After playing legendary punk clubs like New York’s CBGB’s back in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Ted Horowitz was growing tired of playing rock clubs and not getting his true passion out. But in 1990, the man that would become Popa Chubby had an epiphany while jamming with the legendary Parliament Funkadelic. Deciding to strike out on his own in a blues direction, Chubby started to release albums and started his blues journey in earnest at the Long Beach Blues Festival in 1992.
With Chubby releasing nearly two dozen releases in almost 20 years, he has become the iron man of the blues scene and tours relentlessly year after year. After a tough year personally for the blues man, Chubby used his roots and the city of his birth for inspiration for his latest album, “Back in New York City”. Always showing his wide range of diverse music acumen, Chubby gives us his own take on Bach “Jesus’ Joy of Man’s Desiring”, to the metal-tingled “Warrior Gods”.
With the album now out, and just back from a highly successful European tour which Chubby had been back from no less than 24 hours before I spoke with him- Chubby was getting ready to turn back around to head out on some U.S. dates to wrap up the year. Chubby and I discussed what went into the new album and if there’s been any musical stoned unturned yet in his career:
Here’s my interview with Popa Chubby:
AM: How has the reaction been to fans in the States and beyond for “Back in New York City”?
PC: It has been amazing so far. I just got back from Europe, where we had a huge sold out tour all over Europe, which was a great feeling. I think it has a lot to do with the label I’m on now (Provogue), who really believed in this album and helped me out greatly.
AM: How did the recording process play out for your this time versus your past work?
PC: I think the big difference was that the songs came from some hard living (laughs). It’s been a tough couple of years, but by taking those hardships and tough times that I’ve been through, it’s made for good music. There’s been a lot that’s been stripped away, but I have my guitar and my music and it’s what I do.
AM: Taking a song like “Warrior Gods”, which had a very metal feel to it- what bands did you pull from for inspiration?
PC: Oh man, I pulled from a lot of metal- Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica- even some punk bands like Bad Brains and the Damned. There was a lot going on with that song.
AM: Do you feel “Back to New York City” is more a tribute to the city than anything?
PC: I don’t feel it’s as much of a tribute as it is a love song to the city- a fickle one at that. It’s the city where my heart is and where some of the greatest times I’ve had are at. The album is all about my life there and the times I’ve shared and had while living there.
AM: How do you feel touring and dealing with the industry is now compared to earlier in your career?
PC: To be honest, it’s been better for me. The shows are busier now than they’ve ever been and the fans are very supportive and very grateful towards the music. The fans are buying the CD’s at the show and I am so appreciative of all of them. It’s been very positive.
AM: What made you originally want to move into the blues genre?
PC: When I got into blues in 1990, I was just getting sick and tired of playing rock clubs for 45 minutes and having to pay the club 50 bucks in order to play. I just love to play guitar, and blues clubs would let them come in and play what I wanted to and would let me play for 3 hours and pay me to play. It was a great feeling and it really has become what I love to play.
AM: Your music crosses many musical genres- do you feel like there’s any other genre that you haven’t tried as of yet that you want to?
PC: (laughs) Nah, I think I’ve tried everything at this time that I’ve wanted to do. I don’t deliberately try to play new types of music on an album, it just comes out that way.
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