If you are a fan of alternative comic books, the name James Kochalka should almost certainly ring a bell. His is the visionary mind behind the Johnny Boo, Dragon Puncher, and SuperFuckers comics as well as the autobiographical American Elf series. He was also the first Cartoonist Laureate of Vermont.

However, in some circles, the cartoonist—who was raised in Springfield, Vermont, and now lives in Burlington with his wife, two kids, and two cats—is perhaps better known for churning out jocund, exuberant yet edgy experimental rock that recalls the likes of Ween and early They Might Be Giants.

Kochalka says he’s done time in numerous bands since junior high school, and even plays live shows with his band, which features members of art-rock collective Swale. Or at least he did. “Technically, I just retired,” Kochalka says. “I had a big, big concert for my 50th birthday that I billed as my last show ever. But since my official last show ever, I’ve played three impromptu shows and it made me wonder why I wanted to retire in the first place.”

Jame Kochalka, photo by Sam Simon

As James Kochalka Superstar, he has released over a dozen albums and a handful of EPs. He began writing a cappella tunes on his own before joining forces with gifted players who could help bring his music to life. “I am so lucky to have some really skilled musicians to work with,” he explains. “I had several bands that never played out, though. One was called Soap Men, and was with a buddy of mine. We both worked at a Howard Johnson’s, cleaning rooms, so all of the songs were about cleaning.”

When he was college, he formed Jazzin’ Hell with Peter Katis, who, today, is a sought-after producer who has worked on albums by bands like Interpol and The National. The Casio-imbued jazz combo performed throughout New England and even opened up for Dinosaur Jr, the Lemonheads, and Phish before calling it a day.

His cult-like following began growing when he was in grade school, and started selling his subversive comic books he’d print using the copy machine in his friends’ father’s office for half a buck. “Straight profit,” Kochalka says with a laugh. “Someone was paying for these comics to be made, just not me. Probably the local church paid for it all. My friend’s dad was a minister.”

This fall, Kochalka says that he’ll release SuperFuckers Forever, a sequel to his popular series of books, and next March, he’ll debut Mechaboys, a comic about two teenagers who building a robot battle suit “to take revenge on everyone at their high school. It’s kind of like Robocop meets Superbad. His eighth children’s book, Johnny Boo and the Ice Cream Computer, hits bookshelves next summer.

Kochalka credits his New England roots with his success as both a cartoonist and a musician. “We have such extreme differences between our seasons that, every time the seasons change, I feel rejuvenated, and it is like a rebirth each time,” he says. “I have four rebirths a year. When it gets cold in the fall, and the leaves fall off, I get really excited, and then it starts to snow, and that’s really exciting. And then the snow begins to melt and turns to mud, and that’s exciting, and then it gets real hot, which is really exciting. It makes me want to create.”

Want to know what’s on Kochalka’s playlist? Check out our Take a Listen Spotify Channel. While you’re there, take a listen to the playlists of other musicians we’ve featured. Enjoy!

James Kochalka–cartoonist/musician
Burlington, Vermont
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Top image, James Kochalka by Luke Awtry

The post Comics and Codas appeared first on Take Magazine.

At Take Magazine, we take music seriously, regularly featuring New England’s coolest, most unusual and most diverse set of musicians and music-adjacent artists. In the past two years of publishing, we’ve brought you everything from Grammy-award winning pop stars to musicians crafting their own experimental instruments. As the music industry reinvents itself, and people continue to subvert and transcend genre classification, we promise to continue to scour basement shows, online forums, and music festivals for the region’s best.

In the meantime, we’re upping our music game to bring new music right to your ears. Each time we feature a musician, we are going to ask them what they’re listening to and then create a playlist for that artist on our Take Spotify channel. Though not all the artists on these playlists are from New England, several New Englanders have already made the cut. For example, Vermont’s own bedroom pop crooner Bella Ortiz-Wren, aka bella, shared a Ruth Garbus track on their playlist. Garbus is also a super confessional dreamy pop crooner from Vermont like Ortiz-Wren…who knew there were so many!

Some of these playlists feel like a personalized mixtape (see The Rap Scholars‘ playlist or the picks from Home Body), while others are lists of full albums from different artists. Either way, you’re guaranteed to hear something new or fun and familiar.

In addition to these custom playlists from featured artists, Take Magazine staff curated a playlist of some of our favorites. The strange diversity of tracks on the Staff Picks playlist mirrors the eclectic tastes of our staff as a whole. You’ll find catching pop tunes from New England heroes, classical chamber music, sad bastard indie, neo soul, and much more. We’ll be adding more tracks to the playlist each week, so be sure to check on it frequently.

But wait there’s more. We want to know what you’re listening to as well.

Submit your favorite songs right now to pr@takeindustries.com email or get us on any social media platform with the hashtag #heytakealisten with an artist name and the title of the track you’re currently obsessed with. Check our Spotify channel soon and see if your pick made it on our list. Extra points for New England bands and songs we haven’t yet heard.

Playlists From Across New England

The Rap Scholars

David Seidel aka Mysterybear

bella

Soggy Po’ Boys

Jenn Van West

Molly Brown

Home Body

Top image: Hannah Mohan of And the Kids, featured on our staff Spotify playlist | Photo by Montgomery Sheridan

The post Take a Listen: A Spotify Playlist Just for You appeared first on Take Magazine.