YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!
Tchotchke make power pop that’s as charming as a cute, small, decorative object...what are those called again?
On a very cold and rainy Sunday afternoon in December, Tchotchke and I are ordering the sort of unconventional 3 p.m. “lunch” one can only get at a kosher diner where the three meals of the day are mashed into one menu. For Anastasia Sanchez (vocals, drums), a tuna melt; for Emily Tooraen (guitar), mushroom barley soup; and for Eva Leon Chambers (bass), the challah french toast. “This is so our personalities so far,” Eva says. How so?
“I’m addicted to sugary, cakey, unhealthy food. That’s kind of all I ever order, ” Eva says, a white fur hat neatly affixed atop shaggy long hair. “And Emily’s always so healthconscious. And Anastasia will get something, like, stinky.” I order a blueberry blintz. “That’s so you,” Eva jokes. One thing you gotta know about Tchotchke (and this interview) is that the band finishes each other’s sentences a lot. It’s clear from the moment we sit down that these three are die-hard friends, and the speed of their banter— great banter, by the way—reflects it. Eva is the group’s natural goofball; she has a funny, kinda nasal voice that’s employed to maximum effect on a punchline. Anastasia, bright red hair and wearing a boldly printed long knit dress, is more of a dry funny, with bonus sarcasm. (When CREEM photographer Jane Pain, who’s come along for the day, warns that she tends to take an excessive amount of photos, Anastasia assures, “Yeah, we’re gonna need a lot of takes.”) And finally Emily, dark hair and big eyes, is sweet and polite—she regularly says words like “gosh.” “She’s our Southern belle,” Anastasia says.
