World-Class Choklate
Lisa Birch
Armed with a microphone and a killer band of musicians behind her, Seattle's Choklate recently converged on Atlanta giving up every ounce of soul she had inside during a live performance of "Dedicated to Music"...
Electing to press on in spite of tragically losing a loved-one just days prior to the show, world-class Choklate breathed new life into all of the songs she sang that evening, soulfully addressing her trademark subjects of purpose, commitment and gratitude. Songs already regarded as timeless classics revealed first-rate brilliance by the end of her set. While paying tribute to "Music" on stage, Choklate entered her zone, released a few tears, and admitted, “Didn’t know I’d be so in love with music like this, you know?” In most of her spoken exchange with the audience, she sported a playful, just-because British accent. It was likely a healer of sorts for her that night. The crowd embraced it…right along with her engaging performance.
Even during times of turbulence, it’s natural for Choklate to connect with people and admonish them toward higher ground. Musically, she does it all the time, but she’s quite modest about the influence of her pen and the lyrics she writes that soothe, empower and flat out heal so many who listen. “When people tell me, ‘you’re so inspiring and uplifting,’ I think, ‘let me sit down and listen to my own stuff,’” she laughs.
A good place to start? First, “Incredible”...then “Waitin’”....“Bigger Than You”…"Long Way"...the list goes on.
Reality
But modesty aside, the truth is what it is. Here’s a woman who lives to teach life lessons and give of herself, but not just through the highly esteemed soul music that she creates. Weeks before the Atlanta concert, Choklate was in Boston working with a youth organization called Critical Breakdown that she’s been involved with for the last two years. And back at home in Seattle, she regularly reaches even more young people on her job as a counselor to juvenile delinquents.
Relating to the youth keeps Choklate face-to-face with reality, which is right where she wants to be. In fact, she speaks candidly about choosing not to identify with the international notoriety she has achieved in soul music.
“If I can be really honest, I don’t have any feelings about it one way or the other. Just lately I’ve been getting that question (about the fame), but when you get home and you’re by yourself and you’re looking in the mirror and it’s just you…I’m really consumed with that part of my life. I’m not introverted, it’s just that there’s a silence and a peace and a space that the music in my life doesn’t really ever come into, and because of that…well, I am aware of what the world may perceive, but it seems so surreal to me. To some degree, I’m detached from it, and I sometimes wish I was more aware of it so I could feel the euphoria and that overwhelming sense of accomplishment and such. But for me, there’s always just the grind in front of me and the need to provide for my family and my close friends and keep those relationships stable. When I go in to work with juvenile delinquents, my story is not about what I do in my career. It’s about the kind of life I grew up in and the experiences I had when I wasn’t doing this. So when I’m home, I’m really in a space of reality. I haven’t quite transferred into the space where I’m consistently aware of, you know, you’re a singer, and a lot of people around the world are familiar with you and people may look up to you, or whatever. I think I’m hesitant to indulge in too much of that for too long.”
The Brick Wall
Choklate’s self-titled debut CD, which was released in 2006, has positioned her as one of indie soul’s most promising singer/songwriters to emerge from the Northwest. Working with her hometown super producers Vitamin D, BeanOne, Jay Townsend, Kuddie Mak, Jake One and Amos Miller, Choklate’s first project gave birth to 14 tracks that tout major staying power.
The new LP, coming early ’09, features the same heavyweight production talent applied to 10-12 new songs.
“I think it’s the same me, but what I understand from the people who’ve heard it, it’s a step up from what I did last time. I think I’m approaching it the same way I did the last record, just living life and letting situations in my life and my friends’ lives dictate the content of the record. So there are some interesting topics and some interesting emotions on this one. We don’t have a title yet, but we think it will name itself.”
Going with the flow has always been Choklate’s way with music. She describes the career she now leads as “a brick wall that erected from nowhere.” When she first moved back to her native Seattle after being raised in San Diego, she didn’t even pursue music for the first couple of years. Choklate went to school, got her degree in graphic design and began working as a manager at a manufacturing plant.
“Music was just a hobby. My brother had a studio, my nephew made beats, did production, and I’d come home from work, throw on my boxers and my tank top and mob down in the studio. There was a TV in there, so I’d watch TV while they did music. If they had a big crowd down there, I would cook and take them food and drinks and hang out or whatever. Ended up getting in the booth and before I knew what was taking place, I think other people had an idea of what was possible because they were attached to it; they had an ear to the street, the scene or whatever. I was just doing it because it was something to do during my downtime. And so there was really no beginning to me. By the time I really began to pay attention to it, it was already in full swing, happening.”
So many times Choklate thought the music would fade or dwindle for her, but the momentum has only continued to grow. Since '06, she has headlined in just about every major city—on the east coast, west coast, in the south and in Europe—with the likes of soul legend Roy Ayers, Boys II Men, Eric Roberson, Seattle’s own Darrius Willrich and many others.
Cooking, Blogging...
There's more to Choklate than great music, a giving heart, and an affinity for the youth. She’s into romantic dates, quiet evenings, family time, horseback riding, swimming, hiking, reading and cooking. “I absolutely love, love, love to cook. I learn a dish, and I cook it until I master it and then I move on to something else. Right now I make this dish called Basil Stuffed Jumbo Sea Scallops…. I also make a really good Buffalo Mozzarella Salad, and I’ve always been a real big fan of Salmon; I cook it 15 different ways…”
A woman of many words, Choklate is also an enthusiastic blogger who has toyed with the idea of writing a book. Her relationship with words started in elementary school when she’d often get a grade lower than expected because she wrote too much. “It’s the same thing with music,” she explains. “I’ll work with other writers, and they’ll say, ‘Chok, that’s too many words. You need to make it simple.’ But for me, it’s like words in abundance out there, and I love the color.” And true Choklate fans appreciate the messages. Give a listen to the track "Waitin'" and if you're quick enough to catch each valuable lyric, you'll be a better person because of it.
Happy Place
In this season for Choklate, she is steadily moving through the school of life where there are as many happy moments as there are tough times. Wading through can be difficult, but in the midst of it all, she says she is pleased with the woman she is becoming.
“There were various times throughout my life that I just wasn’t proud of certain decisions, and I knew I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to do. I was living a very different lifestyle and my moral compass was way off…hustling and grinding and trying to survive…I didn’t really like who I was. Now, I like the woman I’m turning into. There’s still so much I have to learn about who to be and how to be in life, but so far, lately, I turn around and look in the mirror and say, ‘You are alright.’ I’m just enjoying my own company… and I think that’s a great accomplishment.”
For someone who once didn’t think she was good enough to take music more seriously than a hobby, Choklate now sees the light—musically, personally, spiritually…. She has latched on to the “incredible,” or the happy place within. Read any of her blogs for further clarity; she is the free spirit who writes openly about falling smack on her butt in a fountain of water at Seattle’s City Plaza during one of her (packed) outdoor performances. She closes the blog in true Choklate fashion, “The kid in me will never die…not if I can help it.”
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