The Blues Flow in Chocolate Milk II

One of our mantras here at Garagerocktopia is that when it comes to garage rock, you’re never more than two steps from the blues. Mike Matteson may not even be that far away on Chocolate Milk II.

The Philadelphia-based artist isn’t talking about Hershey’s here. He has just released an EP, Chocolate Milk II, which can be reasonably considered garage rock, but really borders on the blues of bands like the Paul Butterfield Blues Band (or even more, our Riverside hometown heroes, the Dirty Blues Band.)

Songs like “Just a Little Bit” and “Blue Life Blues” border on straight-up blues, though with a decidedly punkish edge, much in the manner of many of the wave of garage rock bands from the aughts, most notably the White Stripes.

“I grew up with blues and classic rock,” explained Matteson, who talked to Garagerocktopia by email. “My parents had a lot of Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, The Who, and Pink Floyd in their CD collection, but they also had some T-Bone Walker, BB King, Buddy Guy, and Howlin’ Wolf. I used to like classic rock more but all of it just kinda got burned into my heart I guess over the years.

Later, Matteson found himself on a very well-travelled path.

Right around ninth grade I went to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and I spent a lot of time in the room that shows how Jimmy Page listened to Muddy Waters who listened to Robert Johnson and then for a year I was obsessed with all the delta guys.”

Matteson also released Chocolate Milk in 2018, an album of similar-styled music that leaned slightly more in a garage rock direction. These days, Matteson says he has expanded his musical world a little more, but as anyone who knows anything at all about the blues will tell you, it’s a state of mind as much as a kind of music.

“I don’t really listen to blues too much anymore,” conceded Matteson, “but I don’t have to. It’s all in my heart now. I guess what keeps me listening is bad stuff. Maybe twice a year I’ll get fed up with people or the world or something and I don’t want to listen to music but the blues will be there waiting for me. That’s when I’ll go back and listen to everything for a week. Freddie King, B.B. King, Albert King, Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy, Son House, Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, and also a few of the later dudes who can really play blues like Peter Green and Stevie (Ray Vaughan).”

One artist Matteson noted in particular was the late Paul Butterfield. Many caucasian musicians had dabbled, experimented and downright expropriated the blues, most notably Elvis Presley. In the ‘60s, Butterfield was one of the first white artists of note to specifically identify as a bluesman. Butterfield -- along with a great band that would include the likes of guitarist Mike Bloomfield -- continues to be an influence both to rock and blues musicians. Along with Butterfield, Matteson cites the White Stripes as a major inspiration.

“The first Paul Butterfield record is actually one of my favorites of all time,” Matteson acknowledged, “and I have covered The White Stripes’ ‘Cannon.’with my band. Where it comes from for me though is mostly early Ty Segall mixed with some Hunx & His Punx, Nobunny, The Horrors, Oblivians -- I actually was an intern at Goner Records, Slomo Sapiens, The Schizophonics, and the Yardbirds.”

“I think as a one-man band there are only two things that work,” Matteson explained. “I can do lighter-hearted poppier stuff like King Khan & BBQ Show, or I can do really raw White Stripes/Reatards style garage punk. But I can’t really sing too well so usually I do a nice short 15-20 minute set of garage punk. It’s a lot of fun. I can do almost anything with the band, but I’m trying to hone in on the poppier side of rock and roll. I try to make full band shows as fun as possible. I want people to dance and sing along. But I’ll usually choose one or two songs in each set to rip people’s ears off with.”

Like most of the artists we profile here on Garagerocktopia, Matteson has a real life, complete with a

day job to keep the lights on at home. Right now, most of his gigs are in Philly, but he has his eyes set on the other big East Coast cities.

“I’m playing exclusively in Philly right now, but that’s not by choice,” Matteson lamented. “I have a job at a restaurant that unfortunately requires me to work Friday and Saturday nights. Otherwise I’d do a weekender most weekends. Baltimore and DC are right down there, Wilmington is close, and New York is right up there.”

We have some other features already in the works here at Garagerocktopia. Artists have been sending us some very cool stuff. As always, we don’t make any guarantees in stone but we’re happy to say we’ve gotten a lot of very promising music sent to us, and we’re always happy to spread the word about about bands that are playing the way-out kinds of music we profile here. Send us a line and we’ll talk.

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