Chicago-based band Robot Heart Throb is taking the city by storm. The genre-fluid band sold out its show at Subterranean, located in Wicker Park, in December and is expanding its audience to the national level with shows in New York.
Lead-singer Jared Hochberg, the only consistent member of the rotating band, sat down with The Daily to discuss his songwriting process and the novelty of performing live in Chicago.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
The Daily: Where did your love for music come from?
Hochberg: I’ve always been a very emotional person, and I also like using my imagination. And that’s what the arts are. I had a lot of friends who I (wrote) songs with, even when we were 6 years old. We wrote a song about somebody pulling his hair at school. Anyways, we always loved music and the arts as a way to clarify complex emotions and experiences into something really nice and easy to process.
The Daily: How did the band come together?
Hochberg: After I graduated (from) Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and then I moved back to Chicago and realized I don’t actually just want to do just saxophone. I felt like I couldn’t express myself fully. So I started writing my own songs and I thought they sounded pretty good with a band, so I found musicians to play songs with me.
The Daily: Where did the inspiration for the band name Robot Heart Throb come from?
Hochberg: I have two pieces of art that I got from an art store here in Chicago that have a cute, cartoony robot on them. After brainstorming for a couple of days with the band, someone said Robot Heart Throb. I think we wanted something cute, but also mysterious and romantic.
The Daily: As the songwriter, can you walk me through your process?
Hochberg: It starts with feeling something. I just went through a breakup, and I needed to memorialize this experience. It feels so powerful and incredible; It’s like taking a three-dimensional hard picture of the experience. So my process starts with feeling really strong feelings that I can’t describe to my friends in words, knowing that art is the only way to communicate this. Then, I sit down and I just start doing stuff on guitar, piano, singing, saxophone, flute or Irish tin whistle. It’s really spontaneous.
The Daily: Where did you learn to play niche instruments like Irish tin whistle?
Hochberg: I started off playing the clarinet, and the clarinet (has) the same fingerings as a lot of other wind instruments like the Irish tin whistle. I just really like Irish music, so I just thought, “I have to do this.”
The Daily: After touring nationally, what makes performing live in Chicago unique?
Hochberg: I really like Chicago. It feels like you can do whatever you want here and no one’s stopping you. It’s a communal place. It has a small town feel even though it’s a major city.
The Daily: For you, what is the allure of performing live?
Hochberg: It’s crazy. It’s these really intense emotions that I feel all on my own and then I write a song all on my own. But then I get up on stage and I play this song, and not only are the musicians and I vibing with it, suddenly now I’m realizing I’m not alone and we’re celebrating what we’ve been through. It’s basically like a holiday every time we play — a musical holiday. Who wouldn’t want that?
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