Zuma after, then Montreal.

S: Where is Zuma?

D: I don't know.

S: Okaaay.

J: He's a good cook. He's good on Indian food... you're good at cooking aubergin? What do you call that in English?

J: Eggplants. He's good at cooking eggplants.

S: Do you cook them with chocolate?

?: No, never.

S: What are your other hobbies outside of the band?

Y: I like playing tennis.

D: I like making Kraft dinner warriors.

S: What?

D: I like making warriors out of cooked Kraft dinner.

S: Like the macaroni and cheese?

D: Without the cheese though. Before, when it's all...
Drew: Macaroni warriors?

S: That's kind of gross, but um, that's great.

D: They move though.

S: Who is a bigger influence? Jacques Dutronc or Jacques Cousteau?

Y: Jacques Dutronc.

J: Cousteau or Dutronc? Oh, Dutronc, Jacques Dutronc. I like Cousteau's stuff.

Y: But Cousteau, I think he didn't do everything he says he did.

J: Yeah, he's a bullshitter, but I still like his documentaries. They look good.

M: I prefer fish dance songs, so I prefer Jacques Cousteau.

D: Jean Cocteau.

Drew: Yeah! Orpheus.

S: Eh?

Drew: I'm not in the band. I'm in a different band.

Y: What is your band?

Drew: K-Holes. It's with...Do you know Jack and Julie?

Y: Jack and Julie?

Drew: Jack used to be in Black Lips.

Y: Oh yeah. I think I've heard of it actually.

Drew: I'm in a band with those guys.

Y: Oh cool. I saw Jack play in Montreal with the Black Lips, a few years ago.

Drew: Yeah, he quit, but they got married and moved to New York and then we started a band together.


Y: That's cool that he's still playing music.

Drew: Oh yeah.

J: I'm gonna split and go for a beer.

S: Does anyone have any last words?

Drew: What is your favorite band right now?

Y: I'll be serious on that one. I think my favorite new bands are King Khan, BBQ, Black Lips, and probably Deerhunter. They're all friends I know, but they're all my favorite bands I guess.

J: I'm pretty much on Ysael's side on that one. I like them all, but probably the band I'm listening to the most right now is Ethiopians, old reggae band from the 60's. They put out just two albums, but they are really interesting.

M: Talking Heads.

D: Probably same as Ysael, BBQ,King Khan and probably the Demons Claws.

Drew: Old bands, dead people, dollar records. Favorite dollar records.

D: Old bands? Oh shit man, I don't know. I like the K-Tel Bo Diddley. When the drummer had a mullet. Stuff like that. Old R&B records mostly.

Drew: favorite new band?

D: Boris. I guess his shows are very good.

Drew: the metal guy? Oh the noise guy.

D: His recordings are crazy man. Yeah the Japanese noise guy. I missed the show.

Drew: I haven't seen them.

D:I've been listening to a lot of Sun Ra too.

Drew: Sun Ra's the king!

D: Like Strange Dreams? You know that LP? I picked it up in Toronto and it's awesome.

Drew: This has been an interview with Chocolat, the coolest people ever. Sara Harper, sign off.

S: This is Sara Harper, signing off.

------------------------------------------------------

S: Just kidding we have more...

Y: I just wanna say that Aresh made me play with his shitty band he used to play with, the Spaceshits.

S: Oh I like the Spaceshits!

Y: Yeah me too, but he said that this bass hadn't played like in 10 years, at least not with Danny, so like tonight was like the first time with this bass and Danny and it was pretty bad, this bass, but I liked playing it with him.

S: Didn't he go to kindergarten with somebody in Chocolat? With Danny?

Y: Yeah, Danny was playing with the Spaceshits, so Aresh really wanted me to play the Spaceshit bass so it would be like a Spaceshits reunion.

S: That's rad. That's totally rad.


Chocolat will be playing Pop Montreal, which takes place Oct 1-5. You can buy their record at or you can listen to their songs on their MySpace page: myspace.com/montrealchocolat, buy their album at grosseboite.com/chocolat or send them love letters at chocolat.mu.

Listen: Chocolat "Gabrielle"

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