Okay, let’s address the blatantly obvious elephant in the room. Hogchocker isn’t a thing that badly behaved deviants get up to. It’s a small ugly flatfish found in North America, as well as the name of a band here in Shanghai. The story goes that the band’s original drummer had reeled in one of these on a trip with his Dad. For whatever reason, he loved the name, and for years he wanted to name a band after the fish. The bandmates hated the moniker, but they indulged him for their first gig, and ooops… the name stuck.

Hogchoker will play at Yuyintang on Friday (Feb 26), launching their new album ‘Roll Up for the Crazy Sound of Hogchoker’. Depending on what albums you would consider to count, this is either the band’s second or eighth studio album. Thanks to the generous help of COVID, this album has become a global collaboration. Associates from across the world have teamed up with the band, including singers from Jamaica and an Argentinian opera singer (more on this soon). We sat down with these gentlemen (they’re genuinely nice guys, just look at those faces) to ask about their new album.

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