Chron Goblin interviewed by Christine Leonard

Staying in tune and on top of the chaos

Calgary’s Chron Goblin keeps control of its punk-metal stoner-rock

Chron Goblin is set to perform with Chakobsa & Illuminated Minerva

It’s a classic springtime scenario: You meet up with someone you know through friends of friends, you hit it off and before you know it, you’re off making beautiful music together. Well, that’s pretty much how it happened last April for Chron Goblin vocalist Josh Sandulak and drummer Brett Whittingham, who soon met their match in guitarist Devin “Darty” Purdy and bassist Richard Hepp, both formerly of the Calgary metal act Teitan. United by mutual enrollment at the University of Calgary, as well as a shared love of hardcore music, the quartet worked around its studies in order to put out an EP within a year of forming Chron Goblin. Buoyed by the positive reaction to its self-titled five-songer, the band is more energized and motivated than ever to deliver its homegrown strain of punk-metal merriment to the public.

“We’ve always taken the DIY approach, so we’re really happy with what we’ve achieved,” confirms Sandulak. “Now that our first album is out, our focus is renewed and our approach to the songwriting process is more cool and collaborative than ever. We may have come together during our university days, but it’s friendship that has carried us on to this point. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that we actually wrote the song ‘Walk With Me’ the very first time we jammed; it just turned into this other thing. I don’t think any of us expected the band to take off like it did. Now, we jam two or three times a week. We’re like family.”

United by the ties that bind, Chron Goblin also looks to its bindings for musical inspiration. From the sheer reflective glory of “Mirror” to the heart-pounding intensity of “Flat-Footed Hypocrite,” Chron Goblin loves to lay down a heavy foundation while scoring big points for its crowd-pleasing technical style. The band was both surprised and thrilled when snowboarding company Somewon Snow out of Revelstoke, B.C. used its thrash-worthy tune “Awkward Endeavour” on the soundtrack of a recent video production.

“We had no idea that our song was being picked up by them until someone told us,” says Sandulak. “Of course, we were totally into it as we’re all skateboarders, and Brett, being from Invermere, and I have been into snowboarding for years. We even have a little half-pipe ramp set up outside of the garage where we jam. Anytime you want a break, to clear your head, you can grab a board and skate ramp. It’s ideal.”

Having recently returned from an eye-opening trek to India, purportedly an acronym for “I’ll never do it again,” Sandulak looks forward to filling Chron Goblin’s summer with blue skies, cold brews and as many gigs as he can book. Weddings, bat mitzvahs, anything — this band is down for a good time. Musical adrenaline incarnate, Chron Goblin naturally jumped at the chance when Somewon Snow called for the lads to entertain its party guests at a local shindig last month.

“As you would expect of a stoner-rock outfit with a lot of punk and metal influences, we have quite a reputation for going crazy and taking the crowd with us,” Sandulak explains with a knowing chuckle. “We just played a Somewon Snow BBQ at a private home known as the Mouse House, and it got a little out of control. People were falling in the fireplace and trying to mosh all over the place, and we wound up standing on the couches while performing. When you’re playing a show like that, you’ve just gotta do what you’ve gotta do to keep it together: Stay in tune and stay on top of the chaos.”


by Christine Leonard

Originally published in FastForward Magazine

June 17, 2010