Interview with Charit Way: ‘I stood my ground on the chorus because I thought it would get stuck in people’s heads!’

Rochester/Buffalo, New York-based rock band, Charit Way, released a belting EP, Forward, last month which takes us on an emotional journey through relationships, moving on and hoping for a better tomorrow.

The band comprises Dave Cocuzzi (drums), Jeff Fischer (vocals) and Anthony Maira (vocals and guitar). Cocuzzi and Maira have known each other since middle school but didn’t really know each other well until after high school when they started jamming together. Maira and Fischer are friends from college. Their name was taken from a street where Maira grew up. ‘Charit’ is also the Hindi word for ‘custom’: ‘The meaning is very story driven, so it fits very well for us,’ Maira explained.

Last month, they brought out three tracks on their EP, Forward, including the titular track of the same name, which was written by Maira: ‘I’d lived with this girl and her son for three years and played dad but we were reaching our end. I sat in my basement and wrote the lyrics and knew I was moving on from her but I didn’t want to let her son down. I brought the lyrics to Dave, I was really feeling it.’ Cocuzzi can also interpret the song in a different way: ‘When I was helping you, I thought it could also be about your excitement about moving to college.’ Maira jumps in: ‘I wanted people to bring different things to it, their experiences of being an adult.’

‘Forward’ has a massive hooky chorus: ‘Pull me closer, hold me tighter, room is spinning, feeling lighter, vision’s blurred, I’m losing sight of you. Lost in dreams of far away, now waking to the sound of our lives crashing through the atmosphere. Someday, I will make it there somehow.’

‘I wanted to write a more straightforward pop song for once’

Both Maira and Cocuzzi describe the line ‘lost in dreams of far away, now waking to the sound of our lives crashing through the atmosphere’ as their favourite in the song but Maira had to work hard to convince Fischer about the chorus. I tell him it’s a complete earworm which gets stuck in my head for days and he laughs. ‘I stood my ground on the chorus because I thought it would get stuck in people’s heads! Jeff wanted it to be more intellectual but I wanted to write a more straightforward pop song for once.’

Charit Way’s first release was their EP, Notes Forgotten, in 2012, which displayed a rawness and energy from driving guitar work, rolling drums, and a spectrum of vocal styles. They followed this up with an album, Let Fall the Leaves of Time, in 2017, which showcased some tasty riffs, enchanting rhythms and lush musical layers.

Maira and Fischer typically share vocals on songs: ‘Jeff has a particular writing style when it comes to melody writing, he’s really good with his verses,’ Maira said. ‘I have a stronger hand at writing catchier hooks, which is not to discredit him in any way. He’ll bring something from his folky, bluesy background and I’ll put a weird run on it!’

Another track on the latest EP, ‘Irvington’, is about Irvington in New York. ‘I was living in Irvington at the time,’ Maira. ‘I’d moved out of The Bronx and it was a life-changing thing for me, realising who my friends and family were. The music carried it emotionally.’

Ultimately, there is an undercurrent of hope throughout the song: ‘You’re all wrong, it’s right that we should be here. Now, here we are, let’s rewrite every story. The world may still be broken. Our prayers have all been spoken. I’m wide awake and ready for what tomorrow brings.’

‘It’s about choosing to see the good in things and fighting for it’

It was a group effort to come up with the final version, according to Cocuzzi: ‘It was Jeff’s stream of consciousness but we refined the lyrics to where they were more appropriate. One night, we ordered a lot of curry – it’s Jeff’s favourite food, he says it helps him write – and got it done. The whole message of the song is appropriate for now, even though it was finished in January, It’s about choosing to see the good in things and fighting for it.’

The third track, ‘Garden Room’, was written by Cocuzzi. ‘It’s about the end of my relationship, my engagement at the time, it’s me saying goodbye to that time in my life. Most of the lyrics are mine and Jeff helped on the piano.’

It’s easily the most haunting of the three tracks: ‘What will you choose? We’ve lit our last match. Smoke in our eyes with no shadows cast. Lift the words right off the page. Finally erase the worst of me. This bird can’t sing within its cage. Memories of you can’t set me free.’

Their sound has evolved dramatically since Let Fall the Leaves of Time three years ago. ‘It’s been a natural evolution really,’ said Cocuzzi. ‘When we were in the same room together, we would kind of build blocks on top of each other.’ Maira jumped in: ‘Our musical tastes have changed as well, they’re more indie punk but emotionally charged. We really like Checks and Exes in Rochester, they’re like The Black Keys. I did a quarantine show with them in another band. They have some awesome energy, they had some serious momentum.’ They’re also fans of local rock band Free Casino and jazz/funk fusion band Stupid November as well as Albany, New York-based indie pop band, Laveda. Over the years, they’ve been inspired by bands such as Boston’s The Receiving End of Sirens, The Fray and Rice.

There are so many bands they’d love to jam or tour with: ‘I feel like there are so many bands I’d love to play with, including Jimmy Eat World,’ Maira said. ‘I would be the happiest man alive! I’d love to talk shop with Jim Adkins (their lead vocalist and guitarist), they’ve been in the industry a long time and they’re still writing great music.’ Cocuzzi goes with Rush: ‘That’d be crazy!’

We chat about other musicians who would be fun to hang out with and they settle on Dave Grohl: ‘He’s someone you can aspire to be, isn’t he?,’ said Cocuzzi. Maira agrees: I would LOVE to sit and write with him for a month. I would drink all the coffee with Dave Grohl!’

(Photo from left to right: Dave, Anthony and Jeff)