Pivot Gang Talks John Walt Day's Return
Photography by Michael Salisbury.
After being put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic, John Walt Day is back this Saturday, November 26th at the Metro.
The concert honors the life of Pivot Gang’s fallen comrade John Walt, as fans, friends, and family congregate for performances by the group and together fill venues with a warm and affecting atmosphere that Joseph Chilliams fittingly describes as a hug.
Solemnly, JWD’s return will bring further clashing emotions, as it will be without squeakPIVOT, who died last year shortly after releasing his debut project, EnRoute, as a collaboration with MFnMelo and, in part, a tribute to John Walt.
Happening during Thanksgiving weekend, we are grateful to be able to be in a space that offers solace, an opportunity to collectively celebrate their lives, and also witness an intimate performance from a collective whose impact has reached far beyond the limits of their stomping grounds in Chicago’s West Side.
Ahead of tonight, we sat down with Joseph, MFnMelo, Saba, Dae Dae and Frsh to talk about John Walt Day and their recent releases.
2022 is also the five-year anniversary of John Walt Day and the John Walt Foundation, how does it feel looking back at their impact and also the celebration of John’s life through the work?
Joseph Chilliams: I don't think it feels real, personally. Like…it's really five years. But it's cool, the city loves what we do and we love doing it. I think it's really important to highlight some of the things we've been through, and bring light to these people that we love and the music that they made.
MFnMelo: Yeah, to piggyback off that, it doesn't seem real a lot of the times, you feel me? We do it every year, except for that time when it wasn't, but it's just crazy to think about it. Even going back to just the reason why we're doing all this shit is just crazy. Like you said though, the city loves it. And I think that's my favorite part about it; how everybody comes together and looks forward to something like that. Knowing that we are part of that is tight.
Do you guys have any specific moment or achievement that you look back with fondness?
Joseph Chilliams: Literally the first show. The first John Walt Day at House of Blues. Okay, so it's House of Blues, we'd never done a venue that big…and the motherfucker sold out. I'll never forget, I step out on stage, like, “damn, that's a lot of people.” I start rapping…they start saying the words with me. I'm like, “fuck outta here. No way.” The place was actually rocking. It's just the energy, John Walt Day always feels like a hug, it's nice. For me, it was the first John Walt Day that we sold the motherfucker out. And then it was like, “oh, I wonder how we’re going to top this next year?”
MFnMelo: For me, it's probably the one we did before this one [in 2019]. Back-to-back sold out shows at the Metro. That was cool, that was tight. That was a nice moment. I enjoyed that. That was a cool night too, I just remember some of the things that were a part of the show. Cool memories that I got from that night. So got I fuck with that one the most myself.
DaeDae: Also, a lot of things have happened. We've done things for kids, we've done things on backpacks and stuff…
MFnMelo: Yeah, [back-to-school] drives
Joseph Chilliams: And Feed the Westside.
Saba: I think my favorite thing has been the emergence of Snacks. That's been my favorite thing because I feel like he's at all of the John Walt foundation stuff. From the backpack [drives], to the park. Like he's at all of it. And he just like a little sponge, just soaking everything up. And it's really cool to see where he is and how his brain works now and where he will be.
This marks the return of John Walt Day since 2019, what are y’all most excited about happening?
Saba: To me, it feels different. It is different. Our lives are so different now than they were in 2019. The group, everything is different this time around. I'm just excited to play this show, ‘cause in 2019, when we toured that, I immediately felt like that was the most special tour we'd ever done. To just have that feeling is, I don't know, we just always do something different for John Walt Day and we always put that extra bit of love on it. I feel like we didn't fall short this year and sprinkling an extra bit of love on top.
Joseph Chilliams: I've dropped hella music since 2019, but I haven't really done shows in Chicago since then, so I'm excited just to do these songs I've never done in front of my city.
You kind of stole what would've been my answer when you talked about Snacks. But I was gonna ask, what do you think is an essential element or part of a Pivot Gang show? If you go to a Pivot gang show, it needs to happen there.
Saba: The real answer is heartbreaking because I want to say a Squeak backflip…which you know? We’re gonna have a Squeak backflip, we’re going to have a Squeak backflip on Saturday. We’re going to feel it, it's gonna be there. So, you know what? I'll just keep that same answer.
Y'all previewed a lot of music during your Purple Block Party performance [this Summer] that has been coming out in the last month or so. Can we expect more new stuff at this show? It seems like you guys are gearing up for something bigger.
Joseph Chilliams: Yeah, you know what they say…looks can be deceiving. [Laughs] I don’t know, definitely excited though. That’s the fun thing about shows and Pivot shows in general, I think it’s more than a solo set. We have so much freedom to do really whatever we feel like. There’s so much unreleased stuff and there are so many unreleased songs, who knows what’s going to happen at a Pivot show?
With all the new releases, it’s a great time to be a Pivot fan. What’s your favorite part about one week having a Pivot release, the next it’s Fresh, and then Joseph and then Melo back-to-back? I feel like you guys get a lot of joy out of just putting records back-to-back and seeing how people react to the collective.
Joseph Chilliams: There was this one time, a long time ago, where we decided to all literally drop a song on the same day, at the same time. We called it the Pivot Cyber War. And it's funny because no one knew who we were. It's not like, we were even getting press or anything, but we were just excited like, “yeah, let's see who gets the most likes. Let's see who wins the cyber war.”
I don't really think about those things as much, but it's just funny and fun. It adds to what we all are doing. Mello, putting out a song helps me, you know what I'm saying? Dae Dae putting out a Drum Kit helps. We all are in this together.
MFnMelo: We definitely are strongest when we're all doing stuff. I think it makes the most sense for Pivot when we're doing that shit. Definitely my favorite part about it is that it can be some pivotal stuff going on and I have nothing to do with it, but then I can also get involved. I fuck with that.
FrshWaters: I also think for Pivot listeners, it's a good time ‘cause it's the first time they're really seeing and hearing us all on the same music and releasing music individually around the same time. So you kind of get a little bit of the individual, then you get the group.
Dae Dae: In the group too, everyone is different, everyone got their own way. They rap and make music, but everyone's got their own vibe and tempo and everything too. To hear what he's gonna make by himself versus what he's gonna make here, it’s all gonna be some special gifts.
*This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and length.*