Isaac Babus / The Mossy Log
Robot Heart Throb is a Chicago-based, singer-songwriter band started in 2022 whose sound ranges from rock to folk to jazz. Most importantly, it is a project dedicated to creation, experimentation and emotional release. When lead singer Jared Hochberg graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music on the Dean’s List in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in jazz studies, he ended his college career with a general dislike of the conservatory teaching style, which focused on assignment work rather than personal pursuits. For him, it felt like it was all process, no product.
This led to Hochberg founding ArtNight during his senior year at Oberlin in 2016. What started out as a series of house shows that focused on displaying all kinds of musical talent, from string quartets to hip-hop groups, soon evolved into people presenting on any topic they were passionate about, from marshmallow toasting to the physics of juggling.
In an interview with Hochberg, he shared more about his inspiration for starting Robot Heart Throb.
“I had been playing jazz, and jazz is very expressive, but you don’t use words, right?” Hochberg said. “I was like ‘I need to do singer-songwriter. I need to express more than just playing the saxophone.’ So, now I can finally say ‘you hurt me’ in an explicit way. I think this is what I always wanted to do, but I felt like I had to pick a path that had a college career. I was teetering for a while like ‘Oh, my voice isn’t good enough,’ all this doubt, and then I did it and I’m addicted to it.”
Robot Heart Throb is a culmination of drive and personal expression without striving for perfection. Experimentation, the need for freedom and vulnerability are key themes throughout the music of Robot Heart Throb.
As of October 2024, Robot Heart Throb has released a handful of singles and one EP titled “What It Was Like,” which came out in 2023. The EP opens with “Calculate My Ass,” a song about that one teacher we have all had whose only goal is to make students suffer rather than help them succeed (shout out to Ms. Nelson.) The track transitions between angsty bass lines and ’80s-reminiscent synths while simultaneously mocking old teachers that Hochberg had in his adolescence.
Outside of Robot Heart Throb, Hochberg works as a music tutor and high school music teacher. The experiences he had in school shaped his own teaching style, which he discussed.
“With my music students, my primary goal is to nourish their love for the saxophone, nourish their love for the clarinet, nourish their love for music, at the expense, sometimes, of pressuring them to practice,” he said. “A lot of teachers are like ‘practice, practice, practice,’ but most people after high school or college will quit their instrument. It goes in a closet or back to the rental place. Maybe they’re 27 and decide to pick it back up again, that’s my goal. That they have fond memories and fond associations with the saxophone.”
Next is “The Hair Song,” a mixture of rock, pop and soul where Hochberg sings about appreciating his freedom as an adult. Being fully grown is a challenge, which Hochberg acknowledges in the song when he says “hardly a night has gone by, two years, where I have not cried,” but he would still rather be an adult with the ability to choose than a child stuck under parental authority where he could not even grow out his hair. He exemplifies that frustration through the line “I said ‘I want to grow it out,’ and she kicked me out of the house and she yelled and shouted.” The track is simultaneously nostalgic and forward-thinking, with Hochberg guiding us through the life that he once had and the life he has now.
“Back to Sleep” is a chill R&B song about a relationship gone on for too long, yet unable to be left behind. Hochberg reminisces about the time they first met, their collective past and the difficulty of leaving when he relies on this partner to help him. Throughout the track, Hochberg adds death growl-inspired backing vocals that add to the emotional impact, as seen in the lyric, “Before I leave you, I’d rather be dead.”
Second-to-last, “I’m Your Scarlet Letter” starts as a folk song that transitions into a drum-heavy funeral march with ghostly wails and throat singing as Hochberg sings about his complex relationship with his mother.
Finally, “Magic” combines rock and pop with a saxophone solo in a song about Hochberg finding a relationship that brings fulfillment to his life. The amount of creativity in instrumentation and experimentation within one EP had me very excited for the live show experience.
The show took place at 8 p.m. in The Fixin’ To, a dive bar in Northwest Portland. It was an intimate show, with about 50 audience members and four bands playing throughout the night. The showroom was hidden at the back of the bar and flyers from previous shows lined the walls along with old arcade cabinets and vending machines selling local zines, which added a garage show ambiance to the venue.
One other band that night was H-Dawg & The Smawg, a rock band with members wearing different costumes. Notably, a jester played the saxophone, a ’60s hippie played one of the drum kits and the lead singer was a car mechanic with a pig mask. No Soap, Radio, a rock and jazz band with four of the seven members playing saxophones. Lastly, Dystoria, an alternative punk-rock band (unfortunately, with no saxophone) that had the small crowd moshing.
When it was time for Robot Heart Throb to take the stage, Hochberg stepped up alone. Just him, a guitar and a saxophone. While it was too expensive to fly a whole band out from Chicago, Hochberg loves touring and fell in love with it after being one of the college students sent to Jordan by the U.S. State Department to play in a jazz group in several concerts around the country.
As Hochberg tuned his guitar in between songs, he gave backstory to his music and talked to the crowd. He praised the other bands who were playing, told the audience that we were in the presence of great local artists and thanked everyone for attending and playing. The most impactful part of his set was when he taught the audience the chorus to a song and had us sing it as he switched from guitar to flute. He did a flute solo as we sang, and it was an intimate moment as the members of the audience became members of the band, breaking down the wall of separation that typically stands between music artists and their listeners.
I recommend listening to the EP that Robot Heart Throb released. There is a certain imperfect perfection that Hochberg has in his candidness as an artist. The simplistic nature allows the emotional ideas expressed by his work to be understood by anyone listening; there is something special about every song being a surprise in terms of sound and style, which many artists do not capture. Robot Heart Throb is a testament to the fact that you can simultaneously follow your passions and be successful.
At Lewis & Clark, where many students have a focus in the arts, Robot Heart Throb can serve as inspiration for creating our own communities that are dedicated to what fuels our souls.
About the Author
