If proof was still needed for the global spread of straight edge, look at all the places that celebrate Edge Day (October 17). The autonomous social center Fabrika Avtonomia in Sofia, Bulgaria, is one of them. Among the bands who played there this year were local favorites xCHOKEx—in June 2023, they played their first gig ever at the same venue.
Today, they are releasing their debut album The Claim. Gabriel Kuhn has chatted with them about straight edge in the Balkans, their musical influences, and the joys of powerlifting and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Tell us about xCHOKEx! When did you found the band, who’s in it, and what are your aspirations?
Grigor: The idea for the band began with me (Grigor Stoilov), Tsvetomir Tsvetanov and Truong “Choni” Nguyen, but we became the band we are when Georgie Chelebiev and then later Alexander Miladinov joined. We hope we can inspire more people to be straight edge, to think more about the world: politics, how they treat animals and the environment.
You did a split with another Bulgarian straight edge band, TRUExFEELING. How did that come about?
Grigor: Our bands were mostly started at the same time and we are all friends and know each other. Funny thing is we announced the bands on the same day without knowing about it or planning it. So, one day, punk kids in Sofia woke up with two straight edge bands. TRUExFEELING invited us to do a feature on their album and they have a feature on ours.
Given twentieth-century history, most people associate Bulgaria with other Eastern European countries, but Bulgaria also shares borders with Greece and Turkey. How strong are the connections to hardcore scenes in the neighboring countries? Do you have bands from there visiting, do you travel and play abroad?
Grigor/Georgie: We think it’s fair to say that in the Balkans we don’t have the biggest hardcore scene, so we have a lot of bands visiting us from around the globe. As for straight edge bands, there are xRISALEx from Turkey [now scattered throughout Europe] and Ritter and Peripetija from Serbia as pure straight edge bands. There are also Neven from Serbia and Malignant from Greece who are straight edge adjacent, and shout out to all these bands because they are awesome. We have played with Neven and Peripetija in Serbia but would love to play with Ritter and Malignant if the opportunity arises.
As for straight edge bands here we think the only pure straight edge bands were Meanstream from Varna and Strategy X from Sofia in the 1990s. Start Today and Taking Hold are more straight edge adjacent. As for now we have three pure straight edge bands in Bulgaria: us, TRUExFEELING and Burialsite with whom we played on Edge Day.
The songs you’ve released so far aren’t for the fainthearded. It’s heavy stuff. Also lyrically, it reminds me of the metalcore era of the 1990s. What are your main influences? How would you describe yourselves musically?
Grigor: Early on we were very inspired by bands like Inclination musically. Vocally, I tried to imitate Nyx from World of Pleasure as close as I could with mixed success, and lyrically I was very inspired by Hatebreed in the beginning because they have a lot of overall uplifting songs that aim to set people on a better path.
Choni: As for drumming, the main influences could be traced back to the late ’90s/early ’00s metalcore bands such as Undying, Kickback and xMaroonx, hardcore bands such as Judge and Madball, and I try to mimic the speed and intensity of death metal greats such as Trey Williams from Dying Fetus and Mike Smith from Suffocation.
Alex: I grew up listening to The Offspring and various pop-punk bands. I fell in love with their fast-paced songs and the melodies. Later, I got into heavier stuff like Hatebreed, Machine Head and Sepultura. My main influences include Inclination, Backtrack, Knocked Loose, One Step Closer, I always try to mimic other guitarists’ playing styles and try to come up with my own ideas based on their way of playing.
Tsvetomir: I heard Metallica for the first time when I was six, my parents are really into rock and we always had a guitar laying around. Eventually I tried playing Metallica riffs and this fast-paced downpicking really influenced the way I play guitar today. Continued with bands like Mastodon and Sepultura. The bands that introduced me to hardcore were Power Trip and Nails, but the most influential for me now are probably Trapped Under Ice, Nothin’ but Enemies and God’s Hate.
I believe both you and TRUExFEELING played at the Fabrika Avtonomia (autonomous social center) in Sofia on Edge Day. Fabrika Avtonomia also holds political events. How political is Bulgaria’s hardcore scene? And how does straight edge fit into this?
Georgie: This new wave of straight edge bands is part of the process of bringing back politics and strong ethical beliefs to the hardcore scene in Bulgaria. It’s really important that we prioritize the issues of fascism and the failures of the state(s) over aesthetics that were prevalent for so long here. We need to talk about emancipatory politics and radical politics.
We find spaces such as Fabrika Avtonomia to be vital to a healthy scene. It’s not just “ran by punks for punks”. The space’s values transcend this and bring people together from many different backgrounds for various political and solidarity events. We are really happy to see the straight edge scene being represented and also driving many of these initiatives. It truly shows how radical politics are inseperable from straight edge.
The following question I can only ask because a common friend who knows I’m passionate about sports gave me a tip: apparently, some of you are pretty serious about powerlifting and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Is there a connection to straight edge and your politics?
Grigor: I think we can all agree that there has always been a connection between being straight edge and physical fitness. Also, unfortunately, we live in a world where you need to be able to defend yourself and your beliefs, but I think mostly we do it because it is enjoyable to move your body and to be healthy.
Let’s go with a time-tested question to wrap this up: what are the future plans for xCHOKEx?
Grigor/Georgie: The plan is to maybe have an European tour in 2025 and spread the straight edge way as best as we can, meet friends and make new ones! We are up for any crazy shows, so hit us up on Instagram and we’ll make it work. Forever straight edge, forever antifascist!
Follow xCHOKEx on Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram; The Claim was self-released on tape & CD on October 30, 2024, and is also available on most streaming platforms.
